Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina is a voice you're probably about to hear quite a lot of, as she's currently on stage at the Metropolitan Opera taking on the title role of Bizet's Carmen. At just 27 years old, she's the youngest artist to play the role at the Met – and is about to repeat the feat again across the pond in April as she returns to the role at the Royal Opera House in London.
This, paired with the fact that she's just signed a deal with Decca Classics, means she's probably not going to be a 'rising star' for much longer.
Who is Aigul Akhmetshina?
Aigul Akhmetshina is a mezzo-soprano from Russia, who has made waves with her peformances of Carmen on both sides of the Atlantic.
Where is Aigul Akhmetshina from?
Akhmetshina hails from a village in Bashkortostan, a republic of Russia between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. At the age of 18, the talented young singer enrolled on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House.
What opera roles has she performed so far?
Alongside her noted performances of Carmen, Aigul Akhmetshina's operatic roles to date include Charlotte in Massenet's opera Werther, Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and Preziosilla in Verdi's La forza del destino at the Royal Opera House. Continuing with the great Italian opera composers, Akhmetshina has also sung Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Elisabetta in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda with Dutch National Opera.
Other noted roles already include Olga in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with San Francisco Opera, Varvara in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová at Glyndebourne Festival, and in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story with L'Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
- We named West Side Story as one the 15 best stage musicals of all time
And what discs has she released?
To tie in with her signing on Decca, Aigul Akhmetshina has just released her first single 'Habanera'. Her debut album, to be released in July 2024, will include arias from Carmen, also featuring the British-Italian tenor Freddie de Tommaso. The album also includes a folk song from her region in the Ural Mountains.
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Pic: Paola Kudacki