Sonja Runje

Stagione, the magazine of the Musiktheater an der Wien, describes Sonja Runje in its issue 4/23 as one of the most beautiful baroque voices of our days. Already sung standard repertoire of the young contralto are roles like title parts in Handel’s Amadigi, Giulio Cesare and Bononcini’s Griselda, furthermore Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo, Disinganno in Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Calipso in Porpora’s Polifemo, Bradamante and Alcina in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso, Acheloo in Steffani’s La lotta d’Ercole con Acheloo, Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Erenice in Caldara’s Venceslao, Isabella in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Mércèdes in Bizet’s Carmen and Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Sonja Runje is a sought-after oratorio and concert singer. Previous performances include Bach’s B minor Mass, Christmas Oratory, St Matthew Passion and cantatas (BWV 54, 11, 151), Handel’s Messiah, Dixit Dominus and Il dolce tempo, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Stabat Mater, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, J.Ch. Bach’s Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Requiem and Missa Brevis in B, Mendelssohn-Bartoldy’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Elijah, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Duruflé’s Requiem, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Schubert’s Winterreise and Brouwer’s Canciones Amatorias.

Sonja Runje graduated with honors from the Academy of Music at the University of Zagreb with a master’s degree in opera singing under Martina Gojčeta Silić. She is currently working regularly with Eva Blahova in Bratislava. Highlights of Sonja’s 2024/25 season are roles like the title role in Giulio Cesare at the Cologne opera, Farnace (Mitridate, re di Ponto) at the Opera de Lausanne and the role of Bradamante in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso with the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival.