Elena Manistina

Not only the winner of first prize in the 2002 Operalia Competition but also a finalist of the 2003 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Manistina is well on her way to having a major career.

She has sung Lyubasha in 'The Tsar's Bride' at the Frankfurt Opera, Amneris at the Arena di Verona, 'Alexander Nevsky' at the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste where she has been re-invited for the Verdi Requiem.

She has sung 'Jewish Folk Songs' with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by MTT, where she ..."proved a dynamo, singing with huge reserves of power and a wealth of tonal agility", and more recently she sang the mezzo solo in 'Alexander Nevsky' with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and 'Un Ballo in Maschera' at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago.

Future engagements are to include Ulrica in 'Un ballo in maschera'at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera de Bordeaux, Opera du Rhin, Washington Opera, Oviedo Opera, Covent Garden and the Bastille in Paris, Azucena in 'Trovatore' at the Liceu in Barcelona, Amneris in 'Aida' at the Opera du Avignon, Tigrana in 'Edgar' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and 'Rake's progress' at the Glyndebourne Festival.

She will also be singing 'Kashei the Immortal' at the BBC Proms conducted by Vladimir Jurovsky