Bolshoi Theatre • Olesya Petrova

Mezzo-soprano

Olesya
Petrova

Olesya Petrova

Olesya Petrova was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She graduated from the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in 2008 (class of Irina Bogacheva).

In 2007-2016 she was a soloist with the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St Petersburg Conservatory. Since 2016 she has been a soloist at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where she performs the leading roles in Un ballo in maschera, Cavalleria rusticana, and The Queen of Spades among others.

After a successful performance at the BBC Singer of the World competition, Cardiff, the 2011/12 season was a breakthrough for her on the international stage as Konshakova (Prince Igor) at Zürich Opera House and Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera) at Greek National Opera, Athens. In 2014 Olesya made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in the role of Madelon (Andrea Chénier) and since then, she has performed regularly on this stage.

As a guest soloist, she has appeared with the Latvian National Opera, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, the Hamburger Staatsoper, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Opéra de Montréal, the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre as well as at the Arena di Verona Festival.

In 2018 she made her debut at the Bolshoi Theatre, performing the role of Polina in a production premiere of The Queen of Spades.

Awards

2nd prize at the International Competition of Galina Vishnevskaya

2006, Moscow

2nd prize at the XI International Tchaikovsky Competition

2007, Moscow

Finalist at the BBC Singer of the World competition

2011, Cardiff

1st prize and Audience Award at the II Paris Opera Competition

2012

Repertoire

Amneris (Verdi’s Aida) — Metropolitan Opera, San Diego Opera, Arena di Verona, Latvian National Opera, Mikhailovsky Theatre

Azucena (Verdi’s Il Trovatore) — MET, Latvian National Opera, Den Norske Opera in Oslo

Ulrica (Verdi’s Un Ballo in maschera) — Greek National Opera, MET, Mikhailovsky Theatre

Emilia (Verdi’s Otello) — Liceu de Barcelona

Federica (Verdi’s Luisa Miller) — Teatro Verdi di Trieste, MET, Deutsche Oper Berlin

Fenena (Verdi’s Nabucco) — Opéra de Montreal

Suzuki (Puccini’s Madama Butterfly) — Greek National Opera

Santuzza (Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana) — Mikhailovsky Theatre

Charlotte (Massenet’s Werther) — Teatro Verdi di Trieste

Marguerite (Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, concert version) — Latvian National Opera

Antonia’s Mother (Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann) — MET

Konchakovna (Borodin’s Prince Igor) — Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St Petersburg Conservatory, Zürich Opera, MET

Marfa (Mussorgsky’s Khowanschina) — Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St Petersburg Conservatory, MET

Joan (Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans) — Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St Petersburg Conservatory,

Duenna (Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery) — Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre

Countess (Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades) — Mikhailovsky Theatre

Concert Repertoire

mezzo-soprano roles in cantatas by Bach, Handel’s oratorio Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Krönungsmesse, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Second, Third and Eighth Symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde and Kindertotenlieder, Prokofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevsky and Penderecki’s Morning Prayer in addition to song cycles by Wagner, Berlioz, Mahler, Mussorgsky and Schnittke

She has worked with Yuri Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev, Gianandrea Noseda, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, James Levine,Leo Kremer, Fabio Mastrangelo, Vladimir Fedoseev, Vassily Sinaisky, and other renowned conductors.

General partner of the Bolshoi Theatre — insurance company «Ingosstrakh»

Privileged sponsor of the Bolshoi Theatre — Tinkoff Bank

Privileged partner of the Bolshoi Theatre — GUM