Iréne Theorin © Chris Gloag

One of the most celebrated dramatic sopranos of today, Iréne Theorin is a regular guest at opera houses and concert venues across the world. Particularly associated with German dramatic repertoire, she has garnered huge acclaim for her intense musicality, engaging performances, and vocal flexibility. A graduate of the Music Academy and Royal Opera School in Copenhagen, Theorin has performed at Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Berliner Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Salzburg Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra national de Paris, Semperoper Dresden and at the Bayreuth Festival.

In the 2022/23 season, Theorin makes her debut at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden as Die Färberin Die Frau ohne Schatten with the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Kirill Petrenko and returns to Staatsoper Berlin to sing her first Kostelnicka Jenůfa conducted by Antonello Manacorda. On the concert platform, she joins Lise Davidsen and Waltraud Meier at the Gran Teatre del Liceu for a spectacular 175th anniversary concert featuring music by Wagner and Strauss and as Judith Bluebeard’s Castle, both under the baton of Josep Pons.  Theorin also returns as Brünnhilde in the Ring tetralogy at Müpa Budapest and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and sings Isolde in Act II of Tristan und Isolde at Tonhalle Düsseldorf.

Last season she starred as Brünnhilde in new productions of both Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung at Bayreuther Festspiele; Brunnhilde Die Walküre in Stockholm and a double appearance as Ortrud Lohengrin at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Staatsoper unter den Linden. Other recent engagements include The Ring Cycle under the baton of Daniel Barenboim at Staatsoper Berlin; the title role in a new production of Turandot by Fura del Baus – marking twenty years since Gran Teatre del Liceu reopened; Elektra at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia; Brünnhilde Die Walküre at the Royal Swedish Opera; her first Ortrud in a new production of Lohengrin by David Alden at Opera Vlaanderen; the title role of La Gioconda at Grand Teatre del Liceu; Turandot in new productions at Teatro Real Madrid and New National Theatre Tokyo; Brünnhilde Die Walküre in Napoli; and Brünnhilde Götterdämmerung in Leipzig.

On the concert platform, she performed semi – staged performances of Die Walküre with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra under Eva Ollikainen; Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Oslo Philharmonic and Mikko Franck; a concert performance of Die Walküre in Bayreuth during the 2021 edition; Götterdämmerung for Oper Leipzig and concerts of Tristan und Isolde (Act II) with the Norwegian National Opera and Edward Gardner; Die Walküre with Sir Simon Rattle and the Bayerische Rundfunk – which was also released as a CD recording; a concert performance of ‘Liebestod’ Tristan und Isolde under Marek Janwoski and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic; Gurrelieder with Orchestra of the Opéra national de Paris and Philippe Jordan; as well as recitals in Barcelona at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Victoria de Los Angeles Foundation.

Further engagements include Brünnhilde The Ring Cycle (La Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Staatsoper Berlin, the Wagner Festival in Budapest, Oper Leipzig, Cologne and New National Theatre Tokyo), Isolde Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Staatsoper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Washington National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Vlaamse Opera, Tokyo, Berlin, Copenhagen, Oper Stuttgart), Elektra (Salzburg Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra de Paris, Royal Swedish Opera, Semperoper Dresden), her role debut as Dyer’s wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten at Staatsoper Berlin, Turandot (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat,  Festival Castell de Peralada, Essen, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Guangzhou, Dresden, Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Metropolitan Opera New York, Bayerische Staatsoper and Arena di Verona) and Santuzza Cavalleria Rusticana (The Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen and The Mikhailovsky Theatre).

Her DVD recordings include Elektra from Salzburg Festival and Götterdämmerung from the Teatro alla Scala, both released by Arthaus, Tristan und Isolde from Bayreuth on Opus Arté and the award – winning Ring Cycle from Copenhagen on Decca. In March 2015, she was awarded singer of the year in Spain for her interpretation of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in Barcelona 2014, and she has been knighted the Order of the Dannebrog by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

SEASON 2022/2023 THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF MWA MANAGEMENT

Violeta Urmana © Ivan Balderramo

Born in Lithuania, Violeta Urmana is one of the most acclaimed opera artists. She has a wide repertoire both for Opera and concert/lieder, with a preference for the German and Italian one. She began her career singing dramatic mezzosoprano roles such as Azucena, Amneris, Didon, Santuzza, Fricka, Judith, Brangäne, Adalgisa, Fides. Her interpretations of Kundry in PARSIFAL and Princess Eboli in DON CARLO soon led her to reach worldwide fame.

After changing the register from mezzo-soprano to dramatic soprano, for more than a decade, she sang roles such as Amelia in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, Elisabetta in DON CARLO, Leonora in LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, Lady in MACBETH, Odabella in ATTILA, Isolde in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE and also AIDA, LA GIOCONDA, MEDEA, TOSCA, NORMA, LA WALLY, IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE and ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Brünnhilde in SIEGFRIED, Sieglinde in DIE WALKÜRE.

Since 2015 Violeta Urmana has returned to the initial mezzosopranile repertoire enriching it with new roles.The artist is a regular guest in major opera houses around the world such as the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the State Opera Unter den Linden and Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the State Opera in Vienna, the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London and the festivals of Bayreuth, Salzburg, Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh and the BBC Proms.

In the field of concerts, Violeta Urmana performs concerts with music by Mahler, Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, Berlioz, Wagner and Verdi, in the most famous concert halls in Europe, the United States of America and Japan. She has worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Bertrand de Billy, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, James Conlon, James Levine, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Franz Welser-Möst and Christian Thielemann.

She recently sang IL TROVATORE in Berlin, Milan, Naples, Amsterdam, Genoa and at the Arena in Verona, AIDA in Milan, Boston, Vienna, Madrid, Hong Kong and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA in New York, Naples and Beijing, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE in Berlin and Madrid, VERDI REQUIEM in Barcelona, Frankfurt, Dortmund, OEDIPUS REX in Stockholm, DON CARLO in Valencia, numerous concerts in Boston, Madrid, Dortmund, Leipzig, Köln, Essen, Berlin, Helsinki, Roterdam; with music by Mahler, Dvorak, Beethoven, Schubert, Bartok.

Many CD and DVD recordings documenting her career: LA GIOCONDA, IL TROVATORE, OBERTO CONTE DI SAN BONIFACIO, UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, AIDA, LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, MACBETH, DON CARLO, ANDREA CHENIER, SIEGFRIED, PARSIFAL, CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, VERDI'S REQUIEM (soprano and mezzo-soprano), DAS LIED VON DER ERDE and RÜCKERT-LIEDER by Mahler, MAETERLINCK-LIEDER by Zemlinsky, LA MORT DE CLÉOPÂTRE by Berlioz, BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE of Bartok, CD "Puccini rediscovered", Rossignol by Stravinsky, "Lieder" by R. Strauss, Berg, Liszt.

She also played the role of Kundry in Tony Palmer's film "The Search for the Holy Grail".

Violeta Urmana has received many awards such as the Royal Philharmonic Society Award in London, the Österreichische Kammersängerin title in Vienna, the Commander Order of the Star of Italy in 2014 by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. Since 2016 Violeta Urmana has been UNESCO's Artist for Peace. In 2012 she received an Honoris Causa degree from the Lithuanian University of Music and Theater in Vilnius.

Lithuania, her homeland, awarded her the Order of "Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas" and recently “Commander’s Grand Cross of the Order of Merit to Lithuania”.

Future projects include WAR AND PIECE e PIQUE DAME at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich DIE GOTTERDÄMMERUNG in Berlin, SALOME in Hamburg.

SEASON 2022/2023 - THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF ARIOSI MANAGEMENT