Irina Lungu

Irina Lungu

Born	(1980-06-05) 5 June 1980
Citizenship	Russian
Alma mater	State Conservatory of Voronež, Russia
Occupation	Operatic soprano
Website	www.irinalungu.com

Irina Lungu (born 5 June 1980) is a Russian operatic soprano.

Early life and career

Born in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Lungu obtained diplomas in choral conducting, piano and singing at the State Conservatory of Voronež in Russia, where her voice teacher was Mikhail Podkopaev.^[1] She won several international competitions, including Operalia in 2004,^[2] the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition,^[3] and Voci Verdiane in Busseto, before being accepted in 2003 by the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, Milan, where she was mentored by, among others, soprano Leyla Gencer.

International career

In that same year (2003) Maestro Riccardo Muti selected Lungu as Anaï in Rossini's Moïse et Pharaon,^[4] the inaugural opera of the 2003/04 season of the Teatro alla Scala. That was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between the soprano and the leading Italian opera company, where she has performed Adina in L'elisir d'amore,^[5] Maria Stuarda,^[6] Marguerite in Faust,^[7] Oksana in Cherevichki, Nannetta in Falstaff^[8] and the title role of Sancta Susanna.^[9] It was at La Scala that in 2007 she debuted the role of Violetta in La traviata under the musical direction of Lorin Maazel in Liliana Cavani's production, returning to sing the role in the same staging in 2008, and in 2013 in Dmitri Tcherniakov's new production^[10] conducted by Daniele Gatti. Violetta is her most performed role (over 130 times).^[11]

In 2013 Lungu made her Metropolitan Opera^[12] debut as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto opposite her fellow countryman baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Anthony Tommasini praised her performance in The New York Times,^[13] describing her as "a first class Gilda" with "bloom and warmth" in her voice. She returned to the Met later in January 2014 for five performances of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, where she played the role of Musetta.^[14]

Other highlights of her career include: Gilda in Rigoletto at the Opéra National de Paris^[15] and at the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome,^[16] Liù in Turandot at the Munich State Opera,^[17] Musetta in La bohème at the Royal Opera House in London,^[18] Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Arena of Verona^[19] and at the La Quincena Festival^[20] of San Sebastian, Micaela in Carmen at the Teatro Regio in Turin^[21] and the Arena of Verona,^[22] Marguerite in Faust at La Monnaie of Brussels^[23] and in Turin,^[24] Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Arena of Verona,^[25] Mimì in La bohème at the Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow, as well as her debut at the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow in a gala concert in memory of legendary Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova.^[26]

On 12 October 2016, Lungu inaugurated the 2016/17 season of the Teatro Regio Turin as Mimì in a new production of La bohème.^[27]

Recordings

2013: Giuseppe Verdi: Il corsaro; Teatro Regio di Parma, Blu-Ray, Unitel Classica e King Records (original release year: 2008)
2014: Georges Bizet: Carmen; Macerata Opera, DVD, Dynamic
2015: Georges Bizet: Carmen; Arena di Verona Festival, DVD, Bel Air Classiques
2015: Charles Gounod: Faust; Teatro Regio di Torino, DVD/Blu-Ray, Unitel Classica

References

External links

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 305349514

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