INTERVIEWS

Federico Tibone
Opera is about creating moments where people feel deeply, whether it’s laughter, tears, or sheer awe.

Federico Tibone is an acclaimed Italian conductor, pianist, and vocal coach, currently associate conductor at Opéra de Marseille and Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille. With a career spanning major opera houses and collaborations with renowned artists, he has led productions from Madama Butterfly to Le Nozze di Figaro. The 2024-25 season sees him debut at Opéra de Québec with Il Trovatore and release a new song album with mezzo-soprano Anne-Lise Polchlopek. In a conversation with Cristina Fieraru, Federico talks about beginning of career, about this collaboration with Lawrence Foster & Paolo Arrivabeni, about Démos Marseille and it’s social impact and many other inspiring things.

February 2025
Cristina Fieraru
Janetka Hosco
It is important for each artist to understand their goals and choose the programs that best support their artistic and personal growth.

Janetka Hoșco is a talented mezzo-soprano known for her emotional performances and exceptional vocal technique. A graduate of Romania’s Gheorghe Dima Academy, she’s made notable appearances in operas like Rigoletto and Don Giovanni, and is currently furthering her artistry at the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.In a conversation with Alice Lechner, Janetka talks about her audition at Young Artist Program at the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, about the differences that she noticed between the Romanian and Italian systems, about how she chooses her repertoire, about the future of opera industry & what succes means to her!

Alice Lechner
Teresa Iervolino
Rossini is like my protective father; he is the composer who inspired me to make music and theater my life, and at the same time, he remains the most unpredictable composer for me.

With her warm, velvety timbre and magnetic stage presence, Teresa Iervolino is one of the brightest rising stars in the opera world. Renowned for her mastery of Bel canto and Baroque repertoire, she has already conquered major international stages, from La Scala to the Bayerische Staatsoper. In a conversation with Alice Lechner, Teresa talks about her upcoming season, about her Cenerentola & her relationship with Rossini's music, about her passion for the Baroque repertoire and about her Maffio Orsini from Lucrezia Borgia.

Alice Lechner
Astrid Nordstad: A Mezzo’s Journey Through Heart and Stage
For me, singing different styles is more about my approach to the repertoire and being conscious of the genre than about changing my technique.

Norwegian mezzo-soprano Astrid Nordstad has captivated audiences with her versatile voice and deeply expressive performances, from Rossini’s agile heroines to the rich drama of Wagner and Grieg. A graduate of Oslo and Copenhagen’s top music institutions, and a former member of the Norwegian National Opera’s Young Artist Program, Astrid combines technical mastery with emotional authenticity, bringing characters vividly to life on stage. In this conversation with Alice Lechner, she shares insights into her artistic journey, her approach to iconic roles like Carmen and Haugtussa, and how she balances a demanding career with personal growth and family life.

Alice Lechner
José Salazar
Having access to high artistic quality is important for society as a whole, and I want to help guarantee that as much as I can.
Alice Lechner
Tradition and Discovery: Jérôme Boutillier’s Operatic Path
Definitely, this is a job where you have the least chance of getting bored, if you remain aware and open-minded.
Alice Lechner
Huigang Liu
As a young singer, I need to gain a lot of experience, and doubt can be a positive part of this process.
Alice Lechner
Elene Gvritishvili
Sometimes music finds you — and you suddenly realize that this was the beauty you had been waiting for all your life.
Alice Lechner
The Enduring Allure: Corinne Winters on Passion, Power, and the Poise of Opera
The more I’m myself and don’t try to be anyone or anything in particular, the more impact I have. To me, being able to own all of myself is the essence of what it means to be a modern woman. 
Alice Lechner
Interview_Page_Filter
Singing Beyond the Notes: A Conversation with Joshua Guerrero
What makes opera so special is that it’s not something easily quantified into recordings or videos. It’s meant to be experienced live.
Alice Lechner
Carrying Armenia in Her Voice: An Interview with Hasmik Torosyan
I try to live fully in the music and in each character, so every performance feels alive, personal, and true to my own artistic voice.
Alice Lechner
From Mozart to Wagner: The Many Lives of Birger Radde
I believe it’s crucial to give new composers and creators the chance to write operas for modern audiences. It’s never too late for opera to reinvent itself.
Alice Lechner
Veena Akama-Makia
I think getting to know an artist and seeing yourself reflected on stage makes people take more interest in what they are watching.
Alice Lechner
The Voice Beyond the Stage: an exclusive interview with Millia Dibner
One thing I always remind my singers is that self-care isn’t indulgent—it is survival.
Alice Lechner
Jack Swanson: The Man Behind Almaviva - Exploring Roles, Life, and the Opera World
I decided that an artist can’t cater to every audience. When you try, it becomes inauthentic.
Alice Lechenr

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Alice Lechner

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.

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Oana Zamfir

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.

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Alexandru Suciu

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.

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Cristina Fieraru

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.

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BIANCA L. NICA

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