Press

Vera-Lotte Boecker’s soprano voice outshines everything else; yet it stands out from the other voices just as the sound of a Steinway stands out from that of a fortepiano ensemble.

Kurier · Susanne Zobl · 18.09.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker is captivating as Calisto: the singer-actress, with her expressive facial expressions, not only masters the coloratura with confidence, but above all imbues the melodic lines with grace and expression, culminating in her part, rich in parlando.

Der Standard · Christoph Irrgeher · 18.09.2026

The clarity of the text is exemplary. Vera-Lotte Boecker as Mary Stuart is an impressively energetic bundle of nerves.

BR Klassik · Bernhard Neuhoff · 11.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker plays Maria. Flamboyant, full of pride, torn by her emotions, and obsessed with a lust for power that she will soon lose. Indispensable and a truly remarkable performance, both vocally and dramatically. What is essentially a lyrical role culminates in Boecker’s portrayal of the entire drama surrounding a woman and power itself, and how it corrodes people. This lends the evening a sense of modernity, at first abstract, then concrete.

Süddeutsche Zeitung · Egbert Tholl · 12.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker as ‘a powerfully brought-to-life Mary Stuart’

Neue Zürcher Zeitung · Marco Frei · 12.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker, as Mary Stuart, is an exceptional singer both vocally and on stage; she delivers a breathtaking performance.

Salzburger Nachrichten · Jörn Florian Fuchs · 12.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker delivers a captivating performance, both visually and musically...

Deutschlandfunk Kultur · Jörn-Florian Fuchs · 11.05.2026

On the night of the world premiere, Vera-Lotte Boecker gives a captivatingly tormented performance as Mary Stuart, her performance even eclipsing that of the all-powerful Queen of England, sung by Johanni van Oostrum. She receives the most applause of the evening – alongside conductor Vladimir Jurowski and surpassed only by the composer of this new opera.

Die ZEIT / dpa · 11.05.2026

Dean also takes the queens into remote tonal regions. Johanni van Oostrum (Elizabeth) and Vera-Lotte Boecker (Mary Stuart) follow him there with courage and a willingness to take risks – especially as the composer also treats them to cantabile passages. One cannot help but marvel at two opera singers who have so internalised their roles that it is as though they were performing a piece from their regular repertoire. The loneliness of the queens, their inner turmoil, their search for love, their constant fear for their power and lives – all of this is brought to life by these two sopranos not only through their gestures, but also through their vocal expression.

Merkur · Markus Thiel · 11.05.2026

Whilst conductor Vladimir Jurowski, with the Bavarian State Orchestra, unfolds the beauty and truth of the score with intense focus and mastery, two outstanding singer-actresses carry the evening and make it a truly memorable event. […] With her lyrical soprano voice, which she is able to take jubilantly beyond the high C, Vera-Lotte Boecker produces the most heart-touching, wonderfully intense notes.

concerti · Peter Krause · 11.05.2026

At the very least, in their assertion of themselves as women in a male-dominated world, the two were nevertheless kindred spirits. Or, as they say, ‘of one blood’ – that is, related. Vera-Lotte Boecker as Maria and Johanni van Oostrum as Elizabeth provide the vocal crowning glory to this gripping operatic journey through time! Unanimous acclaim for everyone.

Die Deutsche Bühne · Joachim Lange · 11.05.2026

Impressive! […] The vocal and acting performances of the two leading ladies are outstanding; they master their extremely demanding vocal lines with great panache. […] Vera-Lotte Boecker portrays Mary Stuart with great authenticity, ranging from a naïve young girl to a composed woman on the eve of her execution. Her exceptionally versatile soprano impresses with its sensitive interpretation and enormous vocal range.

Orpheus · Iris Steiner · 12.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker (as the vivacious Mary) … repeatedly steals the show with her crystal-clear, incredibly versatile soprano voice from the warmer, yet more diffuse-sounding Johanni van Oostrum (as the statuesque Elizabeth).

OPER! online · Eleonore Büning · 12.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker, whose score spans a broad spectrum from the lyrical to the melodramatic, succeeds here in creating an enchanting portrait of a woman doomed to failure.

Donaukurier · Sabine Busch-Frank · 19.05.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker is captivating both as a queen harshly oppressed by her husband and as a prisoner torn between her circumstances and her aspirations to the English throne. Both leading ladies deliver truly regal portrayals of their characters, both vocally and in their acting.

Online Musik Magazin · Roberto Becker · 10.05.2026

Boecker and van Ostrum were ideally contrasted as Mary and Elizabeth, the former’s part more lyrically, sympathetically written, the latter’s edgier, more neurotic. It was often mesmerizing to watch.

Opera · Hugh Canning · August 2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker as a delightfully light-footed little vixen.

Opernwelt · Clemens Haustein · April 2026

At its head was the beguiling Vixen of Vera-Lotte Boecker. Her bright, fluid soprano was a superb fit for Janáček’s urgent vocal writing, while she conveyed the character’s untamable, bright-eyed energy compellingly, despite – or even because of – her very human presentation.

Opera Now · Hugo Shirley · Summer 2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker, ‘the vixen’, possesses such energy; most recently, she gave a stunning performance as Daphne, transforming from woman to tree, in Romeo Castellucci’s ‘Olympic Snowstorm’. With her clear diction, crystal-warm tone and powerful presence – even in this, her debut role – one is captivated by everything she utters.

nmz · Bojan Budisavljević · 02.03.2026

Vera-Lotte Boeker is an enchantingly youthful little vixen, clear and warm, with a voice that is confident and resonant in every situation, and full of depth.

Berliner Zeitung · Peter Uehling · 01.03.2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker, …, a lively, perfectly natural embodiment of the title role.

FAZ · Gerald Felber · 01.03.2026

The backbone of this performance, which is at once serious and inhuman, is the little fox herself, Vera-Lotte Boecker, whose youthful, silvery and utterly unclouded soprano voice brings that animal-like coolness to life.

Frankfurter Rundschau · Judith von Sternburg · 01.03.2026

Musically, the Berlin premiere was a real treat. Vera-Lotte Boecker was an equally enchanting Fox, both vocally and in her acting, thanks to her silvery-bright, supple soprano voice and spirited agility, …

Opernglas · Ursula Ehrensberger · April 2026

Vera-Lotte Boecker, as the female title character, the little fox, recounts her very own life story. Her natural talent lies in appearing innocent with youthful vigour, whilst singing with raw power. This is compelling: in the naïve exuberance of youth as well as in her playful banter with the forester, in her revolutionary gesture and, finally, in death. In all these moments, she displays great intensity. Magdalena Kožená, in a reddish-brown double-breasted coat and with caramel-coloured undertones, is a perfectly matured vixen; as a duo, torn between the desire for children and a blood-stained snout after devouring a hare, both exude great intensity.

concerti · Patrick Erb · 01.03.2026

Vocally, the ensemble shines at the very highest level. Vera-Lotte Boecker lends the little fox Schlaukopf a poetic, almost human presence, with bright, clear lines, a rich tone and great sensitivity to the text.

Berliner Morgenpost · Mario-Felix Vogt · 02.03.2026

Janáček’s music is likewise inspired by speech, combining the harmonic tradition of Romanticism with Slavic folk music and his very own ‘spoken melody’, which follows natural intonation. It offers no grand vocal phrases, but rather angular sequences of notes. This nevertheless ensures captivating performances from the leading roles, who have to cope with the lion’s share of the vocal demands. Foremost among them is Vera-Lotte Boecker, who imbues the title role with a somewhat supple expressiveness.

taz · Tim Caspar Boehme · 02.03.2026

Few other sopranos could muster as much physical confidence in a leotard as Vera-Lotte Boecker; she gives the title role febrile physicality, matched by vocal conviction.

Financial Times · Shirley Apthorp · 03.03.2026

Another bright spot is the cast: Vera-Lotte Boecker, the acclaimed ‘Lulu’ actress and Singer of the Year 2022, makes her role debut as Füchslein Schlaukopf with quivering, heightened senses. She portrays *Spring Awakening* as an act of self-empowerment, ready to take the leap, not destined for the chains of the human world. She is one of those who can walk on their hands, one of the carefree souls.

