Born Maria Riccarda Schmid[1] in Wattwil,[2] she studied with Hedwig Vonlanthen in Solothurn, with Elisabeth Glauser at the Musikhochschule Bern, and with Margreet Honig [nl] at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.

Wesseling received international attention in 2006, when she stepped in at the Paris Opera for the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, staged by Krzysztof Warlikowski and conducted by Marc Minkowski.

She appeared as Orpheus in Orfeo ed Euridice, staged by Pina Bausch and conducted by Hengelbrock, which was broadcast live by arte and recorded for DVD, and presented not only in Paris but also the Greek theatre in Epidauros, Lincoln Center in New York, and the Teatro Real.

Since she created the title role in the world premiere of the opera "Annas Maske" by David Philip Hefti, sang Herodias in the Serebrennikow production of "Salome" at Staatsoper Stuttgart, debuted as Amneris in Aida and Klytämnestra in "Elektra".

[3] She appeared in Claude Vivier's Wo bist Du, Licht at the Ruhrtriennale,[4] and as the Queen in Heinz Holliger's Schneewittchen, staged by Achim Freyer at Theater Basel.