Studied in the USA and at the Vienna Conservatory. Like many great Wagner sopranos of the past, she sang initially as a mezzo-soprano (e.g. Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde). She sang her first soprano part (Sieglinde in Die Walküre) at the Essen opera. During her time as an ensemble member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein as leading dramatic soprano, she had the opportunity of adding the roles of Kundry, Isolde, Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio, Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and the title role of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos to her repertoire.
Her début at the Bayreuth Festival in 1998 as Kundry in Parsifal under Giuseppe Sinopoli was followed by prestigious invitations for important débuts throughout the world. She has since been appearing as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus, Elisabeth and now also as Brünnhilde at stages all over the world. She has collaborated with many leading conductors of our time, among them James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Christian Thielemann, Antonio Pappano and Kent Nagano.
At the Bayreuth Festival she interpreted Ortrud in Lohengrin (2005) and Brünnhilde in the new Ring staging under the baton of Christian Thielemann (2006). 2005-2006 she appeared in Der Ring Des Nibelungen at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris (conductor: Christoph Eschenbach, director: Robert Wilson), in Parsifal at the Los Angeles Opera and in Ring performances at the Washington Opera. She sang also in Parsifal (Metropolitan Opera New york), Lohengrin (Bologna), Die Walküre (Barcelona), Ring (Staatsoper Vienna).