Maria Guleghina
Encyclopedia
Maria Agasovna Guleghina is a Ukrainian
-Russian soprano
opera
singer, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
, Ukraine
(during the Soviet Era), to an Armenia
n father and a Ukrainian mother, where she studied voice at the Music
Conservatory with Evgeny Nikolaevich Ivanov (under whose tutorship she remained even after graduation).
(Belarus) shortly before leaving USSR to pursue an international career.
Her international debut came in 1987 as Amelia (opposite Luciano Pavarotti
's Riccardo) in a production of Un ballo in maschera
at La Scala
. Leading roles in I due Foscari
, Manon Lescaut
, and Tosca
followed, and soon she was engaged to perform in Vienna
, Munich
, Hamburg
, London, and other major European opera houses. She made her debut at the Paris Opéra in 1995, in the killer-role of Abigaille in Nabucco
.
Her American debut took place at The Metropolitan Opera in 1990, where she sang Maddalena in Andrea Chénier
. She has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera
and the Lyric Opera of Chicago
, adding the lead soprano roles in works such as Ernani
, Simon Boccanegra
, Cavalleria rusticana
, Fedora. She later added other demanding roles such as Odabella in Attila (opera)
and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (opera)
, to her ever-growing repertoire. She also debuted at Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1992 as Lisa in Tchaikovsky
's The Queen of Spades
.
Guleghina has also performed in Japan many times (twice as a part of La Scala
's tours of Japan) and has a fan base there. She is considered by most as one of the leading dramatic sopranos of her generation. Though her technique is inconsistent, she is largely admired for her warm and rich voice, strong stage presence, and absolute dramatic commitment to her roles on the stage. She sang the opening aria (Aida
) at the official opening of the new National Opera House in Oslo
. Through November 2009 she starred as Turandot in the opera Turandot at the Met in New York. She represented Russia by singing during the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver during the handover of the Olympic flag.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
-Russian soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Biography
Maria Guleghina was born in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
(during the Soviet Era), to an Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n father and a Ukrainian mother, where she studied voice at the Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
Conservatory with Evgeny Nikolaevich Ivanov (under whose tutorship she remained even after graduation).
Career
Guleghina made her stage debut in 1985 as Yolantha at the State Opera in MinskMinsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
(Belarus) shortly before leaving USSR to pursue an international career.
Her international debut came in 1987 as Amelia (opposite Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
's Riccardo) in a production of Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
. Leading roles in I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
, Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The story is based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost....
, and Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
followed, and soon she was engaged to perform in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, London, and other major European opera houses. She made her debut at the Paris Opéra in 1995, in the killer-role of Abigaille in Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
.
Her American debut took place at The Metropolitan Opera in 1990, where she sang Maddalena in Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
. She has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
and the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, adding the lead soprano roles in works such as Ernani
Ernani
Ernani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. The first production took place at La Fenice Theatre, Venice on 9 March 1844...
, Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....
, Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
, Fedora. She later added other demanding roles such as Odabella in Attila (opera)
Attila (opera)
Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the play Attila, König der Hunnen by Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner. Initially, Verdi had enlisted Francesco Maria Piave to prepare the libretto, after Verdi's own scenario...
and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
, to her ever-growing repertoire. She also debuted at Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1992 as Lisa in Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's The Queen of Spades
The Queen of Spades (opera)
The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. The premiere took place in 1890 in St...
.
Guleghina has also performed in Japan many times (twice as a part of La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
's tours of Japan) and has a fan base there. She is considered by most as one of the leading dramatic sopranos of her generation. Though her technique is inconsistent, she is largely admired for her warm and rich voice, strong stage presence, and absolute dramatic commitment to her roles on the stage. She sang the opening aria (Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
) at the official opening of the new National Opera House in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. Through November 2009 she starred as Turandot in the opera Turandot at the Met in New York. She represented Russia by singing during the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
The Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on February 28, 2010, beginning at 5:30 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
in Vancouver during the handover of the Olympic flag.