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, where she was the “star of the evening” (Austria Presse Agentur) and received rave reviews from press and audience alike.
In the 2025/26 season, Karyazina makes her house debut at Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam as Ino in Semele, with musical direction by Emmanuelle Haïm and stage direction by Claus Guth, and her house debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin as Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri in a production directed by Rolando Villazón. She also makes her highly anticipated role debut as Erda in Siegfried at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. On the concert stage, she performs Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Salzburg Summer Festival and appears in the Neuschwanstein Gala Concert.
Highlights of recent seasons include Karyazina’s performance as Marfa in Khovanshchina at the Helsinki Festival and the Baltic Sea Festival under Esa-Pekka Salonen in a concert production, and her role as Princess Clarisse in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges at the Semperoper Dresden. She also appeared at the Whitsun and Summer Salzburg Festivals in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed staging of Hotel Metamorphosis, performing Minerva, Nutrice, and Juno under Gianluca Capuano. 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 her debut as Hannah in Weinberg’s The Passenger at Teatro Real in Madrid under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.
A regular guest at the Bavarian State Opera, Karyazina appeared as Carmen in Marina Abramović’s opera project 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, as Ninon in Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudun, as Ino in Handel’s Semele and as 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 Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri, 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. 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 2025
