The Russian-Swiss mezzo-soprano Nadezhda Karyazina is the winner of the 2025 Herbert von Karajan Prize, and has made an international name for herself as an outstanding singer with superb acting skills.
In the 2025/26 season she has made her house debuts as Ino in Handel’s Semele under Emmanuelle Haïm at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam and as Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and her role debut as Erda (Siegfried) at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. On the concert platform she sings in Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Salzburg Festival, and appears alongside Piotr Beczala and Olga Peretyatko at a Neuschwanstein gala concert.
Highlights of recent seasons have included Marfa in Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina at the Salzburg Easter Festival, Princess Clarisse in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges at the Semperoper Dresden, her role debut as Isabella at the Zurich Opera House, Federica (Luisa Miller) at the Glyndebourne Festival, Smeton (Anna Bolena) at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia and Hannah in Weinberg’s Die Passagierin at the Teatro Real in Madrid. She performs regularly at the Bavarian State Opera, where her appearances have included Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, Ninon in Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudun and Emilia (Otello). From 2020 to 2023 she was an ensemble member of the Zurich Opera House and from 2015 to 2020 she was a member of the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera.
On the concert platform, she regularly works with leading ensembles and orchestras. Highlights include Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, a staged production of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and Galina Ustvolskaya’s Fourth Symphony under Kent Nagano at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.
Nadezhda Karyazina studied at the Russian Academy for Theatre Arts in her home city of Moscow and graduated from the opera programme for young artists at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. From 2013 to 2015 she was a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, where she made her debut as Maddalena (Rigoletto). She has won numerous prizes, including at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition and the international singing competition Neue Stimmen.
