Ying Fang

Soprano

Biography

Chinese soprano Ying Fang has been praised as “indispensable at the Met in Mozart” (The New York Times) and for “a voice that can stop time, pure and rich and open and consummately expressive” (Financial Times).

In the 2023-2024 season, Ms. Fang returns to Opéra national de Paris as Zerlina in Don Giovanni conducted by Antonello Manacorda, Dutch National Opera as Poppea in Agrippina and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte conducted by Riccardo Minasi, the Metropolitan Opera in her role debut as Euridice in Orfeo ed Eudidice, and Santa Fe Opera in her role debut as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. On the concert stage, she reunites with conductor Raphaël Pichon in the Mozart Requiem on tour with Ensemble Pygmalion, a project which also features a recording by the Harmonia Mundi label, and joins Maestro Pichon for Mozart’s C Minor Mass in her debut with the Munich Philharmonic. She joins Noord Nederlands Orkest Ein Deutsches Requiem, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s 4th  symphony with Susanna Mälkki, and sings Carmina Burana with the St. Louis Symphony under the baton of Stéphane Denève with the Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall.

In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Fang made her house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Susanna in a new Barrie Kosky production of Le nozze de Figaro conducted by Philippe Jordan, a role which she then reprised for the Handel and Haydn Society under the baton of Raphaël Pichon. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Ilia in Idomeneo conducted by Manfred Honeck, and as Zerlina in a new production of Don Giovanni conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann. On the concert stage, she returned to San Francisco Symphony for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Robin Ticciati, debuted with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem led by Sir Donald Runnicles, and performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Handel’s Messiah, led by Manfred Honeck. She also performed recitals at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, Cal Performances, and The Dallas Opera.

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Reviews

“…a voice unlike any other I have heard with the orchestra. During the challenging solo, she seemed to effortlessly traverse wide intervallic leaps, the rich timbre of her voice as clear and true at the top of her range as at the bottom.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Ying Fang is a show-stopping Susanna, bright, agile, a sweet, glass-clear voice and a vast expressive range.”

Shirley Apthorp

Financial Times

“Ying Fang, the production’s Susanna, is already so sure in her instincts and so focused on her aesthetic goals that she can surmount any obstacle put in her path. For she gave a treasurable performance. The basic sound was pure and true; she colored it through judicious application of vibrato, as well as an alertness to the timbral implications of the Italian text, resulting in singing that was both deeply musical and full of character. This Susanna was never cute but always enchanting: any Figaro would be lucky to have such a woman as his bride. It would be a misnomer to call Fang “promising” — she is already a fully achieved performer. I personally can’t wait to hear more.”

Fred Cohn

OPERA NEWS

More Reviews

“Ying Fang might well be the production’s best Shepherd since Kathleen Battle made her Met debut in the part when the production was new.”

George Loomis, MusicalAmerica.com

“The youthful cast, led by the beguiling soprano Ying Fang in the title role, was excellent…. Ms. Fang brought a sweet, penetrating voice to Iphigénie, singing with an aching blend of vulnerability and dignity…. This performance feels like a gift to opera lovers.”

Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

“The evening’s Iphigénie, Ying Fang, possesses a lyric soprano of such verdant beauty that she could merely exhibit it and score a success. But she showed real artistry, coloring her voice to fit her expressive intent at each moment; for instance, in her first-act scene “L’ai-je bien entendu?” musing on the supposed perfidy of her lover Achille, she shifted in a flash from amorous reverie to sorrowful anger, the voice retaining its inherent sweetness through it all. Fang’s stage deportment, too was that of an true artist. She made not one extraneous gesture, but in her bearing and marvelously expressive face rendered the princess’s sentiments viscerally comprehensible.”

Fred Cohn, OPERA NEWS

“The young soprano Ying Fang is the sweet-voiced Barbarina, an age-appropriate match for Cherubino, whom she appears to win over by the end.”

Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times 

“Everything about Ying Fang’s portrayal of Cleopatra suggested the likelihood of a sparkling future for the soprano. She negotiated coloratura with aplomb and, notably in “Piangerò,” spun out long-breathed phrases with an exceptionally tender tone; ornamentation was deftly, subtly applied. The voice was not large and thinned out in the low register, but the soprano’s vocalism exuded so much sureness and personality that she lit up the stage. She demonstrated equal confidence as an actress, every bit the coquette early on (emerging sexily from under the covers of a huge bed for the seduction scene), and just as persuasive when asserting her regality.”

Tim Smith, OPERA NEWS 

“The Chinese-born soprano Ying Fang, in the first of three roles on this program, brought a warm, agile and appealing voice to Konstanze. … Ms. Fang, again impressive, brought vocal bloom and sassiness to Teresa, Cellini’s beloved….Ms. Fang, a star in the making, as the enterprising Adina.”

Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times 

“The scores of minor parts were divided among dozens of singers. Among the more impressive performances were those of the soprano Ying Fang, in her Met debut, singing with pure, alluring tone as Mme. Podtochina’s Daughter and soaring effortlessly over the chorus as the Female Voice in the cathedral scene.”

James Oestreich, The New York Times