This debut in Sadko was not hard to predict. Last year Olga Kulchinskaya took part in performance staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov. That was The Tale of Tsar Saltan – sensational production at Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels. Her part as Tsaverna Swan-Bird was extremely successful (“It is impossible to believe if you had not seen it yourself, in the ease of how Kulchinskaya is handling the most complex passages”, classicalmusicnews.ru, 13 June 2019). Director, happy with the result, offered her collaboration on the stage which became stepping-stone for her rapidly developing career.
Not long before Saltan, the row of her signature debuts took place (Rosina/ Il Barbieri di Siviglia by G. Rossini, 2018) and Metropolitan Opera (Musetta/ La Bohème by G. Puccini, 2019). A great triumph was her performance as Juliet in The Capulets and the Montagues by V. Bellinni at Zurich Opera (Romeo performed by Joyce DiDonato). Successful debut ensured her further constant engagement in this theatre, where during several seasons she sang few step parts including Adina (The Elixir of Love by G.Donizetti), Zerlina (Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart), Leila (Les pêcheurs de perles, or The Pearl Fishers by G.Bizet), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel by E. Humperdinck).
Her performances are always appealing for the “sense of role”. She can be different and create wholesome, thought through vocal and stage image, whether it is Suzanna in The Marriage of Figaro by W.A. Mozart (performances at Bayerische Staatsoper, Bolshoi Theatre), Musetta in La Bohème by G. Puccini (at Zurich Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Bolshoi Theatre as well as operas in Amsterdam and Rome), Leila in Les Pêcheurs de Perles by G.Bizet (at Zurich Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona) or Marfa in The Tsar's Bride by N. Rimsky-Korsakov.
In the latter role, she debuted six years ago at the Bolshoi Theatre (maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky entrusted an artist from The Young Artists Opera Program to perform at the premiere!). She instantly became one of the leading soloist at opera company. Her repertoire at the Bolshoi included Ksenia (Boris Godunov by M. Mussorgsky), Musetta (La Bohème), Suzanna ( (Le nozze di Figaro), Gilda (Rigoletto), Corinna (Il Viaggio a Reims by G.Rossini, concert version 2017). Intensive work at the theatre did not intervene with her big achievements in competitions (1st prize in International Singing Contest Francisco Viñas in Barcelona, 3rd prize Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition in Guadalajara, Mexico). It was later followed by the first international engagements that brought her wide fame on European Opera scene.
Art. Lebedev Studio