The voice is an astounding instrument: rich of tone, knitted perfectly between registers, colored evenly from top to bottom unless she decides to vary its hue, and capable of impressively precise coloratura. It is a Rolls Royce of mezzos – opulent and luxurious.
- Operawire
Represented by
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Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Edward Gardner, Conductor
Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Conductor
Franco Zeffirelli, Stage Director
Giacomo Sagripanti, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director
Giacomo Sagripanti, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director
Since her debut as Carmen at the Royal Opera House at the age of 21, Ms Akhmetshina is making waves in the operatic world. Her upcoming engagements include stage debuts as Carmen with Wiener Staatsoper, Charlotte Werther with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia with The Metropolitan Opera and Opéra national de Paris, Adalgisa Norma with Theater an der Wien, Elisabetta Maria Stuarda with Teatro Real Madrid, Carmen at The Royal Opera House and Teatro di San Carlo.
Future engagements include debuts with Staatsoper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, a return to Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid, The Royal Opera House, The Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Adalgisa, Elisabetta, Carmen, Rosina, Charlotte, Isabella, Dalila, Donna Elvira and Maffio Orsini.
Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Salzburger Festspiele, new productions of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera (dir. Carrie Cracknell, cond Daniele Rustioni), Royal Opera House (dir. Damiano Micheletto, cond. Antonello Manacorda), Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, the Glyndebourne Festival, Arena di Verona, Elisabetta Maria Stuarda at the Teatro di San Carlo and the Dutch National Opera. Charlotte Werther, Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, Preziosilla La forza del destino at The Royal Opera House, Angelina La Cenerentola at Teatro Real Madrid, Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opéra national de Paris.
Grand Prix at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, International Opera Award Winner - Best Female Singer category.
Rossini's La Cenerentola 'Non piu mesta'
Rossini's La Cenerentola 'Non piu mesta'
Bizet's Carmen “Près des remparts de Séville”
Metropolitan Opera
Bizet's Carmen “Près des remparts de Séville”
Metropolitan Opera
Rossini's LE BARBIER DE SÉVILLE by Gioacchino
Opéra national de Paris
Rossini's LE BARBIER DE SÉVILLE by Gioacchino
Opéra national de Paris
Bizet's Carmen “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”
Metropolitan Opera
Bizet's Carmen “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”
Metropolitan Opera
Bizet's Carmen - Finale
Royal Opera House
Bizet's Carmen - Finale
Royal Opera House
Rossini's The Barber of Seville - 'Una voce poco fa'
Royal Opera House
Rossini's The Barber of Seville - 'Una voce poco fa'
Royal Opera House
Bizet Carmen's Card Aria 'En vain pour éviter'
Royal Opera House
Bizet Carmen's Card Aria 'En vain pour éviter'
Royal Opera House
The only truly impressive aspect of this “Carmen” is its Carmen: the 27-year-old mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina, in turquoise cowboy boots. Though this icon of the repertory is her first leading role at the Met, she seems unfazed by the pressure, singing with easily penetrating evenness and clarity, never needing to push. Her molten yet agile tone can be confiding one moment and extroverted the next, and she moves with magnetic naturalness onstage.
And mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina made a magnetic and often caustic Carmen, her voice equally suited to silken lightness as leathery depth. The show barely seemed to move before she emerged from behind a blood-red door on a catwalk above the action. Her Act I introduction, that familiar habanera (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”), was freshened by her humanistic reading, lightened by luminous choral work, and refined through the detail-oriented ear of conductor Daniele Rustioni.
Akhmetshina also gave Carmen a restless physicality that never cut into her singing. Her Act II seduction (“Je vais danser en votre honneur ... La la la”) found her stretched across a set of gas pumps. Her reverie with her fellow thieves had her dangling from packing straps and dancing atop crates of smuggled weapons. Depending on the actress, Carmen can be a center of gravity or a black hole; Akhmetshina granted enough room for her to be both.
Aigul Akhmetshina, as Carmen, won a unanimously roaring ovation. At twenty-seven, the Russian mezzo who debuted at the Met fourteen months ago as Maddalena in Rigoletto has swiftly become the world’s go-to Carmen.
His uninspired seduction conveyed little of the necessary electric connection between Carmen and Josè. In fact, Akhmetshina’s kittenish Carmen lacked fire and danger—so much so that her defiance of José during their final encounter came from out of nowhere.
