Born in Moldova, Valentina Naforniță came from humble beginnings to sopranos of her generation. Starting her career as a young member of the Wiener Staatsoper, where she made several notable role debuts: Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte marked her first of many performances which came to include Musetta (La bohème), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Norina (Don Pasquale), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera) and Ilia (Idomeneo). In the summer of 2014, she made the first of many important international debuts at the Salzburger Festspiele as Zerlina (Don Giovanni) where she was hailed as the “highlight” (Bachtrack) of the performance. Shortly after, she made her debut in France at the Théâtre Champs-Elysées, followed by debuts at Opéra national de Paris, Opéra de Lausanne, and Staatsoper Hamburg. She began her 2020/21 season as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at Staatsoper Berlin. Valentina should have returned on the stage of the Opéra National de Paris as Micaëla in Carmen, a production that unfortunately was cancelled, during the rehearsals, because of the new state restrictions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.