Great Sopranos of Today

Catrina Prager, Writer in Bucarest, Romania
01 February 2022

Opera is a fascinating domain, one that many of us, unfortunately, aren’t as familiar with as we would like to be. While many associate classical music with high culture, it’s actually excellent relaxing music and meditation music. It’s also really conductive for creativity, and as such, great to listen to while working, or reading.

But where do you start? If not a single contemporary soprano comes to mind, don’t worry, because we’ve got just the thing. In the lines below, we present some great Sopranos of today, and why you should be listening to them.

Angela Gheorghiu

1.Angela Gheorghiu

Born in the small town of Adjud, Romania, in 1965, Angela Gheorghiu has been a constant presence in concert halls all over the world. A graduate of the Bucharest Conservatory, Gheorghiu first garnered acclaim for her performance in Don Giovanni, at the Royal Opera House of London. Since then, some of Gheorghiu’s most famous performances have included La boheme (G. Puccini) and Traviata (G. Verdi).

But by far her best known performance was in Puccini’s Tosca, which Gheorghiu first appeared in in 2002, and continues to do so to this day. Angela Gheorghiu, who is now 56, has performed for distinguished guests, such as Queen Elizabeth II and former US President Barack Obama. While her many international engagements keep her busy, the artist has often returned to her native Romania for collaborations.

Diana Damrau

2.Diana Damrau

She is easily one of the most colorful, and skilled performers and all-round artists that the opera world has seen in the 21st century. The soprano, born in the town of Gunzburg, Bavaria, has earned a solid reputation as one of the world’s leading coloratura sopranos (a term referring to the musical style, marked by leaps, and trills), but also an impressive bel canto performer, specializing in the 19th century.

Damrau, 50, has often focused on Mozart performances in her impressive career. Indeed, some of her most unforgettable performances include the part of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and both Konstanze and Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

At present, Damrau is engaged in her role debut in Anna Bolena.

Cecilia Bartoli

3.Cecilia Bartoli

Another of today’s most favored coloratura sopranos, Italian artist Cecilia Bartoli definitely deserves a spot on our list. Born in Rome in 1966, Bartoli is actually a mezzo-soprano, her voice ranging from classical soprano, and contralto voices.

Bartoli, who hails from a pair of musician parents, also debuted in Puccini’s Tosca at the tender age of 9, and knew that music would be her life’s goal. She later graduated from the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in her hometown, and rose to prominence fairly early in her 20s.

The Italian soprano, who has since been honored with an Order of Merit of the Italian Republic title, is recognized internationally for her performances of Mozart, Handel, and Rossini, among many others. Since 2012, Bartoli, now 55, has served as the first female musical director of the infamous Salzburg Whitsun Festival, where she has demonstrated her skill for blending together conceptual content and artistic representation.

Anna Netrebko

4.Anna Netrebko

She was born in Krasnodar, Russia, in 1971, and is currently one of Russia’s most well-loved opera sopranos. She was first discovered by infamous Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who promoted her heavily in her youth.
Through Gergiev’s support, Netrebko made her debut at the renowned Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, though she has since appeared in opera halls all over the world.

Netrebko, who graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, is known for her collaborations with the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and the Royal Opera in London, among several others. International acclaim for Netrebko came after her stellar performance of the part of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2002).

Other important roles for Netrebko include that of Leonora in Il Trovatore (which she currently still performs), as well as the part of Lady Macbeth in the opera adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Vassiliki Karayanni

5.Vassiliki Karayianni

She is a distinguished great coloratura soprano born in Patras, Greece, in 1972.

The soprano studied at the Patras Conservatory, and has collaborated with the Greek National Opera from a very young age. So far, Karayanni, has appeared in “The Tales of Hoffmann” by Jacques Offenbach, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Donizetti’s Lamermoor, and many other prestigious operas.