Tagesspiegel · Ulrich Amling · 03.03.2026

Boecker sings with angelic nuance, weaving together longing, despair, radiance and jubilation

Süddeutsche Zeitung · Reinhard J. Brembeck · 28.09.2025

Soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker makes a strong impression both vocally and on stage as Peri: an outstanding performance.

Hannoversche Allgemeine · Stefan Arndt · 30.09.2025

The only one truly in full flow is Peri herself, Vera-Lotte Boecker, the backbone of the stage production, as a soprano with a silky, soulful voice and a strong lyrical quality, and as an actress who throws herself into the role body and soul.

Frankfurter Rundschau · Judith von Sternburg · 28.09.2025

Vera-Lotte Boecker sings the role of Peri with radiant beauty and great emotion.

NDR · Peter Helling · 29.09.2025

For the lead and title role, however, a coloratura prima donna is required, a role which Vera- Lotte Boecker fulfils with delicacy and beauty, as well as with an admirable stage presence.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung · Eleonore Büning · 30.09.2025

In Vera-Lotte Boecker, Kratzer had a performer who grew in stature right through to the finale, and who, through her acting, was able to vividly convey what her vocal part demanded, particularly in the finale with its twists and high notes.

Hamburger Abendblatt · Joachim Mischke · 28.09.2025

There was much applause for the singers of the ensemble, led by the outstanding Vera-Lotte Boecker. The lyricism of her arias in the first and second acts was particularly beautiful; it was admirable, then, how, in the final chorus of the Blessed, she pushed her delicate, silvery voice to its limits in the ‘wie selig, wie selig’ phrases with the six high A’s and six high C’s.

FAZ · Jürgen Kesting · 29.09.2025

With Vera-Lotte Boecker in the tilte role, the production has a strong emotional focus. Her performance has all the full-throated emotional sincerity that the part demands.

Financial Times · Shirley Apthorp · 30.09.2025

Vera-Lotte Boecker portrayed the demanding role of Peri, both in her acting and singing, with great intensity and in a highly nuanced manner.

Deutschlandfunk · Elisabeth Richter · 29.09.2025

First and foremost, the outstanding soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker as Peri, who, radiant and desperate, is like a search engine on the hunt for the solution.

das Orchester · Michael Pitz-Grewening · Dezember 2025

A magnificent Donna Anna, characterised by a dark radiance and a rounded tone, flexible, with a keen sense of nuance; everything is intuitively felt and sonically rendered.

merkur.de · Markus Thiel · 28.06.2025

Vera-Lotte Boecker impressed as Donna Anna with her exceptional mastery of dynamic contrasts.

Der Opernfreund · Getong Feng · 04.07.2025

… Donna Anna, sung by Vera-Lotte Boecker with a captivatingly flexible and sparkling soprano voice.

Donaukurier · Katharina Storck · 01.07.2025

Both Vera-Lotte Boecker and Samantha Hankey are singer-actresses who convincingly portray the emotional struggle over Don Giovanni. That said, from a vocal perspective, Boecker as Donna Anna certainly takes the crown for her consistently controlled voice, which never becomes shrill even during dramatic moments – as exemplified in ‘Or sai chi l’onore’.

Augsburger Allgemeine · Stefan Dosch · 29.06.2025

Donna Anna, aka Vera-Lotte Boecker, deserves a shout-out too, with her rich, dark, and nuanced voice that brings every feeling to the surface.

blogfloejten.com · Freja Oehlenschlæger Holte · 07.07.2025

The soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker embodies, with consummate acting talent and impressive expressiveness, the various facets of Donna Anna, a seductress with a fiery, even menacing desire, who transforms first into a brazen liar and then into an accuser. Her voice is magnificently accurate, precise and powerful, even in the most expressive and exalted moments.

Résonances lyriques · Luc-Henri Roger · 06.07.2025