Elena Zaremba

Biography

Born in Moscow. Graduated from the Gnesin Institute of Music.

In 1984-95, she was a soloist with Bolshoi Theatre Opera Company, where she performed the following, among other, parts: Marta (Iolanta), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Amaranta (La Molinara), Vanya (Ivan Susanin), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Amelfa (The Golden Cockerel), Konchakovna (Prince Igor), Innkeeper (Boris Godunov).
In 2011 she took part in the production of Ruslan and Lyudmila, singing the part of Naina (conductor Vladimir Jurowski, director Dmitri Tcherniakov). In 2012 she performed the role of Marina Mnishek (Boris Godunov). In 2013 she took part in the production of Prince Igor, singing the role of Konchakovna (conductor Vassily Sinaisky, director Yuri Lyubimov). In 2015 she sang the role of the Countess (The Queen of Spades).

In 1990, she made her debut at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in Prince Igor under the baton of Bernard Haitink.
She was invited in Florence to sing Ivan the Terrible with Myung-Whun Chung, then in San Francisco in War and Peace with Valery Gergiev.
In 1992 she makes her debut in the title role of Carmen at the Bregenz Festival in Austria, followed by performances at the Arena di Verona, Vienna, London and Munich with Jose Carreras.
She makes her debut at the Paris National Opera in 1993 in the role of Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera.
In 1996, she performs for the first time at the Avery Fisher Hall of New York, invited by Luciano Pavarotti for the gala Pavarotti Plus!. Other highlights of this season are the title role in Carmen at the Paris National Opera, and Marfa in Khovanshchina in Brussels.
In 1998 makes her debut in Tel Aviv in the role of Dalila in Samson et Dalila. She is back in Paris to sing in Eugene Onegin alongside Thomas Hampson.
The season 1998-99 sees her in Florence in a new Willy Decker’s production of Falstaff conducted by Antonio Pappano. She sings Dalila alongside Placido Domingo at his anniversary concert at the Paris National Opera. Later in the season she appears in the Metropolitan Opera to make her role debut of Azucena in Il Trovatore and is immediately invited again to perform this role in 2002.
In 1999-2000 she is in Paris in two new productions: The Queen of Spades and War and Peace, which is recorded on DVD.
In the season 2000-01 Elena Zaremba performs Carmen in Lisbon, Munich, Hamburg and in Berlin alongside Neil Shicoff. She was then back to New York for the celebration of Placido Domingo’s 60th birthday at the Met performing with him Il Trovatore conducted by James Levine, followed by Un Ballo in Maschera under the baton of Placido Domingo. In April 2002 she is invited by Luciano Pavarotti to his home city of Modena to celebrate his 40 years on the stage in a Gala event; later she sings with him in Monte Carlo.

Ready in 1993 she approaches the Wagnerian repertory singing first Das Rheingold and Siegfried at the Vienna State Opera, and then doing the same performances and the recording for Decca with the Cleveland orchestra under the baton of Christoph von Dohnanyi. In 1999 she sang the whole Der Ring des Nibelungen in San Francisco Opera and in 2004 at the Met, New York with James Levine. Amongst other Wagnerian highlights are the role of Fricka in the new Willy Decker’s production of Das Rheingold in Madrid, 2002 and Francesco Zambello’s Die Walkuere in Washington, 2003.

She sang Marfa in Khovanshchina in Florence, Ulrica (Un Ballo in Machera) in Nice.
In 2007, she appeared as Ulrica (Un Ballo in Machera) at Teatro Comunale (Florence) and as Anna (Les Troyens) at the Paris National Opera.
In 2008 she sang Ulrica (Un Ballo in Machera) at Teatro Real (Madrid) and Hamburg State Opera, La Cieca (La Gioconda) at Teatro Real.
In 2010, she sang Ulrica in Bilbao and Marfa in Hamburg.

Elena Zaremba regularly appears in Asia as well. She did Carmen in Tokyo with Neil Shicoff and in Seoul with Jose Cura.

Elena Zaremba is invited by the famous conductors such as Claudio Abbado, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Vladimir Jurowski, James Levine, Wolfgang Sawallish and Giuseppe Sinopoli among others. She worked with such directors as Francesca Zambello, Franco Zeffirelli, Willy Decker, Lev Dodin, and Bob Wilson.