Mezzo Soprano
Kseniia Nikolaieva
Represented by
Representation
Represented by
Representation
Francesco Lanzillotta, Conductor
Denis Krief, Stage Director
Francesco Lanzillotta, Conductor
Denis Krief, Stage Director
Francesco Lanzillotta, Conductor
Denis Krief, Stage Director
Iván López-Reynoso, Conductor
Thaddeus Strassberger, Stage Director
Iván López-Reynoso, Conductor
Thaddeus Strassberger, Stage Director
Iván López-Reynoso, Conductor
Thaddeus Strassberger, Stage Director
Debut at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Mavra and Zita Gianni Schicchi, debut as Principessa Suor Angelica at the Edinburgh Festival and the Proms Festival, return to the Royal Opera House as Mary Der Fliegende Holländer and debut at Teatro di San Carlo as La Cieca La Gioconda, Amneris Aida at Oper im Steinbruch St. Margarethen.
A former member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, where she performed as Suzuki Madama Butterfly, Giovanna Rigoletto, Annina La Traviata, Emilia Otello.
Recent engagements include A Voice from Above Die Frau ohne Schatten at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Berliner Philharmoniker, return to the Royal Opera House as Suzuki Madama Butterfly and Dritte Dame Die Zauberflöte, The Third Magd Elettra at Accademia di Santa Cecilia under the baton of Maestro Pappano*.
Engagements elsewhere include Hivria The Fair at Sorotchynsi, Marta Iolanta, Olga Eugene Onegin, Maddalena Rigoletto, Lyubasha The Tsar’s Bride, Dritte Dame Die Zauberflöte.
[*- canceled]
Lyubasha's Aria
Rimsky-Korsakov - Tsar's Bride
Lyubasha's Aria
Rimsky-Korsakov - Tsar's Bride
Not love alone
R.Shchedrin
Not love alone
R.Shchedrin
The ever-faithful, ever attendant maid Suzuki was performed on this occasion by Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva, who joined the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2020-21 Season. In this, one of her first major roles, she shows much promise, singing with real beauty and conviction. Her ‘”Il cannone del porto!” duet with her Mistress was sublime, allowing her to show off her gorgeous, dark resonance. Her devotion to Cio-Cio-San and her angst at her Mistresses’ refusal to accept the truth of her situation was utterly convincing and, in turn, heart rending.
Kseniia Nikolaieva asserts her deeply rich and sumptuous mezzo-soprano to excellent effect as Suzuki
Nikolaieva, a rich-toned mezzo who brought warmth to everything she sang, shone in a heartbreaking lullaby by Yevhen Stankovych and an unaccompanied lament by Leopold Yaschenko.
…She’s alone with her maid, Annina, played with great emotional maturity and vocal skill by Kseniia Nikolaieva, a Ukrainian singer who is currently a Jette Parker artist at the Royal Opera House.
With even the smaller roles impressing Giovanna only gets a few notes to sing, but Kseniia Nikolaieva made the most of them.
…to give an irresistibly funny Mistress Quickly, her booming dramatic mezzo surprisingly adept at comedy.
… Nikolaieva’s ‘Veil Song’ gave evidence that she has a sultry sound of incredible potential…
… but the temperature rose only with the appearance of the Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva. Blessed with an imposingly large and fruitily resonant voice that reminded me of those awesome Russian contraltos of the old school such as Irina Arkhipova and Elena Obraztsova, she flung herself into songs by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky (including the chestnut None but the Lonely Heart) to the manner born.
… None more so than from the singer new to most of us, Ukrainian mezzo/contralto Kseniia Nikolaieva. Hers is a big voice unleashed with enough power to tell us that with careful handling she will undoubtedly go where her compatriots Olga Borodina and Ekaterina Semenchuk have already trod, in roles with very specific voice-type requirements like Verdi’s Azucena in Il trovatore. She got to launch in her native language, feeling the pain of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky; you won’t have heard “None but the lonely heart” ever delivered more operatically, but at that pitch the cut of the chest voice on the second note was thrilling.
… While, of the three ladies, it was Kseniia Nikolaieva’s plummy Third Lady that made the strongest impression by some way.
… und Kseniia Nikolaieva als Stimme von oben trugen Entscheidendes zum exquisiten Klangkolorit der Aufführung bei...
The heartbreaking third act of Madama Butterfly under Jette Parker Michael Papadopoulos brought with it the finest of the Jette Palker singers on display: the force of nature that is Kseniia Nikolaeva, who performed previously as Giovanna in Pappano’s superb Rigoletto in February this year. Takingteh role of Suzuki here, her fine, strong yet rounded voice, almost a contralto, is capable of the most profound statements.
The highlight of the first half, and of the entire evening, was the Act Two Quartet from Verdi’s Luisa Miller, with Msabane Cecilia Rangwanasha in the title role, Nikolaieva as Federica, Blaise Malaba as Walter and Chuma Sijeqa as Wurm. To have Pappano in Verdi, the composer he surely is at his greatest, is a treat for both audience and singers (in spite of the fact that there is a long passage of the four singers minus orchestra – how accurate was the return of the orchestra, and how well the singers kept pitch)