Russian mezzo-soprano Anna Smirnova is one of the most exciting Verdi mezzos on the international scene. She possesses a true dramatic Verdi mezzo-soprano voice, in the tradition of Simionato, Cossotto and the young Obratzsova. Born in Moscow to a family of musicians, she studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She made one of her very first operatic appearances on the stage of the Teatro alla Scala in 2007 as the Principessa in Adriana Lecouvreur. Within two years of this debut, Smirnova was engaged to debut in every major opera company in the world.
Recent engagements:
In 2023 Ortrud Lohengrin in Deutsche Oper Berlin, also Aida (Amneris) there.
Additionally, Attila (Odabella) at Semperoper Dresden and Nabucco (Abigaille) at Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In 2021 and 2022 Turandot at Semperoper Dresden, Aida at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Turandot at Staatsoper Hamburg, Ortrud (Lohengrin) at Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
Recent productions include Eboli (Don Carlo) at LA Opera, Amneris (Aida) at Grand Theatre Geneve. After this she made her debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin with the title role in Turandot, afterwards at Staatsoper Wien.
At Operhaus Zürich she will sing Ortrud (Lohengrin).
She appeared in 2007 as Amneris in Aida at the Staatsoper Berlin, a role she later sang at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. She was heard as Eboli in Don Carlo under the direction of Lorin Maazel in Valencia in 2008 and appeared as Eboli that same year at La Scala. She has also appeared as Eboli during La Scala’s tour to Japan in September of 2009.
Other engagements for the 2008-2009 season included her debut in Verona as Amneris in Aida, a role she also sang that season at the Rome Opera and at La Scala.
She sang her first performances of Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Teatro la Fenice in 2009 and appeared in this role in the 2009/2010 season in Valencia conducted by Lorin Maazel. Also in the 2009/2010 season, she appeared in Il Trovatore in Florence and as Amneris in Tel Aviv.
In the 2010/2011 season, Anna Smirnova appeared at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin in Adriana Lecouvreur opposite Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann. She made her Vienna State Opera debut that season as Amneris and made her debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in the same role. She sang her first performances as Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s opera at the Deutsch Oper in Berlin and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Don Carlo.
In the 2011/2012 season, she made her debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Amneris. Further engagements also included her Chicago Lyric Opera debut as Amneris, her debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich as Eboli in Don Carlo and her debut at the Liceu in Barcelona as Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino. She was also be heard in Munich, Savonlinna and in Arena di Verona as Amneris.
In 2013 she has sung as Eboli in Don Carlos at the Metropolitan Opera, Azucena in Il Trovatore in Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Amneris in Napoli and Rio de Janeiro, and Abigaille in Nabucco in Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In 2014/15 she sang Abigaille in Nabucco in Wiener Staatsoper, Azucena in Il Trovatore in Munich, Eboli in Deutsche Oper Berlin and Eboli at the Opernfestspiele Munich. In Bilbao she sang Attila.
In 15/16 and 16/17 she sang, among others, a new production of Aida and then Ortrud (Lohengrin) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Abigaille (Nabucco) at Wiener Staatsoper and also Abigaille at Oper Stuttgart in 17/18.
She began again at Deutsche Oper Berlin with Ortrud (Lohengrin), Amneris (Aida) and Abigaille (Nabucco).
In January 18 she made her debut in Toulouse with Brünhilde (Walküre) with overwhelming success. Later this year she will sing Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) at Bayerische Staatsoper München.