Kristīne Opolais
Soprano
“Opolais delivered a tour de force. Here is, for once, a Butterfly who can be naive girl, stubbornly loyal bride and abandoned, properly tragic heroine in one evening. A remarkable debut.” The Times
Kristīne Opolais was born in Latvia in 1979. She studied voice at the Latvian Academy of Music and with Margreet Honig in Amsterdam.
Opolais appears at such opera houses as Wiener Staatsoper as Mimi in Puccini's ''La Boheme'', Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin as the title role in Puccini's ''Tosca'', Teatro alla Scala as Polina in Prokofiev's ''The Gambler'' and Nedda in Leoncavallo's ''I Pagliacci'', Palau Reina Sofia Theatre in Valencia as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin'' (which is planned for release on DVD during the current season), Opéra de Lyon as Polina in Prokofiev's ''The Gambler'', Teatro Regio in Turin as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's ''Pique Dame'' and Aix-en-Provence Festival as Donna Elvira in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'', working with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Harding, Louis Langrée, Andris Nelsons, Gianandrea Noseda and Kazushi Ono. In the 2010/2011 season, she made her Munich debut at Bayerische Staatsoper as the title role in "Rusalka", which earned her the award of Bavaria's "Star of the Year 2010", and her debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as the title role in "Madama Butterfly". She had an enormous impact at both houses, earning extremely high critical praise, and is returning to both; in Munich she will play Tatyana in "Eugene Onegin" plus Vitellia in a new production of "La Clemenza di Tito" in season 2013-14.
In the next few seasons, opera plans include returns to Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in the title roles for performances of "Madama Butterfly" and ''La Boheme'' and performances of "Tosca" at Oper der Stadt Köln. She will make her debut at Opernhaus Zürich as the title role in "Jenufa" (also her debut in this role) and, later, as Lisa in "Pique Dame". In the future, she will return to Deutsche Staatsoper for performances of "Tosca" and also to play Gutrune in "Götterdämmerung" under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, a role she will also perform when she returns to Teatro alla Scala. She will make her debut at Hamburgische Staatsoper, which will also be her role debut in the part of Desdemona in "Otello" and will return to Wiener Staatsoper to play Mimi in "La Boheme". Furthermore, her debut at The Metropolitan Opera New York is planned, performing the role of Magda for the first time in "La Rondine".
In recent seasons, Opolais' concert performances have included appearances at Salzburg Festival (performing in Shostakovich "Symphony No. 14"), with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. This season she appears in concert with Joseph Calleja at Odeon Concerte Regensburg, she will sing Strauss "Four Last Songs" with Bremer Philharmoniker, she returns to perform Ravel "Sheherazade" with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and she appears in the season opening of City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, in performances of Verdi's "Requiem". She also rejoins CBSO later in the season for Britten's "War Requiem", on the occasion of the work's 50th anniversary.
Kristīne Opolais appeared at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin as Polina in a production of Prokofiev's "The Gambler" under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, which was subsequently released on DVD to high critical praise. A DVD of the "Rusalka" from Bayerische Staatsoper has just been released, and a CD recording with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln of Puccini's "Suor Angelica" is planned for release during the current season.
Opolais was a soloist of the Latvian National Opera from 2003 until 2007. She won the Paul Sakss Singers' Award in 2004, the Latvian Annual Theatre Award for Best Opera Artist and the Latvian Cultural Foundation Award in 2005. She was also awarded the Latvian Great Music Award in 2006 and 2007 for her role as Lisa in "Pique Dame".
SEASON 2011/2012
