Ekaterina Gubanova

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Ekaterina Gubanova (Russian: Екатерина Губанова; born 1979) is a Russian mezzo-soprano opera singer who has performed at major international opera houses, including the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera in London, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Early life and training[edit]

Gubanova was born in Moscow in 1979.[1] Early in her life she studied piano, then branched into choral conducting and enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating with honors in that field. Later she switched gears and undertook singing studies at the Moscow Conservatory and then at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.[2][1][3][4] In 2001 she won the Grand Prix and Audience awards at the Marmande International Singing Competition in France.[5]

In 2002 she became a member of the Young Artists Program at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden,[6] where she sang the supporting roles of Flora in Verdi's La traviata (beginning on 14 December 2002, conducted by Paolo Carignani), the Second Maid in Richard Strauss's Elektra (beginning on 31 March, conducted by Semyon Bychkov), the Third Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (23 and 27 June, conducted by Philippe Jordan), the Hostess of the Inn in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (beginning on 22 September, conducted by Bychkov), Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1 and 4 November, conducted by Paul Wynne Griffiths), Alisa in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (beginning on 29 November, conducted by Evelino Pidò), and Bianca in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (beginning on 23 April 2004, conducted by Alexander Briger).[7]

In 2004 she won second prize in the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki.[5][8]

In October 2004 she sang the minor role of Barbara in Walter Braunfels's Prinzessin Brambilla at the Wexford Festival Opera with Daniele Belardinelli conducting the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra. The production was recorded, and David Gutman, writing in Gramophone, gave "a muted cheer for dusting off an opera, all too justly neglected" and remarks "the lacklustre orchestral playing and the heroine's raw and unfocused singing are enough to destroy any atmosphere that might be generated. Ekaterina Gubanova shows much more talent...."[9]

Career[edit]

She debuted with the Opéra National de Paris in 2005 at the Opéra Bastille in the minor role of the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, but gained critical notice there in the same year when she sang Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, in a production by Peter Sellars, conducted by Valery Gergiev.[1][4] This became a signature role which she has performed all over the world, including in Baden-Baden, Rotterdam, Berlin, Tokyo, Saint Petersburg, Munich, Madrid, and Valencia.[10][5][3][4]

Since her debut in Paris she has also performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera, the Vienna State Opera , the Bavarian State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, the Rome Opera, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Gran Teatre Barcelona, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Opera Amsterdam, and the opera houses of Rotterdam, Florence, Valencia, Buenos Aires, Toronto, and Tokyo and in Israel.[6][3][10][4][5]

She has also made guest appearances at the BBC Proms, in the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, at the Salzburg Festival, at the Lucerne Festival and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.[10][4] At the Bayreuth Festival from 2019 to 2021 and in 2023 she sang the role of Venus in Tannhäuser. She has also performed there Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde (2022) and Kundry in Parsifal (2023).[3]

Gubanova has worked with many well-known conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Kent Nagano, Simon Rattle, Mark Elder and Esa-Pekka Salonen.[3][5]

Her role repertoire as an opera singer mainly includes operas by Wagner and Verdi as well as works by Russian and French composers. Due to the flexibility of her voice, she also took on alto roles such as Erda.[5] Gubanova also performs in concerts, oratorios and art song recitals, her repertoire including Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Verdi's Messa da Requiem, Rossini's Stabat Mater , as well as in works by Gustav Mahler: the Symphony No. 2, Das Lied von der Erde and the Rueckert-Lieder.[5]

Awards[edit]

  • 2001: International Marmande Competition, France (Grand Prix and audience award)[5]
  • 2004: Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition, Helsinki (2nd prize)[5]
  • 2020: Casta Diva Award in the category "Singer of the Year"[5]

Recordings[edit]

Video[edit]

Audio[edit]

