Vlatka Oršanić

Vlatka Oršanić (born January 29, 1958 in Zabok , Croatia) is a Croatian opera singer (soprano) and vocal teacher.

biography

Vlatka Oršanić was born on January 29, 1958 in Zabok (Croatia). At the age of seven she took piano lessons at the music school in Varaždin. At the age of fourteen she switched to singing with Ankica Opolski. At the age of sixteen she began to study singing at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in the class of Ondina Otta Klasinc and graduated in 1979; her diploma role was Gilda (Verdi, Rigoletto). From 1985 to 1990 further training with Olivera Miljakovic took place in Vienna .

The first appearances

During her studies she sang in the choir of the Slovenian Philharmonic, her first solo appearance was in 1976 when she sang the role of Susanna (Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro) in the concert performance of the opera with the orchestra of the Slovenian Philharmonic and with the Prešeren -Prize for students was awarded. From 1978 to 1984 she was engaged as a soloist at the Opera of the National Theater in Ljubljana (Slovenia). She made her debut as Sophie (Massenet: Werther), then she sang Gilda (Verdi: Rigoletto), Lucia (Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor), Adina (Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore), Rosina (Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, ), Olympia (Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann), Angelica (Handel: Orlando), Elvira (Bellini: I Puritani), Queen of the Night (Mozart: The Magic Flute) and Violetta (Verdi: La traviata). At the same time, she appeared in opera houses in Rijeka, Split, Beograd, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Novi Sad and Skopje and at all major festivals (including Dubrovnik and Opatija) in the former Yugoslavia. She has also made guest appearances in Romania (Cluj, Timișoara) and in Czechoslovakia (Prague).

Europe and the world

From 1990 to 1992 she was a member of the Salzburg Landestheater ensemble . Here she appeared in the following roles: Despina (Mozart: Così fan tutte), Bastienne (Mozart: Bastien and Bastienne), Euridice (Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice) and Tamiri (Mozart: Il re pastore). She has made guest appearances in Spain and Japan. In 1991 she was a guest singer at the Semperoper Dresden as Mila in Janaček's opera Osud. From 1992 to 1995 she was a member of the Darmstadt City Theater ensemble . There she sang Rosalinde (J. Strauss Sohn: Die Fledermaus), Jenufa (Janáček: Jenufa), Mimi (Puccini: La bohème), Vitellia (Mozart: La clemenza di Tito), Tatiana (PI Tchaikovsky: Eugen Onegin), Donna Anna (Mozart: Don Giovanni), Mařenka (Smetana: The Bartered Bride) and Violetta (Verdi: La traviata). Since 1993 she has made guest appearances at many opera houses and concert halls, since 1995 she has worked in Europe and around the world as a freelance artist. In 2003 she was engaged again as a soloist in the Ljubljana Opera House (Slovenia).

Artistic profile

Her singing and artistic peculiarities are her very beautiful, large and rich voice, pronounced musicality, vocal range, in-depth and emotional interpretation and convincing stage presence. She began her career as a coloratura soprano, later she sang lyrical and youthful dramatic repertoire. Lately she has also been singing dramatic and mezzo-soprano roles. Her opera repertoire includes over 40 leading roles and her concert repertoire is also very large.

Roles, appearances and artistic staff

Well-regarded roles of her are: Gilda (Verdi: Rigoletto) and Lucia (Donizetti: Lucia di Lamermoor). In these roles she appeared as a very young singer on all major stages of the former Yugoslavia. She later had a lot of success with the title role Jenufa (Janáček: Jenufa) - after her debut in Darmstadt, she also performed in this role at the Festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, in Freiburg (city theater) and in Essen ( Aalto-Theater ). Her interpretations of Katerina Ismailowa (D. Schostakowitsch: Lady Macbeth von Mzensk) in the Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen, at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, at the Meininger Theater in Meiningen, at the Theater in Bremen and at the National Theater in Zagreb were also successful. One of her big roles was her Lady Macbeth (Verdi: Macbeth) at the Komische Oper Berlin , Opernhaus Leipzig and at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck . The following roles are also worth mentioning: Donna Elvira (Mozart: Don Giovanni) in Zagreb, Leonora (Verdi: Il trovatore) in Bonn and Zagreb, Aida (Verdi: Aida) in Antwerp and Cologne, Ariadne (Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos) in Berlin , Mila (Janáček: Osud) in Dresden, Natascha (Prokofiew: War and Peace) in Vienna (Konzerthaus), Malinka-Ethera-Kunka (Janáček: The Excursions of Mr. Brouček ) in Vienna (Konzerthaus), Katja (Janáček: Katja Kabanowa ) in Darmstadt, Rusalka (Dvořák: Rusalka) in Essen and Bielefeld, Fürstin (Dvořák: Rusalka) in Ljubljana, Tosca (Puccini: Tosca) in Essen, Zagreb and Ljubljana, Tatjana (PI Tschaikowski: Eugen Onegin) in Zagreb, Margarete ( Gounod: Faust) in Ljubljana, Elettra (Mozart: Idomeneo) in Salzburg, Abigaile (Verdi: Nabucco) in Ljubljana, Cio-Cio-San (Puccini: Madama Butterfly) in Ljubljana, Maddalena (Giordano: Andrea Chénier) in Ljubljana, Dido and Belinda (Purcell: Dido and Aeneas) in Ljubljana and Zagreb, Genoveva (Schumann: Genoveva) in Vienna (Konzerthaus), Janja (Gotovac: Kamenik) in Zagreb, Herodias (Strauss: Salome) in Ljubljana, Maddalena (Verdi: Rigoletto) in Ljubljana, Miss Tod (Menotti: The Old Maid and the Thief) in Ljubljana, Marcellina (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro ) in Ljubljana, Kabanicha (Janáček: Katja Kabanova) in Ljubljana.

