Elena Sommer (Mezzo soprano) Prize-winner at the Verona International Vocalists' Competition
(Italy, 1999).
Elena Sommer was born in Omsk. Graduated from the vocal faculty of
the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire (class of
I.P. Levando). Joined the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers
in 2000. With the Mariinsky Opera Company since 2008.
Roles performed at the Mariinsky Theatre
include: Nanny (Eugene Onegin) Laura (Iolanta
in concert) Nezhata (Sadko) Smeraldina (The Love
for Three Oranges) Gipsy Matryosha (War and Peace) Little
Robber (The Story of Kai and Gerda) Plyushkin (Dead souls,
in concert) Venus (Tsar Demian) Minerva (Cephalus and
Prokris in concert) Modestina, Maddalena (Il viaggio a
Reims) Meg Page (Falstaff) Frugola (Il
tabarro) Cesca (Gianni Schicchi in concert) Marcelina
(Le nozze di Figaro) Second Lady (Die Zauberflцte) Erda
(Das Rheingold) Grimgerda (Die Walkьre) Composer, Dryad
(Ariadne auf Naxos) Servant (Elektra)
Moreover, the singer's repertoire includes the roles of Olga
(Eugene Onegin), the Countess and Polina (The Queen of
Spades), Marta (Iolanta), Lyubasha (The Tsar's
Bride), Duenna (Betrothal in a Monastery), Amneris
(Aida), Siebel, Marta (Faust), Didon (Les Troyens),
Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Cherubino (Le nozze di
Figaro), Witch, Didon (Didon and Aeneas), the mezzo-soprano
roles in Handel's Brockes Passion and Dixit Dominus,
Bach's Magnificat, Johannespassion and Christmas Oratorio,
Haydn's Stabat Mater, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Rossini's Petite
Messe Solennelle and Schoenberg's cycle Pierrot Lunaire.
Together with the Mariinsky Opera Company, Elena Sommer has performed at
the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Thйвtre du Chвtelet (Paris),
the Alexander Theatre (Helsinki), the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia
(Moscow) and the Wagner Theatre in Bayreuth (Germany); she has also
toured to Los Angeles, Madrid and Tokyo. She has taken part
in the Moscow Easter Festival and festivals in Mikkeli,
Baden-Baden and Vladikavkaz. She has performed as a guest soloist with
the Latvian National Opera (Riga), appearing as Waltraute (Der Ring des
Nibelungen tetralogy, conducted by Andris Nelsons) and the Hall aux
Grains (Toulouse), performing as Olga (Eugene Onegin, Orchestre du Capitole du
Toulouse, conducted by Tugan Sokhiev). Has toured to the USA as part of the
programme Diana Vishneva: Beauty in Motion.
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