Author:
INTRODUCTION
One of the fiercest dramatic talents in the field (The New York Times), her versatility is astounding (The Times) with a wild voice [that is] rich and dark (Le Monde). Regularly engaged at the world’s leading opera houses & she has recently performed at the Wiener Staatsoper, the Teatro Real, the Salzburger Festspiele, the Bolshoi Theatre and Teatro alla Scala. She was a founding member of Vilinus City Opera, has twice been awarded the Golden Stage Cross (the highest award for singers in Lithuania), was named Best Female Lead in 2019 at the Austrian Music Theater Awards, and was named Female Opera Singer of the Year in 2022 by the Opera XXI. Have you already guessed who we are talking about? She’s the one and only Asmik Grigorian, in an exclusive interview by Bianca L. Nica. Asmik talked to us about the story & the special connection between her and Rusalka, about the balance between acting & vocal technique, about vocal flexibility & the approach of her demanding repertoire. Last, but not least, Asmik told us about her experience of studying singing under the guidance of her parents, but also about her son, that might follow her footsteps!
BIOGRAPHY
Asmik also returns to three other signature title roles this season; Jenufa at the Staatsoper Berlin and the Wiener Staatsoper in a David Poutney production, Manon Lescaut at Frankfurt Oper and Salome which will be toured with the Tokyo Philharmonic in Japan. The latter will also be broadcast along with Elektra on Radio France. Further role reprises include Nastasya in Tschaikovsky’s Charodeika at Frankfurt Oper, Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Novaya Opera and Polina in Prokoviev’s The Gambler with Lithuanian National Opera. Concert performances include recitals in La Scala, Frankfurt Oper, Wiener Konzerthaus, Opernhaus Zurich, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Ópera de A Coruña and Salle Gaveau in Paris and the Aids Gala at the Deutsche Oper. Asmik has made a name for herself on both the concert and operatic platforms since her international career began with a triumphant performance in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Swedish Opera. She then went on to perform to conquer role after role including: Salome at the Salzburg Festival (described as “a Salome to end all Salomes” (Financial Times) and the Bolshoi Theater, Fedora at the Royal Swedish Opera House, Marie in Wozzeck at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Manon Lescaut at Oper Frankfurt, the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Bolshoi Theatre, Marietta in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at Teatro alla Scala, Iolanta at Oper Frankfurt, Cio-Cio San at the Wiener Staatsoper, Chrysothemis in Elektra at the Salzburger Festspiele, Rusalka at the Teatro Real Madrid, Jenufa at the Royal Opera House and the Staatsoper Berlin, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at the Wiener Staatsoper, Pique Dame at the Teatro alla Scala, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at Vilnius City Opera, and Senta in Der Fliegende Hollander at the Bayreuth Festspiele.
Read more
INTERVIEW
RELATED POSTS
Alice Lechner comes from a music-loving family. Her first encounter with the opera universe was at the tender age of six. The grandeur of the stage productions and costumes, the backstage chatter, and last, but definitely not least, the music left her in awe, beginning with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The overall feeling that opera awakens in anyone who gets a glimpse into this part of artistic eternity, that each and every day passes the test of time, was what drew her to stay and be a part of this world. The Opera House of Brașov became her second home, and the people who worked there were her second family.
Since then, Alice has devoted her spare time to maximising her musical knowledge through instrumental studies, studying both piano and violin for a short time. In the following years, her number one passion stepped out of the limelight and graciously gave way to Law Studies.
Since 2018 she has been studying Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.
Her passion for opera, even if it is no longer her top professional priority in terms of career, it has most definitely become her priority during her free time. Wanting to experience the best of both worlds and extend her musical horizons, she regularly attends opera performances throughout Romania and abroad.
With OPERA Charm Magazine, Alice aims to nurture her creative side to help it flourish and bloom and to discover, alongside the magazine’s readers, the fascinatingly complex world of opera.
Currently, she is an LL.M. in Business Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.
Oana Zamfir is a second year MA student at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts, at the Department of Musicology.
She studied violin for 12 years at the “Stefan Luchian” High School of Art in Botosani, later focusing on the theoretical aspects of music. In 2019 she completed her bachelor studies in Musicology as a student of the National Academy of Music “Gheorghe Dima” in Cluj-Napoca. Her research during 2018-2019 brought to the forefront elements of the archaic ritual within works of composers who activated during the communist period, giving her the opportunity to start a research internship at the “Carl von Ossietzky” University in Germany. In this context, she recorded conversations with members of the Sophie Drinker Institute in Bremen, and had access to documents directly from the Myriam Marbé archive.
Since 2019 she has been a teacher of Music Education and Theoretical Music Studies, making full use of interactive methods in the musical training of students and working, at the same time, with the children’s choir founded in the first year of her activity.
Her interests include pursuing a degree in interior design in 2020.
Alexandru Suciu inherited his passion for art growing up in a family of several generations of musicians. He began his musical studies at the “Augustin Bena” School of Music in Cluj, where he studied piano and guitar. Even though his main study direction was philological, his passion for music prevailed. He began his academical journey at the Faculty of Letters of the “Babeș-Bolyai” University, studying Comparative literature and English. He continued by studying Opera Singing at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy. He also graduated the Musical Education section, followed by Artistic Directing at the Musical Performing Arts department.
His multidisciplinary education opened the doors towards research, which is seen both through his participation in national and international conferences and symposia, such as the Salzburg Easter School PhD-forum, organized by the Salzburg Universität or the Silesian Meeting of Young Scholars, organized by the Institute of English at the University of Silesia, as well as the collaboration with Opera Charm Magazine.
During his student years, he won several prizes, including the Grand Prize at the “Paul Constantinescu” National Musical Interpretation Competition, the Romanian Composers and Musicologists’ Union Prize at the same competition, the First Prize and the Schubert Prize at the “Ada Ulubeanu” Competition.
He further developed his artistic skills by specializing in courses and masterclasses held by personalities such as Vittorio Terranova, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Marian Pop, Ines Salazar, Riccardo Zanellato, Paolo Bosisio, Valentina Farcaș and Manuel Lange in contexts such as the Internationale Sommerakademie für Operngesang Deutschlandsberg, Corso Internazionale di Canto Lirico I.M.C. Licata or the Europäische Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Montepulciano. Besides his activity on-stage, he currently teaches Opera Singing Didactics, and Pedagogical Practice within the Department for Teacher Education and Training at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy.
Cristina is a 24 year-old Romanian soprano & a student at the National University of Music Bucharest, where she pursues the MA program in Vocal Performance.
She made her debut in Pamina from “Die Zauberflöte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at only 19 years old at the Bucharest National Opera House, as a member of the Ludovic Spiess Experimental Opera Studio. Over the years she made her debut in roles such as Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimì & Musetta (La Bohème), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in her university’s opera productions.
Her passion and experience extends in the field of choral music, too.
She has been part of our dream team since the fall of 2021. For a good period of time she took care of OPERA Charm’s social media and took you on the monthly journey through the history of opera through our Legends rubric – and a few times through the Theaters around the World rubric.
Her little soul rubric – from 2021 to present – is definitely the Conductors of the Future, where, every month, she gives you the chance to meet a young star of the world of conducting and, of course, to find out what’s the most charming feature of opera in these artists’ views.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur
