Ekaterina Gubanova

Gubanova’s 2025–26 season highlights include starring in three new productions: Ortrud in a new production of Lohengrin to open the Opera di Roma season; Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera; and Fricka in Die Walküre as part of Tobias Kratzer’s new Ring Cycle at the Bayerische Staatsoper under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski. Other engagements include returns to the Wiener Staatsoper as Venus in Tannhäuser and to the Opéra national de Paris as the Foreign Princess in Robert Carsen’s production of Rusalka. On the concert platform, she joins Josep Pons and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Liceu at the Basilica of Montserrat for a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.

Last season, she appeared as Fricka in Tobias Kratzer’s new production of Das Rheingold at the Bayerische Staatsoper; the Foreign Princess in a new production of Rusalka at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples; and Venus in Lydia Steier’s new production of Tannhäuser at the Wiener Staatsoper. She also appeared as Eboli in Don Carlos at the Opéra national de Paris, and as Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) and Kundry (Parsifal) at the Bayreuther Festspiele.

On the concert platform, she performed in the New Year’s concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder at Teatro di San Carlo; Bluebeard’s Castle with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony Orchestra; Act II of Tristan und Isolde in Monte Carlo; Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia; and Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel.

Further recent highlights include Eboli in Don Carlos at the Staatsoper unter den Linden; Ortrud in Lohengrin and Herodias in Salome at the Opéra national de Paris; Venus in Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera; her role debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana at the Greek National Opera and Staatsoper Hamburg; and Adalgisa in Norma at Teatro di San Carlo, Naples. She also returned to the Bayreuther Festspiele as Kundry (Parsifal) and Venus (Tannhäuser). In concert, Gubanova performed Verdi’s Requiem in Atlanta with Nathalie Stutzmann and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic.

Some of her most notable engagements include Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at the Opéra national de Paris, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Staatsoper unter den Linden, and Tokyo; Fricka in Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Teatro alla Scala, Staatsoper unter den Linden, and Bayerische Staatsoper; Amneris in Aida at the Bayerische Staatsoper, on tour to Japan with Teatro alla Scala and Daniel Barenboim, and at the Chorégies d’Orange; and Venus in Tannhäuser at the Bayreuther Festspiele and the Royal Opera House, London, where she also starred as Lyubasha in The Tsar’s Bride. Gubanova made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Prokofiev’s War and Peace and went on to star as Giulietta in a new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann; Eboli in Don Carlos on tour with the company to Japan; Adalgisa in Norma; Amneris in Aida; and Venus in Tannhäuser. She also appeared in three season-opening productions with the company: as Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena (2012–13 season), Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde (2017–18 season), and Néris in Medea (2022–23 season).

Much sought after on the concert platform, she works regularly with renowned orchestras and conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Riccardo Muti, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, and Semyon Bychkov. Gubanova’s concert repertoire includes Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Rückert-Lieder, and his Second and Third Symphonies, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Verdi’s Requiem, and works by French and Russian composers.

Born in Moscow, Gubanova began her musical studies as a pianist. An honours graduate in choral conducting, she studied opera singing at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and was a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, London.