Biography (read more)
Olga Vladimirovna Borodina (born 29 July 1963 in Leningrad) is a Russian mezzo-soprano. She studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad State Conservatory under Irina Bogacheva, graduating in 1989, and made her stage debut as Siébel in Gounod’s Faust at the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Theatre in 1988. She won the gold medal at the 1987 Glinka Competition and first prize at the 1989 Barcelona Competition, becoming a leading artist of the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev. Her international breakthrough came in 1992 as Dalila opposite Plácido Domingo at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Celebrated for her rich, “plush” lower register and idiomatic command of the Russian repertoire, Borodina has been a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the Mariinsky in roles such as Carmen, Amneris, Marfa, and Eboli. She was named a People’s Artist of Russia in 2002 and remains one of the defining mezzo-sopranos of her generation on the international operatic stage.
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