  • 2012: Wagner's Das Rheingold, Mariinsky Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev, with René Pape (Wotan), Nikolai Putilin (Alberich), Andrei Popov (Mime), Stephan Rügamer (Loge), Ekaterina Gubanova (Fricka), Alexei Markov (Donner), Sergei Semishkur (Froh), Viktoria Yastrebova (Freia), Zlata Bulycheva (Erda), Evgeny Nikitin (Fasolt), Mikhail Petrenko (Fafner), Zhanna Dombrovskaya (Woglinde), Irina Vasilieva (Wellgunde), Ekaterina Sergeeva (Flosshilde). Recorded June 7-10, 2010, and February 17-18, and April 10, 2012, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. CD: Mariinsky.[22]
  • 2012: Wagner's Die Walküre, Mariinsky Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev, with Anja Kampe (Sieglinde), Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde), Ekaterina Gubanova (Fricka), Jonas Kaufmann (Siegmund), René Pape (Wotan), Mikhail Petrenko (Hunding). Recorded June 2011, February and April 2012, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. CD: Mariinsky.[23]
  • 2014: Dvořák's Rusalka, Lyric Opera of Chicago, conducted by Andrew Davis, with Ana María Martínez (Rusalka), Brandon Jovanovich (The prince), Eric Owens (Vodník), Ekaterina Gubanova (Foreign princess), Jill Grove (Ježibaba). Director: David McVicar. Recorded live, Chicago, 22 February 2014. Lyric Audio Streaming.[24]
  • 2023: Bellini's Norma, Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Maurizio Benini with Helena Dix (Norma), Michael Spyres (Pollione), Ekaterina Gubanova (Adalgisa), Christian Van Horn (Oroveso). Recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera on 25 March 2023. Streaming audio: Met Opera on Demand.[25]

Repertoire (selection)[edit]

Gubanova's engagements are documented by Operabase[26] and Olyrix.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Biography at Olyrix website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  2. ^ James Manheim, "Ekaterina Gubanova Biography", at AllMusic website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Biography at the Bayreuth Festival website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e Biography at the Opéra de Paris website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Biography at the Mariinsky Theatre website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  6. ^ a b Biobraphy at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Gubanova", Performance Search Results, Royal Opera House Archives. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Laureates and Jury 2004", The Mirjam Helin Competition website. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  9. ^ David Gutman, Review of Braunfels' Prinzessin Brambilla, Gramophone, March 2006, p. 77. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b c Biography at the Lucerne Festival website. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" (19 December 2009), Met Opera on Demand; "CID:353239", Met Opera Database.
  12. ^ Die Walküre, La Scala, 2010: Blu-ray (OCLC 865555467); Der Ring des Nibelungen, La Scala, 2015: Blu-ray (OCLC 926078185).
  13. ^ "Anna Bolena" (15 October 2011), Met Opera on Demand; "CID:354087", Met Opera Database.
  14. ^ Norma, Liceu, 2015: Blu-ray (ASIN B01IQEGCGW); DVD (OCLC 962186602).
  15. ^ Le château de barbe bleue/La Voix humaine, Paris Opera, 2015: Blu-ray (ASIN B07C57GM9K); DVD (OCLC 1124087076).
  16. ^ "Tristan und Isolde" (8 October 2016), Met Opera on Demand; "CID:356491", Met Opera Database.
  17. ^ Tristan, Berlin, 2018: DVD (OCLC 1347347957); Blu-Ray (OCLC 1319168280).
  18. ^ Mahler Symphony no. 2, 2018: Blu-ray (OCLC 1100970541); DVD (OCLC 1113870699).
  19. ^ The Peace Concert: Blu-ray (OCLC 1241203282).
  20. ^ Lohengrin, Berlin, 2020: Streaming HD video web page, medici.tv. Retrieved 15 August 2023. DVD: ZDF (OCLC 1227479151).
  21. ^ "Medea" (22 October 2022), Met Opera on Demand; "CID:357721", Met Opera Database.
  22. ^ Das Rheingold, Mariinsky Theatre, 2012: CD (OCLC 857406314).
  23. ^ Die Walküre, Mariinsky Theatre, 2013: CD (OCLC 824355425).
  24. ^ "Listen to Rusalka", Lyric Opera of Chicago website. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  25. ^ Streaming audio of Norma (25 March 2023), Met Opera on Demand; "CID:357850", Met Opera Database.
  26. ^ Ekaterina Gubanova at Operabase. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  27. ^ Ekaterina Gubanova, Lyricopgraphie, Olyrix.com. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  28. ^ "Muti and CSO plumb the dramatic depths of Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette", BachTrack, 13 April 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  29. ^ Medea, Met Opera, 27 September 2022: CID:357695), Met Opera Database.
  30. ^ Luigi Bellingardi, Review of a performance at the Rome Opera on 27 November 2022, Opera, February 2023, pp. 180–181.

External links[edit]

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