Maria Agasovna Guleghina |

Maria Guleghina

Maria Guleghina is one of the most famous singers in the world. She is called “Russian Cinderella”, “Russian soprano with Verdi music in her blood” and “vocal miracle”. Maria Guleghina became especially famous for her performance of Tosca in the opera of the same name. In addition, her repertoire includes the main roles in the operas Aida, Manon Lescaut, Norma, Fedora, Turandot, Adrienne Lecouvrere, as well as the parts of Abigaille in Nabucco, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth ”, Violetta in La Traviata, Leonore in Il Trovatore, Oberto, Count di San Bonifacio and The Force of Destiny, Elvira in Hernani, Elizabeth in Don Carlos, Amelia in Simone Boccanegre and“ Masquerade Ball, Lucrezia in The Two Foscari, Desdemona in Othello, Santuzzi in Rural Honor, Maddalena in Andre Chenier, Lisa in The Queen of Spades, Odabella in Attila and many others.

Maria Guleghina’s professional career began at the Minsk State Opera Theatre, and a year later she made her debut at La Scala in Un ballo in maschera conducted by maestro Gianandrea Gavazzeni; her stage partner was Luciano Pavarotti. The strong, warm and energetic voice of the singer and her outstanding acting skills have made her a welcome guest on the most famous stages of the world. At La Scala, Maria Guleghina took part in 14 new productions, including the performances of The Two Foscari (Lucretia), Tosca, Fedora, Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), The Queen of Spades (Lisa), Manon Lescaut , Nabucco (Abigaille) and The Force of Destiny (Leonora) directed by Riccardo Muti. In addition, the singer gave two solo concerts in this legendary theater, and also twice – in 1991 and 1999 – toured Japan as part of the theater troupe.

Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, where she took part in a new production of André Chénier with Luciano Pavarotti (1991), Gulegina appeared on her stage more than 130 times, including in performances of Tosca, Aida, Norma , “Adrienne Lecouvreur”, “Country Honor” (Santuzza), “Nabucco” (Abigaille), “The Queen of Spades” (Lisa), “The Sly Man, or The Legend of How the Sleeper Woke Up” (Dolly), “Cloak” (Georgetta ) and “Macbeth” (Lady Macbeth).

In 1991, Maria Guleghina made her debut at the Vienna State Opera in André Chenier, and also performed on the stage of the theater the parts of Lisa in The Queen of Spades, Tosca in Tosca, Aida in Aida, Elvira in Hernani, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Leonora in Il trovatore and Abigail in Nabucco.

Even before her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where the singer sang the title role in Fedora, performing with Plácido Domingo, she took part in a concert performance of Hernani at the Barbican Hall with the Royal Opera House Company. This was followed by an exceptionally successful performance at the Wigmore Hall. Other roles performed on the Covent Garden stage include Tosca in the opera of the same name, Odabella in Attila, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and participation in a concert performance of the opera André Chenier.

In 1996, Maria Gulegina made her debut on the stage of the Arena di Verona theater in the role of Abigail (Nabucco), for which she was awarded the Giovanni Zanatello Award for Outstanding Debut. Later, the singer repeatedly performed in this theater. In 1997, Maria Guleghina made her debut at the Opéra de Paris as Tosca in the opera of the same name, and then performed at this theater as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Abigail in Nabucco and Odabella in Attila.

Maria Guleghina maintains close ties with Japan, where she has gained immense popularity. In 1990, Guleghina sang the role of Leonora in Il trovatore in Japan and, together with Renato Bruson, participated in the recording of the opera Othello conducted by Gustav Kuhn. In 1996, Guleghina returned to Japan again to participate in the performance of the opera Il trovatore at the New National Theater in Tokyo. She later sang Tosca in Japan with the Metropolitan Opera Company and in the same year took part in the opening of the Tokyo New National Theater as Aida in Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of Aida. In 1999 and 2000, Maria Guleghina undertook two concert tours in Japan and recorded two solo discs. She also toured Japan with the La Scala Theater Company as Leonora in The Force of Destiny and with the Washington Opera Company as Tosca. In 2004, Maria Guleghina made her Japanese debut as Violetta in La Traviata.

Maria Guleghina has performed in recitals all over the world, including La Scala Theatre, Teatro Liceu, Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall, Mariinsky Theatre, as well as major concert halls in Lille, Sao Paolo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hong Kong, Rome and Moscow.

Many performances with the participation of the singer were broadcast on radio and television. Among them are “Tosca”, “The Queen of Spades”, “Andre Chenier”, “The Sly Man, or the Legend of How the Sleeper Woke Up”, “Nabucco”, “Country Honor”, “Cloak”, “Norma” and “Macbeth” (Metropolitan Opera), Tosca, Manon Lescaut and Un ballo in maschera (La Scala), Attila (Opera de Paris), Nabucco (Vienna State Opera). The singer’s solo concerts in Japan, Barcelona, ​​Moscow, Berlin and Leipzig were also broadcast on television.

Maria Gulegina regularly performs with the most famous singers, including Placido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Renato Bruson, José Cura and Samuel Reimi, as well as with such conductors as Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi and Claudio Abbado.

Among the singer’s recent achievements are a series of concerts from Verdi’s works at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, participation in performances of the operas Tosca, Nabucco and The Force of Destiny conducted by Valery Gergiev at the Stars of the White Nights festival at the Mariinsky Theatre, and also participation in the play “Norma” and the new production of the operas “Macbeth”, “The Cloak” and “Adrienne Lecouvrere” at the Metropolitan Opera. Maria Guleghina also took part in new productions of the operas Nabucco in Munich and Attila in Verona and made her debut in the long-awaited role of Turandot in Valencia under Zubin Meta. In the nearest plans of Maria Guleghina – participation in the performances of “Turandot” and “Nabucco” at the Metropolitan Opera, “Nabucco” and “Tosca” at the Vienna State Opera, “Tosca”, “Turandot” and “André Chenier” at the Berlin Opera, ” Norma, Macbeth and Attila at the Mariinsky Theatre, Le Corsaire at Bilbao, Turandot at La Scala, as well as numerous recitals in Europe and the USA.

Maria Gulegina is the winner of numerous prizes and awards, including the Giovanni Zanatello Award for her debut on the stage of the Arena di Verona, the Prize to them. V. Bellini, the award of the city of Milan “For the development of opera art in the world.” The singer was also awarded the Maria Zamboni Gold Medal and the Osaka Festival Gold Medal. For her social activities, Maria Guleghina was awarded the Order of St. Olga – the highest award of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was presented to her by Patriarch Alexy II. Maria Guleghina is an Honorary Member of the International Paralympic Committee and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website