Nadia Krasteva

Biography

„The rich, smoky colors and earthy sensuality of her voice were matched by the naturalness of her acting and a fiery temperament at one with this touchstone mezzo role “, they wrote in „Chicago Tribune“ about the debut of Nadia Krasteva as Carmen on the stage of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The audience has also applauded to Carmen, Nadia Krasteva’s bravura role, on leading opera stages all around the world as the Vienna State Opera, the Arena di Verona, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the National Opera Amsterdam, in Hamburg, the festivals Sankt Margarethen (Austria) and Savonnlina (Finland), the National Opera Riga, the National Opera Sofia and others.

In her repertoire, Nadia Krasteva has more than 30 roles, performed on some of the most prestige opera stages and festivals in the world, like Wiener Staatsoper, the Arena di Verona, the Metropolitan Opera, the La Scala in Milan, the Chicago Lyric Opera, The San Francisco opera, the Bolshoi Theatre, La Opera Bastille in Paris, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Theater an der Wien, Musikverein in Graz, the Verdi Festival in Parma, the Nomori Opera and the Spring Opera Festival in Tokyo, Teatro auditorio de San Lorenzo de el Escorial ,the Deutsche Opera and the State Opera of Berlin, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the festivals Sankt Margarethen, Savonlinna (Finland), Santander (Spain) and Faenol in Wales, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the San Diego Opera, in Amsterdam, Valencia, the opera in Dallas, the National Opera in Sofia, the opera Theaters in Zürich, Geneve, St. Gallen, Torino, Riga, Dresden, Essen, The National Performing Centre (NCPA) in Beijing. 

After getting a special invitation to join the ensemble of the Wiener Staatsoper in 2002, Nadia Krasteva has immediately become a leading figure and the audience’s favorite in Vienna. She made her debut as Fenena in Nabucco and has performed most major mezzo-soprano roles in the opera literature like Carmen (Carmen), Eboli (in both French and the Italian versions of Don Carlo), Leonora (The Favorite), Adalgisa (Norma), Sara (Roberto Devereux), Maria Gesualdo (Gesualdo), Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera), Giulietta (The Tales of Hoffmann), Marina (Boris Godunov), Preziosilla (La Forza Del Destino), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Pauline/Daphnis (The Queen of Spades), Meg Page (Falstaff), Emilia (Otello), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly). The fastidious Viennese review enthusiastically welcomes every appearance of hers on stage, thrilled by the incredibly strong influence of her beautiful timbre, her ability to recreate every role extraordinarily convincing and musically precise, as well as her enviable play and her strong presence on stage.

Nadia Krasteva is a guest of many of the most prestige opera stages and musical festivals in Europe, the United States, Japan and South America – both with the above listed roles and parts like Delilah (Samson and Delilah), Amneris (Aida), The Princess (Rusalka), Venus (Tannhäuser), Princess De Bouillon (Adriana Lecouvreur), the requiems of Verdi and Mozart, the 9th symphony of Beethoven, opera gala concerts and song recitals. Some of her biggest successes are connected with her appearances as Delilah (San Diego opera, Sofia national opera, NCPA in Beijing, Teatro Reggio Torino) and as Eboli in both italian and French version (Vienna, Berlin, Munich, New York, San Francisco, Dresden, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Valencia, Sofia, Bratislava).

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Nadia Krasteva completed her studies at the Pancho Vladigerov Conservatoire, Sofia, and continued her training in Vienna and Rome (teacher Anita Cerquetti). She made her stage debut as Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret at the Stefan Makedonski National Music Theatre, Sofia. She made her debut as Carmen at the National Palace of Culture, Sofia. She has sung Maddalena (Rigoletto), title role (Carmen), and Fenena (Nabucco) at the Stara Zagora Opera, title role (Carmen) in Bourgos and Sofia, and Amneris (Aida) in Varna.