Nadja Stefanoff | |
---|---|
Born | Karl-Marx-Stadt, Germany | 22 July 1976
Education | Musikhochschule Dresden |
Occupation | Operatic soprano |
Organization | Staatstheater Mainz |
Website | www |
Nadja Stefanoff (born 22 July 1976) [1] is a German operatic soprano based at the Staatstheater Mainz. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano. [2] She has performed leading roles there and as a guest at major opera houses in Europe, such as Marta in Weinberg's Die Passagierin at the Oper Graz, and Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt.
Stefanoff was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt, the daughter of Bulgarian tenor Stefan Stefanoff. [3] She studied voice at the Musikhochschule Dresden, graduating in 2010. [2] She was successful at competitions, such as a third prize at Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin in 2002, [4] and winner of the Orpheum Public Award for Mozart in Zürich in 2004. [2] She became a member of the Theater Erfurt, then of the Stadttheater Pforzheim and from 2007 to 2014 at Theater Bremen. [5] She moved to soprano roles in 2013. [6] Stefanoff appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Komische Oper Berlin and Oper Bonn. She made recordings with the Staatsoperette Dresden . [2] [7]
She moved to the Staatstheater Mainz with the 2014/15 season. [8] She performed there the title roles of Cherubini's Mèdèe , Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Manon Lescaut [9] and Tosca , and as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites . [2]
In the 2020/21 season, she appeared as Marta in Weinberg's Die Passagierin at the Oper Graz, [6] recorded on CD. [10] [11] Stefanoff portrayed the title role, a Russian princess, of Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt in a new production in 2022, directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Lorenzo Passerini, alongside Jonathan Tetelman as Loris Ipanov. [6] [12] [13] Reviewer Jan Brachmann from the FAZ noted the brilliance and agility of her voice, assertive even when singing softly. [14]
Aile Asszonyi is an Estonian soprano who has made an international career, known for dramatic roles such as Puccini's Turandot, Wagner's Senta and Elektra by Richard Strauss.
Heather Engebretson is a Chinese-American operatic soprano who made a career mostly in Europe. Based at German opera ensembles for several years, she has worked freelance from 2017, and widened her repertoire from coloratura roles to leading characters such as Puccini's Madama Butterfly. She has been praised for her convincing acting as well as the expressiveness of her lyric voice, with performances including the Royal Opera House in London, the Bolshoi Theatre and Oper Frankfurt.
Claudia Mahnke is a German operatic mezzo-soprano, a member of the Oper Frankfurt, with guest appearances at leading opera houses and the Bayreuth Festival.
Lioba Braun is a German opera singer and academic teacher at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Based at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, she has appeared mostly in mezzo-soprano parts at major opera houses and festivals. She became internationally known appearing as Brangäne at the Bayreuth Festival in 1994, and performed the soprano part of Isolde on stage first in 2012.
Vera Nemirova is a Bulgarian-German opera director who has worked at major opera houses in Europe, staging for example Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Oper Frankfurt. She directed for the Munich Biennale and the Salzburg Festival.
Asmik Grigorian is a Lithuanian operatic soprano.
Christina Gerstberger is a German operatic soprano. The award-winning singer has worked freelance and as a member of theatres such as the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, often in roles by Mozart such as Susanna. She has performed at international festivals such as the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, and in concert and recordings.
Katharina Magiera is a German operatic contralto. A member of the Oper Frankfurt, she has appeared in major European opera houses. She is active also as a lieder singer and has recorded.
Renate Behle is an Austrian operatic mezzo-soprano and soprano who made an international career, based in Germany. She was professor of voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg from 2000 to 2010.
Stefan Soltész was a Hungarian-born Austrian conductor. Trained in Vienna, from 1997 to 2013 he was artistic director of the Aalto Theatre and Generalmusikdirektor in Essen, leading the opera house to international recognition.
Bernd Loebe is a German music journalist and opera manager. After working as a journalist with a focus on opera and voice for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Neue Musikzeitung, Opernwelt and Hessischer Rundfunk, he was artistic director of the opera house of Brussels, La Monnaie, from 1990, and has been Intendant of the Oper Frankfurt since 2002, where he encouraged a capable ensemble, international guest artists, and the production of rarely performed operas. He received the 2018 International Opera Award in the category Leadership in Opera.
Corinna von Rad is a German-American opera and theatre director.
Tichina Vaughn is an American operatic dramatic mezzo-soprano active internationally in opera, concert halls and recitals. Starting at the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, her American career expanded into Europe, as member of the permanent ensembles of the Semperoper in Dresden and the Stuttgart Opera, where she was awarded the title of Kammersängerin in 2006. She has been a regular at the Arena di Verona and other major theaters worldwide, singing a wide repertoire span, with a "voluminous and dark mezzo" voice the dramatic Verdi roles such as Amneris in Aida, Eboli in Don Carlo, Azucena in Il trovatore and Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera, Wagner's Ortrud Lohengrin, Venus Tannhäuser, Fricka Die Walküre, Waltraute in Götterdämmerung and Strauss, Herodias in Salome and Klytemnestra in Elektra. According to Opernglas, Vaughn has a natural "great intensity" on stage, with an ample "voice, which flows richly, even in the low registers." The Neue Zürcher Zeitung describes her voice as an "enchanting satisfyingly rich mezzosoprano". Bernard Holland of The New York Times called hers "A voice of quality", which had "the presence and personality that might well fit the Met... a mezzo-soprano whose strong upper register gave hints of a dramatic soprano to come".
Die ersten Menschen(The first humans) is an opera in two acts by Rudi Stephan. For the libretto the composer chose a drama of the same name by Otto Borngräber. The opera was premiered at the Oper Frankfurt on 1 July 1920.
Olga Bezsmertna is a Ukrainian operatic soprano based at the Vienna State Opera. She was engaged there after winning the Neue Stimmen competition in 2011, and soon performed leading roles such as Dvořák's Rusalka and Rachel in Halévy's La Juive. She appeared as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Zürich Opera House, as Diana in Cavalli's La Calisto at La Scala in Milan, and as the Countess in Mozart's Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera.
Beth Taylor is a Scottish operatic mezzo-soprano, who has performed mainly in Europe. At the Oper Frankfurt, she performed a title role in Rossini's Bianca e Falliero.
Jonathan Tetelman is an American operatic tenor who has established an international career, especially in Europe, in such roles as Verdi's Alfredo, Massenet's Werther, Puccini's Rodolfo, Cavaradossi and Pinkerton, and Giordano's Loris Ipanov.
Lorenzo Passerini is an Italian conductor who began as a trombonist. He has worked at major opera houses in Europe and Australia, such as Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Gounod's Faust at the Sydney Opera House, and a new production of Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt in 2022.
Domen Križaj is a Slovenian operatic baritone who has performed internationally, based in Germany. As a member of the Oper Frankfurt, he has appeared in major roles including Mozart's Papageno, Albert in Massenet's Werther, and the Count in Capriccio by Richard Strauss.
Michael McCown is an American operatic tenor, based at the Oper Frankfurt. While many of the ninety roles in his repertoire are comprimario, he has portrayed lead roles such as Britten's Captain Vere, Abott and Tempter, and Nebukadnezar.