Croatian coloratura contralto Sonja Runje has established herself as one of the leading interpreters of Baroque repertoire of her generation. Her distinctive voice—velvety, deep and richly coloured—is matched by virtuoso coloratura, long-breathed phrasing and a commanding dramatic presence.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include Elmira in Handel’s Floridante at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival and the International Handel Festival Karlsruhe; Holofernes in Vivaldi’s Juditha triumphans in Turku, at the MusikTheater an der Wien and at Helsinki Music Centre; and Calipso in Porpora’s Polifemo at the Handel Festival Halle. She also sings Bradamante in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso with Kammeroper Weißenhorn, followed by performances in Varaždin, Zadar and Dubrovnik, and joins the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln for Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the Kölner Philharmonie.
Runje returns to the MusikTheater an der Wien as Teodata in Handel’s Flavio and Ino in Semele. She also appears as Erissena in Handel’s Poro, re dell’Indie at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Warsaw Philharmonic.
Recent engagements have included the title role in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Oper Köln, the title role in Vivaldi’s Griselda at Wuppertaler Bühnen and the title role in Bononcini’s Griselda at the MusikTheater an der Wien. She has also appeared as Issicratea, disguised as Antigono, in Alessandro Scarlatti’s Mitridate Eupatore at Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid; Teodata in Handel’s Flavio, re de’ Longobardi at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Kölner Philharmonie; and Farnace in Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Opéra de Lausanne. Further highlights include Papandopulo’s Croatian Mass at the Prinzregententheater in Munich and a solo concert at the Bach Festival Lausanne.
Runje has appeared at festivals including the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, Handel Festival Halle and Savonlinna Opera Festival. She has worked with period-instrument ensembles and orchestras including Il Pomo d’Oro, Concerto Köln, The English Concert, Armonia Atenea, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Wrocław Baroque Orchestra. She has collaborated with conductors including Francesco Corti, Christian Curnyn, George Petrou, Rubén Dubrovsky, Benjamin Bayl, Markellos Chryssicos and Aapo Häkkinen.
Her operatic repertoire includes the title roles in Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula and Giulio Cesare in Egitto, as well as Cornelia and Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare; Disinganno in Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno; Counsel in The Triumph of Time and Truth; Teodata in Flavio; and Egeo in Teseo. She has also performed Alcina and Bradamante in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso; the title roles in Vivaldi’s and Bononcini’s respective settings of Griselda; Issicratea/Antigono in Scarlatti’s Mitridate Eupatore; Angelo di Giustizia in Galuppi’s La caduta di Adamo; Flora in Albinoni’s Il nascimento dell’Aurora; Acheloo in Steffani’s La lotta d’Ercole con Acheloo; Calipso in Porpora’s Polifemo; the Sorceress and Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice; Isabella in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri; and Farnace and Sesto in Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto and La clemenza di Tito. Her wider stage repertoire includes works by Johann Strauss, Prokofiev, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Verdi, Wagner and Hatze.
Equally active on the concert platform, Runje has performed Bach’s Mass in B minor, Christmas Oratorio, St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, together with the cantatas Widerstehe doch der Sünde, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen and Süßer Trost, mein Jesu kömmt. Her repertoire also includes Handel’s Messiah, Dixit Dominus and Il dolce tempo; Vivaldi’s Gloria and Stabat Mater; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater; and cantatas by Giovanni Bononcini and Johann Christoph Bach.
Further concert works include Mozart’s Requiem and Missa brevis, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody, Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël, Papandopulo’s Croatian Mass, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Duruflé’s Requiem, Mahler’s Second Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Her recital repertoire includes Schubert’s Winterreise, Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas and Brouwer’s Tres canciones amatorias.
Her discography includes Boris Papandopulo’s Croatian Mass, recorded with the Bavarian Radio Choir under Ivan Repušić, and Porpora’s Polifemo, recorded with Armonia Atenea under George Petrou.
Sonja Runje graduated with honours from the Academy of Music of the University of Zagreb, earning a master’s degree in opera performance in the class of Martina Gojčeta Silić. She subsequently continued her vocal development with Eva Blahová in Bratislava.
(2026_2027. Please use this CV exclusively.)
