Aleksandra Kurzak
Description
Aleksandra Kurzak began her musical education at the age of 7, playing violin and piano. She graduated from the Vocal Faculty of the Academy of Music in Wrocław and from Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. Laureate of singing competitions in Warsaw, Helsinki, Barcelona and Guangzhou, she made her debut at the age of 21 on the stage of Wrocław Opera as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. Her mother and teacher Jolanta Żmurko performed the role of Countess.
Between 2001 and 2007 Aleksandra Kurzak was a member of the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera, where she sang numerous roles, from Mozart’s Queen of the Night till Verdi’s Desdemona. Aleksandra Kurzak was awarded two scholarships from the Minister of Culture and Art and has also held one from Crescendum Est – Polonia Foundation. In 2009, she received a PhD in Music and was graduated with a "Doctor's Habilitatus" in 2016. In 2021 she received the title of Professor granted by the President of the Republic of Poland.
At the age of 27, she appeared in the two most prestigious opera houses in the world. Her performance as Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera gained great recognition from music critics, who unanimously announced the sensational debut of the Polish singer. In the same season she debuted at the Royal Opera House-Covent Garden with an equally favorable reception as Aspasia in Mitridate, Re di Ponto. She returned to the Met, singing Blonde in Entführung aus dem Serail, Gilda in Rigoletto, Gretel in Hansel & Gretel, Adina in L'Elisir d'amore, Nedda in Pagliacci, Micaela in Carmen and more recently a highly acclaimed Violetta in La Traviata. Since her first London appearance, Aleksandra has returned regularly to the Royal Opera House, where she has performed roles of Norina (Don Pasquale), Adina, Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Susanna, Matilde (Matilde di Shabran), Fiorilla (Il Turco in Italia), Gilda, Lucia di Lammermoore, Liu (Turandot) or Violetta (La Traviata) just before the 2020 sanitary lockdown.
She used to be the first Polish opera singer to have signed an exclusive contract with Decca. Her first solo album Gioia! was released in August 2011 and became a platinum record. Her next CDs are Bel Raggio with Rossini’s arias and Hej, kolęda!, a collection of Polish Christmas carols (golden record). Also the album Chopin: Songs, which she recorded for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Poland, was awarded a ‘Diapason d’Or’. Since 2018 she is an exclusive artist of Sony Classical, which released her first duo CD Puccini in Love with Roberto Alagna as well as her first solo CD for the company, called Desire. Aleksandra has recorded as well for Deutsche Gramophone and Warner Classics. Her most recent recording, Mozart Concertante, is released on October 22, 2021 on the Aparté label.
Her achievements have won her awards from the Mayor of Wrocław, Governor of the Lower Silesia Region, and Minister of Culture and Art of the Republic of Poland. She is also the recipient of the Wiktor Award from the Polish Television Academy and Guarantee of Culture Award from TVP Kultura. In 2015, she won not only the 2015 Readers' award at the "International Opera Awards" granted by Opera Magazine, but also the Bachtrack Opera award as the best singer of the previous season for her rendition as Donna Fiorilla at the Royal Opera House.
Aleksandra Kurzak has appeared on the world’s main operatic stages: Teatro alla Scala (Gilda, Susanna, Comtesse Adèle in Le comte Ory), The Metropolitan Opera of New York (Olympia, Blonde, Gilda, Gretel, Adina, Nedda, Micaëla, Violetta), Vienna State Opera (Rosina, Adina, Susanna, Marie, Violetta, Gilda, Desdemona, Liu, Nedda), Theater an der Wien (Donna Anna, Amenaide), Staatsoper in Berlin (Queen of the Night, Mimi, CioCioSan), Deutsche Opera Berlin (Violetta, Adina, Nedda), Bavarian State Opera in Munich (Cleopatra, Adele, Rosina, Adina, Rachel, CioCioSan), Salzburg Festival (concert arias by Mozart, Ännchen and Donna Anna), National Opera in Paris (Adina, Micaëla, Alice, Vitellia , Violetta, Desdemona, Elisabetta), Théâtre des Champs Elysées (Maria Stuarda), Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse (Gilda), Opera de Monte Carlo (Luisa Miller), Zurich Opera House (Gilda, Norina, Nedda), Teatro Real in Madrid (Susanna, Marie), Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (Adina, Nedda), Palau de les Arts in Valencia (Adina), , Teatro Regio in Torino (Violetta), Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Norina, Santuzza), Teatro La Fenice (Donna Anna), Teatro Regio in Parma (Verdi Gala), Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (Violetta), Arena di Verona (Rosina, Juliette, Gilda, Verdi Gala, Violetta, Santuzza & Nedda), San Francisco Opera (Gilda), Lyric Opera House in Chicago (Blonde), Los Angeles Opera (Fiordiligi), Seattle Opera (Lucia), National Opera in Warsaw (Hanna, Gilda, Violetta, Lucia, CioCioSan), Mozart Festival in A Coruña as well as at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff (Aspasia), Finnish National Opera (Gilda)...
After having taken on her first Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana last year in Palermo, she embodied the heroine again at the Arena di Verona in August 2021 together with Nedda in Pagliacci, becoming the first soprano in the Festival’s history to sing both roles in the same night. She started the 2021/2022 season with an impressive run of Madama Butterfly in Berlin, then is to make her role debut as Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischütz in October in Wroclaw. She will appear again as CioCioSan in Monte-Carlo in November 2021. Further role debut will be Floria Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in March 2022.
