Julia Lezhneva (Russian: Юлия Михайловна Лежнева) (born December 5, 1989) is a Russian soprano and coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer. She has studied with Elena Obraztsova, Dennis O'Neill CBE and Yvonne Kenny.
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Julia Lezhneva was born on December 5, 1989 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Sakhalin island), Russia, into a family of geophysicists.[1] In 2004 Lezhneva graduated with distinction from the Gretchaninov Music School in Moscow. In June 2008 she received an honours degree for her vocal studies and a diploma for piano at the Moscow Conservatory Academic Music College. She pursued her studies from 2008 at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice (CIAV) under Dennis O'Neill. While at CIAV, Lezhneva participated in masterclasses of Richard Bonynge, Carlo Rizzi, John Fisher, Kiri te Kanawa, Ileana Cotrubas, and Rebecca Evans.[2] She has attended masterclasses with Elena Obraztsova in St. Petersburg in 2007, and with Alberto Zedda at the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro in 2008. She also attended masterclasses with Thomas Quasthoff during the 2009 Verbier Festival.[3]
She has given solo appearances at the Great, Small and Rachmaninoff Halls of Moscow State Conservatory, the Great and Small Halls of Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic, the Bolshoi Theatre and also internationally in Poland, Japan, Slovakia, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Norway and Italy. At the age of 12 Lezhneva began to participate in vocal competitions and festivals. She won the Grand Prix at both of Elena Obraztsova's international competitions, the 1st Competition for Young Vocalists (2006) and the 6th Competition for Young Opera Singers (2007), for which she also won all special prizes. In August 2009 she became the youngest ever winner of the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition, winning the 1st prize during its 6th competition. Among Lezhneva's many other awards is the Russian 'Triumph' award for her contribution to culture and art. Lezhneva performed in concerts at such international festivals as the Salzburg Mozartwoche Festival (with conductor Marc Minkowski) and Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (with conductor Alberto Zedda and tenor Juan Diego Flórez).[4][5]
During the 2009/10 season, Julia gave solo performances in the UK, Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, and Italy. In January 2010 she made her debut at the Salzburg Mozartwoche Festival, performing the soprano part in Mozart’s Great Mass under the baton of Marc Minkowski. In April 2010 she participated in the memorial concert for late Polish president Lech Kaczynski, singing the soprano part in Mozart’s Requiem under Marc Minkowski at the Main Square of Kraków.
Following her British debut in Liverpool during February 2010,[6] Lezhneva made her London debut on 13 May 2010, at the age of 20, singing Elena's Final Rondo from Rossini's La donna del lago at the Classical Brit awards at the Royal Albert Hall. Dame Kiri te Kanawa, recipient of the evening's Lifetime Achievement award, personally introduced Lezhneva as her protégée. Operatic tenor Dennis O'Neill, director at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, where Lezhneva has studied since September 2008, said:
We at the International Academy of Voice at Cardiff University are delighted that our President Dame Kiri te Kanawa has chosen to present Julia as her protégé. It will launch Julia’s career on a global level and we are proud that our work here is also being recognised as the institution to have contributed to the advanced preparation and development of this new world-class artist.[7]
In 2010 Lezhneva participated in the European concert tour (Kraków, London's Barbican Centre, Castellon, and Valladolid) and recording of A. Vivaldi's Ottone in villa performing the title role of Caio with Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini, as well as gave debut solo concerts at the Salzburg Festival with the Mozarteum Orchestra and Marc Minkowski
Naïve released the artist’s first solo recording in spring 2011, Rossini arias with Marc Minkowski and Sinfonia Varsovia. The CD topped the French classical charts and won the Diapason d’Or de l’Annee ‘Jeune talent.’[8] It was the Gramophone Editor’s Choice for July 2011and the German MDR 'CD des Jahres 2011,'[9] and has been nominated for the ISCA 2012 Awards.
Highlights of the season included concert performances of Mozart’s Così fan tutte - singing the role of Fiordiligi - with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, a debut at La Monnaie as Urbain in a new production by Olvier Py of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots conducted by Mr. Minkowski, Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Salzburg Festival, opposite Anna Netrebko, with Ivor Bolton conducting the Mozarteum Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in c-minor under Giovanni Antonini also at the Salzburg Festival, and an American debut in performances of the Mozart Requiem with Louis Langrée and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center.
Lezhneva’s acclaimed stage debut at Theatre Royal La Monnaie Brussels earned the artist one of the most prestigious international opera awards – Opernwelt "Nachwuchssangerin des Jahres 2011".
Ms Lezhneva debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, considered to be one of the Big Five in the USA, under Franz Welser-Möst in Mozart’s Great Mass in C. Solo tours include a Handel tour in Grenoble, Lausanne and Berlin Staatsoper, and a ‘Mozart-Da Ponte’ tour of France and Germany - both projects with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. She portrays Trasimede in Vivaldi's Oracolo di Messenia in a worldwide premiere European tour (Krakow, Caen & Vienna Konzerthaus), as well as giving a Rossini Gala ‘Stars of Opera’ concert in Poznan on March 2. Lezhneva returns to the Salzburg Mozartwoche ("Mozart Week") as solo second soprano in Bach’s Magnificat, and in Mozart’s Litanie KV243 with Marc Minkowski & MDLG. Continuing recitals with pianist Mikhail Antonenko take her throughout the Russian Federation and Europe to venues including St Petersburg Philharmonic, Beaune, and Torroella festivals. She performs a special duet concert with Philippe Jaroussky in Neumarkt on March 23, and features in a ‘300th Friedrich the Great Anniversary Gala’ at Sanssouci Palace on June 9.[10]
Lezhneva's repertoire ranges across many styles and periods, from Baroque to bel canto to Romantic. It comprises works by Vivaldi and Broschi, Bach and Handel, Mozart and Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, Massenet and Charpentier, Rimsky-Korsakov and Gretchaninov. She also performs songs by Fauré, Schubert, Berlioz, Debussy, Boulanger, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov.