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Dragana Radakovic

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Dragana Radakovic
Dragana Radakovic, 2017
Occupation(s)Opera singer (soprano), Conductor, Academic
Years active2002–present
Websitedraganaradakovic.art

Dragana Radakovic is an operatic soprano, conductor and academic. With a flexible voice, she is able to sing bel canto as well as dramatic soprano roles. She has appeared at major opera houses in title and leading roles, including Bellini's Norma, Verdi's Aida, Puccini's Turandot, and more.

Early life and education

Radakovic was born in Novi Sad, then in Yugoslavia. At age nine, she won in a television music-talent show. She studied voice at the University of Arts in Belgrade, graduating with Degree in music. She continued her studies and obtained two Master’s degrees, in conducting, with Stanko Šepić, and in vocal arts, with Radmila Bakočević.[1] She took master classes in Italy, with Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto, Magda Olivero and Bruna Baglioni [it], and was further coached by Nikola Mitić [de].

Early career

Radakovic began performing in concerts during her studies. She made her opera stage debut, also during her student years, at the National Theatre in Belgrade appearing in roles of Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze de Figaro, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlo, Mary Warren in Ward's The Crucible and Musetta in Puccini's La bohème. She became a member of the ensemble in 2002.[2]

Soprano career

Radakovic's first role as a member of National Theatre was Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco.[2] Praised in reviews, her Abigaille interpretation has been in significant and steady demand ever since - during 2019 alone she had 29 Nabucco performances.[3]

Soon after her debut, she received invitations to perform as a guest artist at other opera houses, and expanded her repertoire singing Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II in 2004 and Odabella in Verdi’s Attila in 2005 at the Serbian National Theatre, and Marguerite in Gounod's Faust in 2006 at the Maribor Slovene National Theatre. In the following year she added te roles of Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Sylvia in Kálmán’s Die Csárdásfürstin, and the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

She started performing at opera houses throughout Europe in 2008. She was soprano soloist at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in a Puccini concert conducted by Placido Domingo, in 2009 she appeared as Leonora in Verdi's La forza del destino, and as Aida. In 2011, she sang the title role of Puccini's Tosca at the Romanian National Opera, Cluj-Napoca, and the title role of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at the Opera Timișoara.

Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni was her new role for 2012, in a production that went on European tour, with performances in Timisoara, Munich, Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Saarbrucken, Frankfurt. In the same year, as a soprano soloist, she sung at several opera festivals and concerts in Timisoara, Sibiu, Constanța, Hunedoara, Tilburg, Brugge, Breda, the Hague.[4]

In 2013, she appeared as Bellini's Norma at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek, and as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello in Craiova.[5][6][7] During the year she performed her roles at opera halls in Europe, at Opera Timișoara as Leonora in Il Trovatore, at Summer Festival in Schwerin as Abigaille in Nabucco, in “Giuseppe Verdi 200th anniversary” concert with Zurich Kammerphilharmonie, and she debuted as a soprano soloist in Mozart’s Reqiem at Athenaeum.

In 2014 she was invited to Egypt to perform Aida at the location where it was premiered in 1871, at Cairo Opera House.[8] That year she also sang Verdi's Requiem in Cluj, and Puccini's Turandot at Opera Timișoara for the first time. Turandot was to become her new signature role.

During following year she appeared for the first time in Moldova, in Otello at the Festival Maria Bieshu in Moldova, followed by performing as Tosca the first time at Hungarian Opera.[9][10]

During 2016 she was performing the title role in a premiere of Puccini’s Turandot in Sydney, Australia.[11] The Handa Opera's spectaclular new production of Turandot was staged by Opera Australia on Sydney Harbour with a budget of $12 million.[12] "Turandot" was conducted by Brian Castles-Onion, directed & choreographed by Chen Shi-Zheng, set & costumes designed by Dan Potra, with Riccardo Massi as Calàf and Hyeseoung Kwon as Liù. After fourteen Turandot performances in Sydney, she went to Macao to perform the same role in another premiere of a new Turandot production, conducted by Lu Jia, directed by Giancarlo del Monaco, stage and costumes designed by William Orlandi, with Rudy Park and Jorge de León as Calaf and Lana Kos as Liu.[13] In the autumn of 2016 she appeared for the first time in mainland China, in her new role of Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana directed by Giancarlo del Monaco at Beijing Performung Arts Centre. She finished the year back in Sydney as a soprano soloist at New Year's Eve Gala concert held in Sydney Opera House.

After performing in several opera houses in Europe as Norma, Tosca, Santuzza, Aida, Leonora (Il Trovatore), Radakovic returned to Australia in 2017 for premiere performances in the role of Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana with Opera Australia at Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Arts Centre, in a new production conducted by Andrea Licata, directed by Damiano Michieletto, Andy Morto and Rodula Gaitanou, with Diego Torre as Turiddu and Sian Pendry as Lola. At the end of 2017 she sung excerpts form her new title role, Catalani’s La Wally, in a concet at Sava Centar hall in Belgrade.

In 2018 she returened to Egypt in the title role of Verdi's Aida, in a grand spectacle “The 150th anniversary”. The open-air production was staged under the stars at the historic complex of Pyramids at Giza, with massive props and 300 extras on stage. Aida was conducted by David Crescenzi, with Cairo Symphony Orchestra and Dario di Vietri as Radames. During the same year she sung at several concerts as soprano soloist: "Verdi’s and Pucinni’s arias" in Opera Nice, “Gala anniversary Corneliu Murgu” at Opera Timișoara, “60th anniversary RTS” at Tašmajdan Stadium in Belgrade, and in Sibiu for the first time in Verdi’s Requiem as the soprano soloist. The same year she also performed for the first time at Bolshoi Theater Belarus in the title role of Tosca, with Akhmed Agadi as Cavaradossi, conducted by Gianluca Marciano. Her new opera role in 2018 was Elisabetta di Valois in Verdi's Don Carlo at Sala Mare, in the production conducted by Tiberiu Soare, directed by Mario De Carlo, with Adrian Dumitry as Don Carlo.

Radakovic returned for the 2019 season to Sydney Opera House with Opera Australia in the title role in Verdi's Turandot, in the production conducted by Tahu Matheson, directed and coreographed by Graeme Murphy. Matthew Barclay and Kim Walker, with tenors Yongoon Lee and Andeka Gorrotxategi in the role of Calaf, and Mariana Hong as Liù. After Sydney appearances Radakovic was invited to Taiwan to perform as Turandot in the opening performances of the new landmark building, the largest performing arts centre in the world, built in Kaohsiung.[14] Verdi's Turandot production was staged in the opera hall with more than 2,200 seats, in co-operation with Deutsche Oper am Rhein, conducted by Chien Wen-pin, directed by Huan-Hsiung Li and Jeremy Chang, with Zoran Todorovich as Calaf and Anke Krabbe as Liù. During 2019 she performed with several opera companies in Europe in Norma, Turandot, and in a new production of Verdi's Nabucco in Braunschweig conducted by Srba Dinić, directed by Klaus Christian Schreiber and Sarah Grahneis. She also returned to France and Egypt that year, as a soloist in concert “Lyrique” at Opéra de Nice, and in under the stars gala concert "Essence of Aida" at the Temple of Isis at Philae in Aswan.

The 2020 was largly impacted by CoVid19 pandemic.

Repertoire

Since 2002 Radakovic been enlarging her repertoire at an average rate of one new opera per year:

  • Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco
  • Rosalinde in Strauss's Die Fledermaus
  • Odabella in Verdi's Attila
  • Marguerite in Gounod's Faust
  • Leonora in Verdi's Il tovatore
  • the soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony
  • Sylvia Varescu in Kalman's Die Czardasfurstin
  • Leonora in Verdi's La forza del destino
  • Aida in Verdi's Aida
  • Adrienne Lecouvreur in Cilea's Adrienne Lecouvreur
  • Floria Tosca in Puccini's Tosca
  • Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni
  • Norma in Bellini's Norma
  • the soprano soloist in Mozart's Requiem
  • Desdemona in Verdi's Otello
  • Princess Turandot in Puccini's Turandot
  • the soprano soloist in Verdi's Reqiem
  • Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana
  • Élisabetta di Valois in Verdi's Don Carlo

Academic

Radakovic has been Associate Professor of Conducting at the Faculty of Music Arts from 2009, and also head of the university's Opera Studio.[15] Each year she has been staging concerts and full opera productions as “the grand finale” of the Opera Studio class. Some of performed operas are: Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Puccini's Suor Angelica, Binički's At Dawn and Rossini's Barber of Seville.

Conductor

Right after graduating, Radakovic became conductor and artistic director of the Lola artistic society, conducting more than 70 concerts in Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, and United Kingdom.

Radakovic also conducted operas, including Verdi's Rigoletto for two seasons during 2004-06, Stanislav Binički's At Dawn in 2000 and 2014, Strauss's Die Fledemaus in 2015, and Dimitrije Golemovic [sr]'s Unfearful Boy in 2018.