Her concert repertoire also includes works of various styles, from baroque, classical, romantic and verismo to contemporary music, for example several cantatas by Bach and Handel, Mass in B minor (Bach), oratorio Messiah and nine German arias (Handel), Requiem, coronation mass and numerous concert arias (Mozart), 9th symphony, oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives and Missa solemnis (Beethoven), musical drama Lazarus and numerous songs (Schubert), Petite messe solennelle and Stabat Mater (Rossini), oratorio Elias and cantata Lobgesang (Mendelssohn), A German Requiem (Brahms), Symphony No. 2 (Mahler), Stabat Mater (Dvořák), Messa da requiem (Verdi), Te Deum and Mass in F minor (Bruckner), Altenberg-Lieder (Berg), Lyric Symphony (Zemlinsky) and Requiem for a Young Poet (BA Zimmermann).

She sang at the largest European music events, such as the Salzburg Festival , the Vienna Festival , the Festival in Edinburgh, the Festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , the Festival d'automne in Paris, the Summer Festival in Dubrovnik, Split and Opatija. She performed on the most prominent concert stages in Europe and the world, u. a. in the Wiener Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus, Salzburger Festspielhaus, Berliner Philharmonie, Berliner Konzerthaus, Cologne Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre du Châtelet and Radio France (Paris), Bunka-Kai-Kan (Tokyo) and Auditorio municipal Madrid, as well as the Concert stages in Brussels, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Nuremberg, Riga, Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade. She has worked with many well-known conductors, such as Michael Gielen , Lovro von Matačić , Semjon Bytschkow , Wladimir Jurowski , Kirill Petrenko , Uroš Lajovic , Hans Graf (conductor) , Pinchas Steinberg , Daniel Harding , Stefan Soltesz , Heinz Holliger , Michael Schønwandt , Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos , Howard Arman , Dieter Rossberg , Tomàš Hanus, Nikša Bareza , Mladen Tarbuk and Ivo Lipanović. She also worked with many prominent directors, such as Joachim Herz (Artistic Director) , Harry Kupfer , Christine Mielitz , Liliana Cavani , Uwe Eric Laufenberg , Pet Halmen , Frank van Laecke, Lutz Hochstraate , Thomas Schulte-Michels , Andreas Homoki , Konstanze Lauterbach , Fred Berndt , Tom Toelle and Gerd Heinz . Your partners were u. a. Elīna Garanča , Anja Harteros and Piotr Beczała .

Educational activity

Since 2003 Vlatka Oršanić has also been active in teaching. She is a full professor at the Music Academy in Zagreb and from 2007 to 2016 she was the head of the singing department there. From 2006 to 2010 she was also a professor at the Ljubljana Music Academy . Her students sing at various opera houses in Europe (Bavarian State Opera Munich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Stadttheater St.Gallen, Národní divadlo Praga, Teatro Fenice Firenze, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Opera Krakowska, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Opera SNG Ljubljana, Opera SNG Maribor, Opera HNK Zagreb, Opera HNK Ivan Zajc Rijeka, Opera HNK Split and Opera HNK Osijek).
She leads masterclasses for singers and singing teachers and is a member of the jury at various international singing competitions and co-founder and director of the international singing competition "Zinka Milanov", in Rijeka (Croatia).

Prizes and awards

1976: Prešeren Culture Prize (Slovenia) for students for the role of Susanna (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro).
1979: 1st prize at the "Mario del Monaco" international singing competition, Udine (Italy).
1980: 2nd prize at the International Television Competition for Young Singers, "Belcanto", Ostend (Belgium).
2004: Culture Prize »Marijana Radev« (Croatia) for the best female role, Katerina Ismailowa (D. Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) in the 2003/2004 season at the Opera of the National Theater in Zagreb.
2007: “Milka Trnina” culture award (Croatia) for exceptional artistic achievements.
2010: Award (plaque) »Sergije Rainis« (Croatia) for exceptional artistic achievements in singing and in educational work.
2011: Award from the Croatian Association of Music and Dance Teachers, »HDGU« for excellent performance in the field of music education.
2011: "Samo Smerkolj Prize" (Slovenia) for artistic achievements by Slovenian opera singers, particularly in the field of chamber opera.
2012: »Julij Betetto Prize« (Slovenia) for artistic achievements and general contribution to Slovenian musical culture.

CDs

A. Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony / A. Berg: Altenberg-Lieder, SWF symphony orchestra, conductor Michael Gielen, Arte Nova Classics, 1995
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, SWF Symphony Orchestra, conductor Michael Gielen, EMI Records, 1995
BA Zimmermann: Requiem for a young poet, SWF symphony orchestra, conductor Michael Gielen, Sony Classical, 1995
GF Händel: nine German arias, Drago Arko, violin, Ciril Škerjanc, cello, Vlasta Doležal-Rus, harpsichord, Založba kaset in plošč, Ljubljana 2000

media

Portrait - TV broadcast about Vlatka Oršanić, Hrvatska televizija, 2000, directed by Branko Ivanda
TV broadcast about Vlatka Oršanić, Televizija Slovenije, 2004, author: Darja Korez Korenčan
Sound recordings are u. a. Archived on the following radio and television stations: RTV Slovenija, Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT), Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), Deutschlandradio, Südwestrundfunk (SWR), Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Oršanić, Vlatka
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Croatian opera singer (soprano) and singing teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	January 29, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH	Zabok , Croatia