Full Biography
The Russian-Swiss mezzo-soprano Nadezhda Karyazina, winner of the Herbert von Karajan Prize 2025, is “one of the most significant singers and performers of our time.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). With a voice described by The Guardian as “resonant and strong at the top of her range, rich and potent in the contralto low notes”, the “outstanding” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) singer made her triumphant debut as Marfa in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina at the 2025 Salzburg Easter Festival. She subsequently made her Salzburg Whitsun and Summer Festival debuts with a celebrated turn in Barrie Kosky’s production of Hotel Metamorphosis, a Vivaldi-pasticcio, alongside Cecilia Bartoli.
Karyazina opens the 2026/27 season with a house and role debut as La Musica and La Speranza in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Vienna State Opera under the baton of Stefan Gottfried. She returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper as Maddalena in Rigoletto, conducted by Daniele Rustioni, and appears as Isabella in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri in a semi-staged production for Opera Queensland in Brisbane.
On the concert stage, Karyazina performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” in a five-concert tour with the Basque National Orchestra under Lucas Macías, appears in gala concerts with the Wiener Kammerorchester in Hanoi, and sings Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights of the 25/26 season include Karyazina’s return to the 2026 Salzburg Festival as soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, Isabella in a new production of L’italiana in Algeri at Deutsche Oper Berli, Ino in Handel’s Semele at Dutch National Opera under Emmanuelle Haïm in Claus Guth’s production and her role debut as Erda in Wagner’s Siegfried at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. She was also heard as Marfa in Khovanshchina at the Helsinki Festival and the Baltic Sea Festival under Esa-Pekka Salonen in a concert production, and Princess Clarisse in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges at the Semperoper Dresden. Other notable appearances include her critically acclaimed debut as Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri at Zurich Opera House, Federica in Luisa Miller at the Glyndebourne Festival, Smeton in Anna Bolena at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, and Hannah in Weinberg’s The Passenger at Teatro Real in Madrid under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.
A regular guest at the Bavarian State Opera, Karyazina has appeared as Carmen in Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, Ninon in Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudun, Ino in Handel’s Semele, and Emilia in Otello.
From 2020 to 2023, the mezzo-soprano was a member of the Zurich Opera House ensemble, where she sang many important roles in her repertoire, including the title role in Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice and Smeton in Anna Bolena.
From 2015 to 2020, Nadezhda Karyazina was an ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera. During this time, she developed a vast repertoire, including the title roles in Carmen and Hänsel and Gretel, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Federica in Luisa Miller, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Mrs Quickly in Falstaff.
On the concert stage, the mezzo-soprano regularly performs with major ensembles and orchestras. Highlights of recent seasons include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra under Leo McFall, Verdi’s Missa da Requiem under Paolo Arrivabeni in a staged production at the Hamburg State Opera and Galina Ustvolskaya’s Symphony No. 4 with the Hamburg Philharmonic under Kent Nagano at the Elbphilharmonie.
Born in Moscow, Nadezhda Karyazina studied at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts in her home city before joining the Bolshoi Theatre’s Young Artists Programme. She has won numerous prizes, including Operalia Competition and the International Singing Competition Neue Stimmen. In 2026, she was named “Best Newcomer” at the Oper! Awards. From 2013 to 2015 she took part in the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, where she made her debut as Maddalena in Rigoletto.
© CSAM, August 2026
