Violeta Urmana
Violeta Urmana, (born Violeta Urmanavičiūtė) is a Lithuanian soprano and mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
Born in Kazlų Rūda municipality, Marijampolė County, Lithuania, she enjoys an international career singing in opera houses around the world. Violeta Urmana studied piano at the Conservatory of Vilnius. A year before terminating, she switched to vocal studies which she continued in Munich at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Astrid Varnay. Between 1991 and 1993, Violeta Urmana joined the Opernstudios of Bayerische Staatsoper. Soon she was to take on small roles there.
The artist received several awards at international singing contests. Thus major international operas' offers were soon to follow. With the part of Madeleine di Coigny in the opera Andrea Chénier at Vienna State Opera in June 2003, she changed subject from mezzo-soprano to dramatic soprano which she accomplished in Rome in March 2004 as Isolde in Tristan and Isolde and in the autumn of 2004 as Leonora (La Forza del Destino) in London.
Violeta Urmana collaborated with well-known conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Bertrand de Billy, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, James Conlon, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Jesús López Cobos, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann.
Her roles and performances include: Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Bayreuth Festival, Iphigénie en Aulide at La Scala, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier at the Vienna State Opera, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, Leonora in Verdi's La forza del destino, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and the title roles of La Gioconda, Tosca, Ariadne auf Naxos, La Wally, and Aida.
Urmana also performs in concerts and recitals with a varied repertoire from Bach to Berlioz to Alban Berg. She is married to the Italian opera singer Alfredo Nigro.
Roles (selection)
- Medea in Medea
- Waldtaube/Tove in Gurre-Lieder
- Aida/Amneris in Aida
- Azucena in Il Trovatore
- Amelia in Ein Maskenball
- Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos
- Brünnhilde in Siegfried
- Elisabetta/Eboli in Don Carlos
- Isolde/Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde
- Judith in Herzog Blaubarts Burg
- Ortrud in Lohengrin
- Kundry in Parsifal
- Lady Macbeth in Macbeth
- Norma/Adalgisa in Norma
- Sieglinde, Fricka, Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
- Tosca in Tosca
- Wally in La Wally
- La Gioconda in La Gioconda
- Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana
- Venus in Tannhäuser
- Waltraute, Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung
- Soprano/mezzo-soprano in Requiem by Verdi
Awards (selection)
- 2001 Woman of the Year (Lithuania)
- 2001 Female Singer of the Year (Lithuania)
- 2001 National Prize of the Republic of Lithuania for the Arts (Lithuania)
- 2002 Premio Franco Abbiati Italy
- 2002 L'Opera Award Italy
- 2002 Royal Philharmonie Society Music Award (Great Britain)
- 2007 Honorary citizenship of Violeta Urmana's home town Marijampole (Lithuania)
- 2007 LT-Tapatybe Award in the arts category for the reputation of Lithuania abroad (Lithuania)
- 2007 World Intellectual Property Organization Creativity Award
- 2009 Award of Austrian "Kämmersängerin" in[1]
- 2011 Highest Honour bestowed by the Lithuanian Cultural Ministry
- 2011 "Shine Your Light and Hope Award" by Carson J. Spencer Foundation (Denver, USA)
- 2012 Granting of the title of honorary doctor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre[2]
- 2014 Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia [1]
- 2016 Designated as a UNESCO Artist for Peace [2]
Discography (selection)
- Das Lied von der Erde, Rückert-Lieder (Gustav Mahler): Deutsche Grammophon
- Best of Wiener Philharmoniker Vol. VII: Deutsche Grammophon
- Andrea Chénier: Decca
- Messa da Requiem Soprano: Naxos
- Messa da Requiem Mezzosoprano : EMI
- Violeta Urmana singt Lieder von List, Strauss, Berg: FARAO
- La Gioconda: EMI
- Oberto: Philips
- Tristan und Isolde: EMI
- Puccini ritrovato (famous arias und ensembles by Puccini): Deutsche Grammophon
DVDs (selection)
- Aida - Metropolitan Opera, New York Decca
- Macbeth Bel Air classiques
- La canzone dei ricordi (Martucci) medici arts
- Aida - Teatro alla Scala, Milano (Italy) Decca
- La Forza del Destino - Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Arthaus - Rai Trade
- Cavalleria Rusticana Opus Arte
- Un Ballo in Maschera - Teatro Real Opus Arte
- Don Carlos Opus Arte
- Le Rossignol EMI
- Parsifal Arthaus
References
- ^ Violeta Urmana zur Kammersängerin ernannt (Vorarlberg online, 12/16/2009, German)
- ^ Violetai Urmanai suteiktas Garbės daktaro vardas (15min.lt, 03/15/2012, Lithuanian)