Kristīne Opolais
Soprano
“One of the discoveries of the evening is Kristīne Opolais, in the role of Pauline… She looks forlorn like Monica Vitti in Antonioni’s first films and in addition desperately sadistic… her performance resonates with an intense and feverish acting power, in a perfect match with her soaring vocal line, framing the flow of music.”
La Stampa
Kristīne Opolais was born in Latvia in 1979. She studied voice at the Latvian Academy of Music and with Margreet Honig in Amsterdam.
Opolais was a soloist of the Latvian National Opera from 2003 until 2007, where she appeared as the Countess in "Le nozze di Figaro", Mimi and Musetta in "La Bohème", Liù in "Turandot", the title heroines in "Madama Butterfly" and "Tosca", Tamara in Rubinstein’s "The Demon", as well as in "Eugene Onegin" and "Pique Dame". In 2007 she made her debut as Violetta in "La Traviata". Furthermore, she sang on tour with Latvian National Opera at the Bergen Festival, as Freia in "Das Rheingold" in 2006 and in France as Lisa in "Pique Dame".
In 2006, Kristīne Opolais made her debut at the Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin, which led to a re-invitation in 2007 and, notably, to a production of Prokofiev’s "The Gambler" under Daniel Barenboim This co-production between Berlin and Milan also marked Opolais’ La Scala debut in June 2008.
In 2007, Opolais made her UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at the Manchester Bridgewater Hall. 2008 saw her opera debut in the UK with concert performances of "La Bohème" with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons. In August 2008, she made her debut with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. The 2008/2009 season saw, among other engagements, her debuts at the Vienna State Opera in "La Bohème", at the Opéra de Lyon in the "The Gambler", conducted by Kazushi Ono, and at Teatro Regio in Turin in "Pique Dame" under Gianandrea Noseda.
In summer 2009, Kristīne Opolais will make her Salzburg Festival debut in Shostakovich’ 14th Symphony under Andris Nelsons. Moreover, she will be on stage again with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In her native Riga, further performances will take place with the Latvian National Opera (as Donna Elvira in "Don Giovanni") and with the Latvian Symphony National Orchestra (Mahler’s 4th Symphony). She will also perform in Prague, Oslo (with the Oslo Filharmoniske Orkester and Andris Nelsons), Tenerife and give her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in summer 2010.
Opolais’ future includes engagements at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Santa Cecilia in Rome, at the New National Theatre Tokyo, with De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne as well as a return to La Scala in Milano.
Kristīne Opolais 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 for her role as Lisa in "Pique Dame", as well as in 2007.
SEASON 2009/2010