She has performed at the Bunkamura Concert Hall of Tokyo, Berlin’s Comical Opera House, the San Carlo Theater in Lisbon, and several other prestigious venues. Most recently, she has appeared in Bellini’s Sonnambula.

 Susan Graham

6.Susan Graham

Susan Graham is the first American-born artist on our list. The mezzo-soprano was born in New Mexico in 1960, but grew up in Texas, where she later graduated from Texas Tech University. After over a decade of studying the piano, Graham continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music.

She is a real presence at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Graham has also often appeared at other important venues around the world, such as the Santa Fe Opera, and the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. In fact, she was so appreciated in France that the government offered her the “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” title for her contribution.

Graham, currently 61, is making her debut this season in the role of Herodias in Strauss’s Salome, as well as reprising her performance in Dead Man Walking (the Lyric Opera of Chicago production).

Sonya Yoncheva

7.Sonya Yoncheva

Now returning to Eastern Europe, we have Sonya Yoncheva who, at only 40 years old, is the youngest soprano on our list. Born in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv in 1981, Yoncheva studied at the National School for Music and Dance in her hometown. Here, she honed her skills in both piano and voice, and rose to prominence early (in her teenage years, she actually hosted a TV show about music).

Yoncheva has collaborated with grand venues like the Berlin State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opera de Paris, and the Metropolitan Opera, to name but a few. She is known for her interpretation of Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La Traviata, and Mimi in La boheme.

In 2021, Yoncheva was the recipient of the coveted Opus Klassik as Singer of the Year award. Currently, the soprano can be seen in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda.

Joyce DiDonato

8.Joyce DiDonato

The winner of the Olivier Award in 2018, Joyce DiDonato is another outstanding coloratura soprano on our list. DiDonato was born 1969 in Prairie Village in Kansas, and studied music at Wichita State University, followed by the Academy of Vocal Arts.

The recipient of numerous awards, including multiple Grammys, DiDonato, 52, has performed all across the globe, in places like Carnegie Hall and the Houston Grand Opera, as well as the San Francisco Opera.

Her performances in Kalman’s Gräfin Mariza, Strauss’s Salome, and Mozart’s ever-present The Marriage of Figaro earned DiDonato the title of one of the today’s best mezzo-sopranos, and one of the most in-demand performers at opera halls all over the world.

Elina Garanca

9.Elina Garanca

The Latvian mezzo-soprano, like many world-renowned artists, hails from a musical family. Garanca was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1976, to a choral director and a lieder singer. In her youth, Garanca, now 45, studied at the Latvian Academy of Music under Sergej Martinov. She later became a resident artist at the Südthüringischer Staatstheater in Meiningen, and then at the Oper Frankfurt.

Nicknamed “the finest Carmen in 25 years” by the New York Times, Garanca interpreted the role to critical acclaim, both at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and at the Metropolitan Opera.

A fixture at the Salzburg Festival, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and Carnegie Hall, Garanca is the recipient of numerous musical awards. At present, Garanca is appearing in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, and is set to star in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

Olga Borodina

10.Olga Borodina

Speaking of Russian sopranos, Olga Borodina stands out as a mezzo-soprano that deserves a mention. Born in 1963 in Leningrad, Borodina, like Netrebko, is known for her heavy involvement with the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg, but also for international performances.

In 1992, Borodina appeared in Samson and Delilah, at the Royal Opera House, alongside Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo. Hers is a very varied repertoire, with Borodina appearing in performances of La Cenerentola, Don Carlos, La Damnation de Faust, as well as operas like Carmen (where Borodina performed in the title role), and Aida.

An artist with a fierce love of her home country, Borodina, 58, has stayed in Russia, where she has received numerous awards for her impressive contribution to the country’s cultural patrimonium.

If you’re eager to listen to the above sopranos (as well as numerous others) perform, head on over to Radio Art’s channel Today’s Sopranos. Here, you will find numerous compositions performed by the sopranos you’ve just read about, as well as discover some you never even knew about!


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