Kos Lana Portrait (c) Lana Kos Facebook 07_24

Lana Kos

Sopran

Born in 1984. in Croatia, Lana Kos entered the world of music education at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. Her natural talent blossomed under the continuous guidance and supervision of renowned vocal teacher such as Ljudmila Ivanova.

In April 2002, at the tender age of 17, Lana made her debut as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” performing at the Croatian National Theatre. With the specific colour and three octave range of voice, as well as great ease and sovereignty of her singing, Lana immediately revealed herself as a young artist with great potential. Recognised by the great Mstislav Rostropovich she was chosen for the lead role as Natasha Rostova in a new production of “War and peace” by Sergei Prokofiev at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In 2006, as the youngest ever soloist, she was offered a four-year engagement at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Once there, she interpreted many roles in several languages and was given the opportunity to work with world renowned conductors such as Kent Nagano, Marco Armiliato, Nicola Luisotti, Julian Kovachev, Fabio Luisi, Kirill Petrenko, Danielle Gatti and many others.

In 2008 Lana starred as the lead role in “Příhodi liški Bistrouški” by Leoš Janáček at the Israeli Oper in Tel Aviv. The same year she recorded the role of Madame Cortese in Rossini’s “Il viaggio a Reims” at the Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland. A year later she sang for the first time the role of Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s famous “La traviata” at the Slovenian National Theatre in Maribor. There, she also signed a two-year contract as a leading soloist and sang two major roles; Mimì in Puccini’s “La bohème” (conducted by Marko Letonja and directed by Janusz Kica) and Juliette in Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod (directed by Damir Zlatar – Frey and conducted by Benjamin Pionnier).

In April 2010. Lana interpreted the role of Lucia in “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Gaetano Donizetti at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka, which was conducted by Niksa Bareza and directed by Damir Zlatar – Frey. For her performance she was awarded a prize by the Croatian National Theatre.

Her international career really expanded in 2011. with her performance of Violetta Valéry at the Arena di Verona Festival, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. It was directed by acclaimed Argentinian director and set and costume designer Hugo de Ana, with whome Lana worked on creating her first Violetta back in Maribor.

In February 2012, in a new production of “La traviata” conducted by Bruno Bartoletti and directed by Henning Brockhaus, she sang the role of Violetta. In April she performed at the Croatian national Theatre in Zagreb singing the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. In July she took the role of Micaela in a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen” at The Israeli Opera in Masada, directed by Giancarlo del Monaco and conducted by Daniel Oren. In August she performed with Ensemble di Verona at concerts in Nürnberg and Munich, as well as the grand concert in Macerata which marked the thirtieth anniversary of great Mario del Monaco’s passing.

In October, with Giancarlo del Monaco as director, she gave a stellar performance as Manon in Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” at the Greek National Opera in Athens.

In 2013. at the NCPA Opera in Beijing, Lana Kos sang the role of Desdemona in “Otello” by Giuseppe Verdi. Only a month later she was back in Tel Aviv singing as Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s “La traviata”, which was directed by Andrei Žagars and conducted by David Stern. The following summer she was once again performing as Violetta at the Arena di Verona Festival, with Andrea Batisttoni as conductor and Hugo de Ana as director. In the early autumn, in a production of the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden and directed by Maestro Daniel Oren, Lana sang the role of Violetta Valéry in Guanghzhou, China.

In 2014, as part of a new production of Verdi’s “Otello”, Lana performed in Palermo as Desdemona. She made her debut in the title role of Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” in Lausanne and also presented herself for the first time ever to the Brazilian public as Micaela. She performed alongside tenor Vittorio Grigolo in Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” at the Arena di Verona Festival, and as Desdemona at NCPA Beijing. Lana also performed with Zeljko Lucic at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival closing ceremony on August 25th.

In 2015 she once again sang the role of Desdemona in São Paulo, followed by “La traviata” at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, the role of Rosina in Rossini’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia” at the Festival Avenches Opéra, Puccini’s “La bohème” in Palermo singing the role of Musetta and the role of Mimì at the Opera Naples in Florida, the role of Donna Anna in Beijing, and her debut as Amelia in Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegro during the Toscana circuit (Pisa, Lucca, Livorno).

In 2016. Lana Kos sang the role of Elvira in Verdi’s “Ernani” at the National Theatre in Split. At the Teatro Real de Madrid, with Leo Nucci and Maestro James Conlon, she portrayed the role of Luisa Miller. In May she sang Puccini’s Mimì at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. Summer months she spent singing the role of Violetta in Verdi’s “La traviata” at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari.

In 2017. Lana Kos made her debut as Marguerite in Charles Gounod Faust at the Vilnius City Opera, Lithuania. She also made her debut as Liù in Puccini’s “Turandot” during the thirtieth anniversary of Macao International Music Festival in China.

2017/2018 saw Lana Kos giving her debut as Leonora in Verdi’s “Il trovatore” at the Seoul Arts Center, as well as Oper Graz.
She also sang Violetta at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova and at Teatro Petruzzelli

2019 saw her as Desdemona in Otello and Violetta in La Traviata at Opera Nationala Bucuresti, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, Aida at Theater Erfurt and Micaela in Carmen at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival.

In 2020 she was Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata at Teatro Real de Madrid, Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly at Theater Bern and Micaela in Carmen at HNK Zagreb.

In 2021 Cio Cio San Madama Butterfly at HNK Zagreb in a production of the Arena di Verona Opera Festival and Magda in La Rondine as well as Micaela in Carmen at HNK Zagreb.

Engagements in 2022 included Violetta in La Traviata at Theater Efurt.