Angela Gheorghiu gained fame not only as a singer with a voice of huge range and a phenomenal vocal technique, but also as an outstanding actress. No wonder that amongst her crown roles is Tosca, Violetta (La Traviata), Adriana Lecouvreur, Mimi (La boheme), Marguerite (Faust by Gounod), Amelia (Simon Boccanegra) … Angela Gheorghiu is one of the most acclaimed singers, she received five “The Gramophone” awards, two Classical BRIT Awards in the nomination “Singer of the Year” and The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France… In 2019 this list was supplemented by a Russian award “Onegin”, despite the fact Ms Gheorghiu is a rare guest in Russia. At the Bolshoi she was applauded ten years ago at the concert-opening of the Historic Stage.
The brilliant Eva-Maria Westbroek will perform on our stage for the first time. The owner of a strong and sensual, lyrical and dramatic soprano, she is widely recognised for her interpretations of the music by Puccini, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Janacek. Her calling cards are also the parts of Katerina (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich), Marie (Wozzeck), Madelon (Andrea Chénier), and Francesca (Francesca da Rimini by Zandonai), which the singer performs on the leading opera stages around the globe: at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Paris National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna and Bavarian State Operas, at the festivals in Bayreuth, Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence.
Hibla Gerzmava, a soloist with the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre and one of the most sought-after Russian singers abroad, is well-known to our audience. At the Bolshoi Theatre she has sung the parts of Elisabeth of Valois (Don Carlo) and Violetta (La Traviata). She performs the leading roles at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (Turandot and La boheme by Puccini, Simon Boccanegra by Verdi, Don Giovanni by Mozart), the Paris National Opera (Otello and Don Carlo by Verdi, La clemenza di Tito by Mozart) and at the Metropolitan Opera (The Tales of Hoffmann, Otello, Don Giovanni, Turandot). On top of that, she is a guest soloist at the Vienna State Opera (La clemenza di Tito), La Scala (Anna Bolena), Teatro Real in Madrid (La forza del destino) and the holder of her own festival “Hibla Gerzmava invites…”.
The partner of Plácido Domingo in this concert will be the globally famous bass, René Pape. Being a soloist with the Berlin State Opera, he also has an excessive repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera, the Bavarian and Vienna State Operas, the Paris National Opera, and participates in productions at the festivals in Salzburg and Bayreuth. René Pape performs all of the leading parts in Wagner’s operas and is rightfully considered the best Wagner bass, but what is more, he is also an acclaimed performer of Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte by Mozart) and Boris Godunov (Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky), the performance of which was noted by the German Critics Association Award, and Philippe II (Don Carlo by Verdi). Amongst his multiple titles and awards is the honorary title of Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera (2018), two Grammy Awards and a nomination for the International Opera Awards (2021).
A soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre with a brilliant international career, Ekaterina Semenchuk performs at the leading opera houses: the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Paris National Opera, La Scala, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, the Berlin and Bavarian State Operas, Bilbao Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Salzburg, Edinburgh and the Verona Arena festivals. She performs the leading parts in Italian and French operas. In the Russian repertoire, the greatest success was brought to her by the roles of Marina Mnishek (Boris Godunov), Marfa (Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky) and Lyubov (Mazeppa by Tchaikovsky). For the part of Lubava Buslaevna (Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov) in the Bolshoi production, she was honoured with the “Golden Mask” National Theatre Award (2020).
“Born bel canto tenor” (The New York Times), a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, Mario Chang had a triumphant victory at the International Competition “Operalia” in 2014, having received the top three prizes – the 1st award, the Special Prize for Best Performance of Zarzuela and the Audience Award. He currently performs at the most significant theatres in the USA and Europe, and in his motherland, in Guatemala, he is also known as a social activist and the founder of an opera company Querido Arte Opera de Guatemala.
The orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre will be led by the most famous opera conductor from Italy, Marco Armiliato. At his time, the maestro often performed with the extremely popular project “The Three Tenors” – Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti. Since 1998, he has regularly led performances at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted a vast repertoire at the Vienna and Bavarian State Operas, performed at the Paris National Opera, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, La Scala, Teatro Real in Madrid and at the Salzburg Opera Festival.
Art. Lebedev Studio