Though her characterization remained dramatically lightweight, Akhmetshina proved a vocally ideal Carmen. Her darkly inviting mezzo effortlessly rose from rounded lows to securely shining highs, and she phrased her music with a smoldering, insouciant flair. Hers is no light lyric instrument but a promisingly rich voice that could eventually develop into the big Verdi dramatic mezzo the world craves.
Amidst a cast that is strong all round, Aigul Akhmetshina stands out in the title role. She played the same part as a Jette Parker Young Artist in 2017 in La tragédie de Carmen (Peter Brook’s 1981 take on the opera), performed it earlier this year at the Metropolitan Opera, and is also set to play it at Glyndebourne in the summer. Her mezzo-soprano is rich, sumptuous and brilliantly controlled, and she captures Carmen’s persona perfectly. As she sings ‘Tralalalala’ she is a relatively still presence, but the allure she radiates is tangible and one can positively feel her defiance, tinged as it is with just a hint of aggression.
Aigul Akhmetshina is not yet 30, yet is the most in demand Carmen at present, having sung it to great acclaim at the Met, New York, before heading to Glyndebourne this summer for their new staging. Not only does she sing the role gloriously, her rich, resonant voice even throughout the range, but she creates a credible figure on stage. Part petulant teenager, part free-spirited feminist, you can’t help but be drawn to her whenever she appears. She’s already a major star, so it’ll be fascinating to see how she develops into the role in the years to come.
The performance is lifted by the top-class voices of the central couple. Aigul Akhmetshina is everybody’s Carmen at the moment — she started the year at the Metropolitan Opera and Glyndebourne (second cast) is to come — and it is easy to hear why. At only 27, she has a voice that fills the theatre with sound and colour, her youth and prodigious vocal gifts making a formidable combination
Chief vocal honours go to up-and-coming Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina whose burgundy lower register and pinpoint coloratura are matched by impressive reserves of power. Her determined Rosina is a coiled spring, passing time by throwing darts at the walls of her spartan prison.
First among equals is Aigul Akhmetshina as Rosina. She's only 26, yet her voice has a seamless, luscious quality from top to bottom, and her coloratura is flawless.
Aigul Akhmetshina is an ideal Rosina in looks, temperament and vocal charm. Her bright, focused mezzo-soprano has a powerful edge when she’s thwarted by her guardian, but softens seductively for her mystery lover. Akhmetshina almost eclipses the memory of former Rosina Joyce DiDonato, who broke her leg during a performance at the ROH in 2009 but gave a barnstorming performance from a wheelchair.
It won’t have surprised anyone that Aigul Akhmetshina, as her antagonist Elizabeth I, produced immaculate vocal quality, with sweetness of tone in all registers and elegance of phrasing at all speeds. But this is the first time I’ve seen Akhmetshina sing with such inner steel: the mental tug of war between her and Mkhitaryan was utterly captivating, as we heard the ebb and flow of their voices incarnating the ebb and flow of power between the two queens.
Excelente trabajo también el de Aigul Akhmetshina como Elisabetta. Poseedora de un instrumento rico en matices, carnoso, elegante y de gran volumen su reina de Inglaterra bascula entre el odio y el deseo de buscar una reconciliación con su prima. Todas sus intervenciones fueron excelentes y ya en Ah, quando all'ara scorgemi demostró su calidad.
Aigul Akhmetshina’s Charlotte shone. There are two star performances. One is supplied by the orchestra, the other by Aigul Akhmetshina, singing in a rich and mettlesome mezzo-soprano that cuts through whatever the orchestra throws at it. Her Charlotte, contained yet impassioned, emerges as the opera’s most interesting, fully rounded character.
The warmth of Akhmetshina’s characterisation meant the theatre seemed to fall in love with her on the spot mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina as Charlotte. She brought the role an effortlessly expressive, ripe-apricot sound, while the sincerity and warmth of her characterisation, especially in her aria with saxophone, “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes”, meant that the whole theatre, rather than just Werther, seemed to fall in love with her on the spot. She was formerly one of the ROH’s Jette Parker Young Artists; the house can be proud. In all, a mixed evening, lit up by the cherishable Akhmetshina. If you go for the Werther, you might stay for the Charlotte.
Outstanding singing from the heroine of Massenet's evening raises the roof. Aigul Akhmetshina is Covent Garden's big star.
Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina has one of the most beautiful mezzo tones that I have recently heard. The young singer’s instrument projects well from the gigantic stage of the Felsenreitschule. Her voice has a sense of warmth and roundness, some might say meatiness, that is very impressive. I believe the warm reception of the Salzburgian audience to her performance came first and foremost because the vocal work was so strong and in a Bellinian score that showcases how beautiful voices can sound…Although this was only a concert version of the opera, Akmetshina wore a suit on stage. It was nice to see a singer who cares about the much-needed androgyny of this role.
Von einem Durchbruch oder einem A-Star-is-born-Moment zu sprechen, wäre angesichts der internationalen Erfolge, die Aigul Akhmetshina bereits feiern konnte, vermessen; eines der eindrucksvollsten Salzburg-Debuts der letzten Jahre – das vom Publikum sogar mit Standing Ovations gefeiert wurde – kann man der Mezzosopranistin aber in jedem Fall attestieren. Mit einnehmender Bühnenpräsenz gestaltete sie den Romeo und verlieh ihm sowohl jugendlichen Trotz als auch glaubhafte Verzweiflung. Die Stimme ist schlichtweg wunderschön, mit einem honigsatten Timbre, das sowohl in der Tiefe als auch bei den sich mühelos über das Orchester aufschwingenden Höhen farbenreich schimmert und völlig frei von Registerbrüchen ist. Akhmetshina setzte ihre vokalen Vorzüge dabei stets klug und differenziert ein, ließ ihre technischen Fähigkeiten nicht nur zu bloßer Effekthascherei strahlen, sondern nutzte sie stets, um all den Facetten des Charakters Ausdruck zu verleihen.
Verschiedene Engagements folgten, nun auch das Debüt bei den Salzburger Festspielen als Romeo. Vom ersten Ton an,zieht die junge Russin in ihrem Smoking mit hohen Absätzen das Publikum in der Hosenrolle in den Bann. Ihre Mezzo hat beeindruckende Kraft und Wärme. Mit Bravour meistert sie die forderne Partitur mit weichen vollmundigen Legati, klaren wohlartikulierten Tiefen und frisch ausgesungenen Höhen. Sie zeigt keine Schwächen noch werden Töne unterdrückt. In der konzertanten Aufführung vermittelt sie eine lebendige Interpretation.
Du côté des filles, la mezzo-soprano russe Aigul Akhmetshina, formée au Jette Parker Young Artists Programme de Covent Garden, confirme son statut de star naissante, avec un instrument magnifique, idéalement équilibré, un grave capiteux, très coloré et un aigu de soprano du plus beau métal. Sa romance du premier acte (« Podrougui milyïa », « Chères amies ») est littéralement enivrante.
glänzte mit volltönend-warmem Mezzosopran Aigul Akhmetshina
Aigul Akhmetshina, by far the best Carmen here in recent years, sang a seductive Lola, her ripe mezzo sounding as luscious as ever.
Aigul Akhmetshina’s Lola – there are shades of Monica Bellucci in the design – spun a silken vocal web that showed off a sinuous legato, though still dripping with honey.
El que aquí comentamos es el encabezado por una excelente Aigul Akhmetshina, la joven mezzo rusa, que se está curtiendo en un teatro tan exigente como el Covent Garden londinense. Posee una voz de timbre bello, aterciopelado, de auténtica mezzo. No tuvo ningún problema con las coloraturas que salpican constantemente su parte, especialmente en la magnífica escena final, donde el derroche pirotécnico fue espectacular. Buena actriz, con buen fiato y una proyección potente y bien entonada, se convirtió, para mí, en un auténtico descubrimiento.
Ésta última fue justamente la protagonista, la Angelina de Aigul Akhmetshina, mezzosoprano rusa de 25 años, posee una voz segura en todos los registros, que se muestra equilibrada tanto en las arias solistas como en los conjuntos. Derrocha energía y no escasea en potencia, como demostró en el aria final "Nacqui all'affanno", aunque puede que todavía le falte un poco de madurez dramática. En todo caso se revela como una voz con increíble potencial
Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina in the second cast was making her debut at Teatro Real. For my taste she was the strongest of the second cast: she has an appealing, well-managed voice with sufficient amplitude and the coloratura held no fears for her. She can have an important career.
Aigul Akhmetshina sparkles as the naughty, imprudent Varvara.
Kudryash’s girlfriend, less likely to be crushed by her place in the Kabanov household than Katya, is lustrously sung by Aigul Akhmetshiina.
