Natalia Tanasii
Moldovan soprano Natalia Tanasii was a member of the International Opera Studio in Zurich from 2017 to 2019. She was only 21 when she made her professional stage debut as Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Moldovan National Opera. On 2014, on completing her studies, she joined the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. Among her first roles for the company was Micaëla in Calixto Bieito’s production of Carmen. That same year she made her British debut in an acclaimed performance of Britten’s War Requiem under Marin Alsop at London’s Southbank Centre.
A 2019 finalist of the Queen Sonya Competition in Oslo and the Neue Stimmen Competition in Gütersloh, Natalia Tanasii made her debut at Prague’s National Theatre as Mimì (La bohème) in February 2020. Her appearances in Elektra mark her Salzburg Festival debut.
During her time with the International Opera Studio in Zurich, Natalia Tanasii was heard in several new productions, appearing as the Sandman (Hänsel und Gretel) under Fabio Luisi, Javotte (Manon), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), two roles in Jörn Arnecke’s family opera Ronja Räubertochter and Arminda (La finta giardiniera) under Gianluca Capuano.
To open the 2016/17 season Natalia Tanasii appeared in Calixto Bieito’s staged production of Britten’s War Requiem for the Norwegian National Opera, a production in which she impressed public and press alike when it visited the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao. That same season she also made her role debut as Fiordiligi in a new production of Così fan tutte in Oslo and reprised the role of Micaëla in a revival of Carmen there. She additionally appeared at the reopening of the Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven, Cumbria, in the presence of the Prince of Wales.
In 2015/16 Natalia Tanasii was a Jerwood Young Artist of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where she sang Chocholka in The Cunning Little Vixen and covered the title role. She also joined the Glyndebourne Chorus for a gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Shakespeare400 celebrations.