Opera star

 Audience favourite and the darling of critics, opera star soprano Kristine Opolais was born in Latvia in 1979. She studied voice at the Latvian Academy of Music and with Margaret Honig in Amsterdam. Opolais is a regular at such opera houses as Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala and Royal Opera House Covent Garden, working with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Daniel Harding, Louis Langrée, Andris Nelsons, Gianandrea Noseda and Kazushi Ono. In the 2010/2011 season, she was an overnight sensation at Bayerische Staatsoper, as the title role in "Rusalka", and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, playing "Madama Butterfly". Her performances at both houses had an enormous impact, earning her extremely high critical praise. In the 2012/2013 season, she makes her debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera, performing the role of Magda in "La Rondine", and her debut at Opernhaus Zürich as the title role in "Jenufa" (also her debut in this role). Further plans include returns to Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin for performances of "La Boheme", Wiener Staatsoper, also for "La Boheme" and her return to Covent Garden as the title role in "Tosca". In the future, she will make her debut at Hamburgische Staatsoper, which will also be her role debut in the part of Desdemona in "Otello". In recent seasons, Opolais' concert performances have included appearances at Salzburg Festival (performing in Shostakovich Symphony No. 14), Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and she is a regular guest with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with which she appears on tour. Recent DVD recordings have included Deutsche Staatsoper's production of Prokofiev's "The Gambler", in which Opolais sang the role of Polina under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, and "Rusalka" from the Bayerische Staatsoper production, which was released last season to high critical praise. Opolais was a soloist of the Latvian National Opera from 2003 until 2007. She won the Pauls 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 and 2007 for her role as Lisa in "Pique Dame".
Source: http://www.kristineopolais.com

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