Recorded works

OCLC Control Numbers: 980870794, 1076209340, 1099054834, 1003045078, 8051028213, 979423746, 1076280297

Turandot: Handa opera on Sydney Harbour DVD

Filmed live on Sydney Harbour, Fleet Steps, Mrs Macquaries Point, Royal Botanic Garden, in April 2016. Production first performed by Opera Australia on 24 March 2016. Sung in Italian with subtitles in English, German and Spanish. DVD (116 min.) : sound, colour ; 12 cm + 1 booklet (14 pages)

  • Conductor: Brian Castles-Onion, Director & Choreographer: Chen Shi-Zheng, Set & Costume Designer: Dan Potra, Lighting Designer: Scott Zielinski, Video Designer: Leigh Sachwitz / flora&faunavisions, Sound Designer: Tony David Cray, Site Designer: Adrienn Lord

Performers:

  • Turandot: Dragana Radakovic, Calàf: Riccardo Massi, Liù: Hyeseoung Kwon, Timur: Conal Coad, Pong: John Longmuir, Pang: Benjamin Rasheed, Ping: Luke Gabbedy, Emperor: David Lewis, Mandarin: Gennadi Dubinsky, Prince of Persia: Jin Tea Kim, Opera Australia Chorus, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Turandot libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni; music by Giacomo Puccini.

Film and sound:

  • Recording Executive Producers: Simone Twiss and Louisa Robertson, Recording Producers: Aidan Corrigan and Tony David Cray, Television Director: Cameron Kirkpatrick, Audio Director: Tony David Cray

Publishers:

  • Opera Australia, ©2016, and ABC Classics, ©2016.

Handa opera on Sydney harbour: the greatest hits

Recorded live on Sydney Harbour: Carmen - on 2 & 4 April 2013, La Traviata - on 10 & 12 April 2012, Aida – on 14 & 16 April 2015, Madama Butterfly - on 1 & 3 April 2014, Turandot – on 12 & 14 April 2016. Sung in French and Italian.

All Authors / Contributors:

  • Tony David Cray; Brian Castles-Onion; Rinat Shaham; Opera Australia Chorus; Andrew Jones; Ariya Sawadivong; Nicole Car; Emma Matthews; Gianluca Terranova; Hiromi Omura; Georgy Vasiliev; Hyeseoung Kwon; Dragana Radakovic; Riccardo Massi; Opera Australia Orchestra (Musical Group); hoopla digital.

Publishers:

  • ABC Classics : Made available through hoopla, 2017. Computer File
  • ABC Classics, 2017. Streaming audio
  • Hong Kong Naxos Digital Services US Inc. 2017. Streaming audio
  • Australian Broadcasting Corporation Distributed by Universal Music Australia, ©2017. ABC 481 5107. CD audio, digital ; 12 cm. + issued with leaflet.
  • Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, N.S.W. Distributed by Universal Music Group, ©2017. ABC: 481 5107. Computer File and CD audio, digital ; 12 cm. + issued with 7 page booklet

Cinema simulcasts

  • Turandot on Sydney Harbour (Radakovic in the role of Princess Turandot) by Opera Australia in collaboration with CinemaLive.[16]

References

  1. ^ Stanko Šepić stankosepic.com
  2. ^ a b Dragana Radakovic Opera Australia
  3. ^ Performance schedule OperaBase
  4. ^ Dragana Radaković- Donna Anna, “… seduced by Don Giovanni, in Timisoara”, Timis Online, 10 February 2012
  5. ^ Dragana Radakovic as Norma in the premiere of 'Norma', Culturenet 24 May 2013
  6. ^ Dragana Radakovic - Desdemona “Otello” directed by Rareș Zahariaon on TV in Craiova, 17 February 2013
  7. ^ Dragana Radakovic as Desdemona Opera Craiova on 8 October 2013
  8. ^ "Aida" in a Cairo "in opera season 2014/15 "Aida" will feature soloists from the Cairo Opera Company alongside guest singers: Soprano Dragana Radakovic…" Ahramonline, 30 September 2014
  9. ^ Dragana Radakovic “On September 9, will take place the premiere of the opera "Otello", by Giuseppe Verdi.” Ministry of Culture, Moldova, on 9 March 2015
  10. ^ Dragana Radakovic guest Tosca “... has nothing on Renata Tebaldi, who in one performance just calmly walked of the stage for everyone's amazement.” Talk Classical on 29 November 2015
  11. ^ Dragana Radakovic - Turandot schedule of performances Opera Australia March-April 2016
  12. ^ "Turandot opera has cost $12 million…", ABC News on 15. 03. 2016.[1]
  13. ^ Turandot: Dragana Radakovic director Giancarlo del Monaco, 1 October 2016
  14. ^ "The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Known as Weiwuying after its surrounding park, it is the world’s largest performing arts center under one roof." The New York Times on January 29, 2019[2]
  15. ^ Biography at Faculty of Music Arts
  16. ^ CinemaLive Turandot[3]

Sources

  1. Opera Australia
  2. Kaohsiung Center for the Arts
  3. Opera Musica
  4. Staatstheater Braunschweig
  5. Official website of the Republic of Belarus
  6. Macao Department of Cultural Heritage
  7. OperaBase history of performances
  8. WorldCat library catalog
  9. Huzuk Croatian Association of Science, Art & Culture

Category:Operatic sopranos Category:21st-century women opera singers Category:21st-century opera singers Category:Academics Category:Conductors (music) Category:Living people

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