My soprano's bigger than yours

Decca signs
exciting Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak

Acclaimed from
Milan to The
Met, in the week she sings her first Rosina at the Royal Opera

London, 17 January
2011. Decca Classics has signed an
exclusive recording contract with the young Polish soprano, Aleksandra Kurzak,
who, as one of the most exciting young singers on the international opera stage,
has been thrilling press and public alike with performances in Europe and the
US.

Aleksandra Kurzak’s
debut recording with Decca – which will be released in late summer 2011 – will
be a showcase of contrasting lyric and coloratura arias. Just recorded with the
Orquestra de la Comunitat
Valenciana, conducted by its dynamic young Music Director Designate Omer
Wellber, the album will focus on roles
which she has either performed or is preparing to sing on stage:
Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, bel canto roles from Rossini’s
Il barbiere di Siviglia,
Bellini’s I Puritani and
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor,
plus the First Act scena from La
Traviata, which showcases Kurzak’s effortless agility as well as the
full, warm intensity of a Verdi lyric soprano. The disc also acknowledges the
soprano’s roots with the key soprano aria from Straszny
Dwór (The Haunted Manor) – perhaps the greatest
Polish opera of the 19th Century.

Aleksandra Kurzak will
also feature on the latest Decca album from Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja – to be
released in Spring 2011 – in which she sings duets from Puccini’s La Bohème and Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles.

Aleksandra Kurzak first
came to international attention in the 2004-05 season, with debuts at the Met
(Olympia) and Royal Opera (Aspasia in Mitridate), followed by notable
appearances at the Royal Opera in L’elisir
d’amore (Adina) and Don Pasquale
(Norina). She rose to international prominence in 2008 when she
triumphed in the title role of Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran, also at the Royal
Opera, opposite Decca tenor star Juan Diego Flórez. As The Guardian critic wrote “Flórez’s sparring partner here is
Aleksandra Kurzak, his equal in technique and vocal glamour.” She
returns to Covent Garden on 18 January, singing
Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia)
with the Royal Opera.

Decca’s Paul Moseley
said, “It is always a big moment when we welcome a new soprano to Decca, the
singers’ label. I am convinced that Aleksandra is the new star we were seeking.
Her warm, flexible voice records beautifully and above all she is a true
musician as well as a phenomenal actress and singer.”

Aleksandra Kurzak said, “For me to
sign a contract with a record company is a dream come true. And to be the part
of the Decca family with such great singers as Pavarotti, Freni, Sutherland,
Tebaldi, Bartoli and Fleming is a huge honour and happiness for me. It makes me
particularly proud to be the first Polish singer to sign an exclusive contract
with such a legendary company.” 

In the current season Aleksandra
Kurzak recently triumphed in her debut as Lucia in the new production of
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
in Seattle, sings Violetta (La
Traviata) in Hamburg, Warsaw and Turin, Adina (L’elisir d’amore) in Valencia and Vienna
(Staatsoper), Rosina (Il barbiere di
Siviglia) at Covent Garden and Susanna in the new production of
Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in
Madrid. She will also give a recital at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

Established over 80 years ago,
Decca has long been the label of the world’s greatest singers, with a roster of
exclusive artists which has included Luciano Pavarotti, Dame Joan Sutherland and
Renata Tebaldi, as well as current stars of the opera stage such as Cecilia
Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann and Juan Diego Flórez.

Press Quotes

“A rising-star soprano with
flashing eyes and cover-girl looks.” The
Observer (Il turco in
Italia)

“Aleksandra Kurzak had the
audience eating out of her hand with her pearly coloratura and coquettish charm
… and she rightly brought the house down. Kurzak is a dazzling new star.”
The Sunday Times (Mathilde di
Shabran)

“Exactly the right mix of
coquettish charm and steely guile; her cascades of semiquavers are dazzling; and
her voice beautifully even-toned from top to toe.” The Financial Times (Mathilde di
Shabran)

“Kurzak’s performance is so
seamlessly natural that one believes her every petulant gesture, and her high
coloratura has a wonderfully unforced delicacy.” The Independent (Il turco in
Italia)

“It was Polish soprano
Aleksandra Kurzak, making her company and role debut as Lucia, that set the
theater alight both vocally and dramatically. She made me believe she really was
Lucia.” Seattle Times (Lucia di
Lammermoor)

“Aleksandra
Kurzak, who brought a luminous, impressively focused and agile coloratura voice
and winsome sweetness to the role of Gilda … she is a coloratura soprano with
great gifts and potential.” The
New York Times (Rigoletto)

Louise
Ringrose

Media
Manager

Established
over 80 years ago, Decca has long been the label of the world’s greatest singers,
with a roster of exclusive artists which has included Luciano Pavarotti, Dame
Joan Sutherland and Renata Tebaldi, as well as current stars of the opera stage
such as Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann and Juan Diego Flórez.