As Lisa’s companion Polina, Aigul Akhmetshima displayed a powerful mezzo-soprano, with an asserting firmness in the voice that gave her singing an ear-catching tension.
Akhmetshina, already a rising star at Covent Garden for her Carmens, and a thrilling Preziosilla in the B-cast recent Forza del destino (she should have been alongside Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann), has everything for this role: the looks, the sultry vocal endowment and a natural “watch-me” stage charisma that had the audience on the edge of their seats. We can expect great things from this impossibly young — she is only 23 — singer, if she isn’t pushed into heavy roles too soon.
Aigul Akhmetshina is very much the star attraction in the cast. Her outstanding success as Carmen at the Royal Opera last summer was evident in the way in which she portrayed the sultry señorita with whom the Don is besotted. Akhmetshina clearly relishes the dance content – perfect flamenco wrists – and her every move crackles with electricity. Her vibrant mezzo is well-suited to the role too, earthy in the guitar-accompanied “Ne pensons qu'au plaisir d'aimer”, but gorgeously shaped in Dulcinée’s apology after she laughingly rejects Quichotte’s proposal of marriage.
Aigul Akhmetshina ist optisch und stimmlich eine Idealbesetzung für die Partie der Belle Dulcinée. Mit samtweichem Mezzosopran fängt sie einerseits die Melancholie der Figur ein, wenn sie in ihrer Auftrittsarie die Vergänglichkeit der Jugend beklagt, und spielt andererseits absolut glaubhaft die Verführungskunst dieser Femme fatale aus, die ihre Verehrer zappeln lässt.
Aigul Akhmetshina, who opened the second act in Dalila's big aria, launching herseld with ease over the huge orchestration...She has a dark quallity to her voice and shone dramatically on stage
Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina has an immaculate voice. It is slender, gentle, and soothing on many levels, making her a solid Carmen. She has a ringing top that was on full display throughout the inserted portions of the Habanera, which challenges the singer with a higher tessitura. She managed her voice quite well throughout this version of the piece, especially in moments where she had to sing over a blasting choral ensemble. There was great flexibility in her singing throughout the Seguidille, but she truly shone throughout Gypsy song that opens Act two. Here she not only managed to tackle all of the piece’s vocal challenges, but did so while dancing incessantly. Her voice never sounded the least bit troubled by the choreography; it was a true virtuoso display. “En vain pour éviter” was perhaps the lone moment where her Carmen projected any contrasting emotions, the mezzo darkening her delicate timbre and even expressing a sense of dread with some sharp accents in the lower reaches of her voice as she lamented her fate.
Aigul Akhmetshina, a 21-year-old Russian mezzo-soprano, is the real deal. She was discovered as a 19-year-old by David Gowland, the artistic director of the Jette Parker Young Artists programme, who proudly and skilfully accompanied her in a lunchtime recital at St Clement Danes in London. Akhmetshina began with Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, sounding much more mature than 21 (already a Brangäne for Tristan und Isolde), although there's a charming naivety about her. She has the beauty in her voice for this music but also darkness and blade, with an intense vibrato. She's innately musical - and instinctive - which was revealed in Shostakovich's Spanish Songs. Her resonant lower register and easy top combine a 'cool hotness' - perfect for Carmen, which she's covering at ROH next year. Akhmetshina is heading for the major mezzo roles, and deserves to be a big star.
The star of the evening was undoubtedly Aigul Akhmetshina, whose vivid, vocally lustrous Preziosilla should really have been chosen for the cast. This singer is clearly going places.
Jette Parker Young Artists’ Program member Aigul Akhmetshina was a technically secure and often exciting Preziosilla with a youthful and agile voice. Even more remarkably, this mezzo from Bashkortostan threw herself with gusto into the highly choreographed dance sequences, a mix of chorus line, belly dancing and burlesque. I don’t envy her A-cast colleague who needed to compete with the moves of this multi-talent.
Aigul Akkmetshina did everything that was asked of her as Preziosilla, which is a lot, ranging from attempted seduction of Don Alvaro, to creating a series of musical-theatre style dance numbers for the final scene of Act Three. Akhmetshina has a high, bright mezzo-soprano voice and is perhaps not a conventional Preziosilla but she shone here with a winning personality and I look forward to her in further roles.
Aigul Akhmetshina was a superbly alluring Preziosilla, executing her song-and-dance numbers with panache and displaying some great low-register vocal technique along the way. She’s a talent to look out for.
