The remarkable young Moldovan soprano Natalia Tanasii is a 2nd Prize winner at the much coveted Neue Stimmen competition and is already making important debuts on major European stages such as the Salzburg Festival, Opernhaus Zürich, La Monnaie, Hamburg State Opera and Teatro Real in Madrid.
This season, Tanasii returns to Volksoper Wien as the title role in their production of Iolanta and makes her debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen. Previous to this she returned to Opernhaus Zürich as Micaëla in Andreas Homoki’s new production of Carmen conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and her debut at Staatsoper Hamburg as Mimi, a role which she reprised at the New National Theatre, Prague.
Tanasii’s recent successes include performances of Tatyana Eugene Onegin to great critical reception at La Monnaie for a new production by Laurent Pelly, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège and Opéra de Lausanne, all in her company debuts, and at Garsington Opera where reviews commented on her ‘remarkable timbre’ and ‘pin-sharp intonation’ (Bachtrack); her debut at the Volksoper Wien in the title role of a new Lotte de Beer production of Iolanta; her debut at Oper Frankfurt as Micaëla Carmen; Fifth Maid Elektra in Zurich, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, where she also performed Mahler Symphony No.2 under the baton Alexander Soddy, and the Salzburg Festival; Mimi La bohème at Teatro Nacional de São Carlos and the National Theatre Opera; and Zerlina Don Giovanni with Suzhou Symphony Orchestra.
Further engagements include the 2016/17 season opening at Den Norske Opera & Ballet with Calixto Bieito’s staged production of Britten’s War Requiem, a production she later revisited at the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, where her arresting performance received outstanding accolades. Later in the season, she returned to Oslo for her debut as Fiordiligi in a new production of Così fan tutte and reprised the role of Micaëla Carmen. Tanasii also appeared at the opening of the Rosehill Theatre in Carlisle where she performed for HRH The Prince of Wales. In Zurich, as a member of the International Opera Studio from 2017 to 2019, her roles included Sandman in a new production of Hänsel und Gretel under the baton of Fabio Luisi, Javotte in a new production of Manon, Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly, Fifth Maid Elektra, Slave Salome; Undis, Birks Mutter/Wilddrude Ronja Räubertochter; and Arminda in a new production of La finta giardiniera directed by Tatjana Gürbaca and conducted by Gianluca Capuano.
In the 2015/16 season she was a Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, covering the role of the Vixen and singing the Chocholka in Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen. Tanasii also joined the Glyndebourne Chorus for a Gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Shakespeare400 celebrations.