Julia Lezhneva

  • Soprano

General management

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

"... sublime cantilenas with ornaments woven in like silver threads, trampoline-springing staccati and evenly swinging trills ... Even more haunting, how she knew how to use the messa di voce, the rising and falling of the tone, as an expression of emotional tremor." (FAZ, May 2021) The Süddeutsche Zeitung sees her as a "...magician: she can almost make her voice disappear, performing the most ludicrous vocal feats and garland fireworks".

Julia Lezhneva's international career began with a bang when she caused a sensation in 2010 at the Classical Brit Awards in London's Royal Albert Hall with Rossini's Fra il padre at the invitation of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

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Just a decade later, she is discovering a broad repertoire with various orchestras, conductors, operas and oratorios. She made her highly successful debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker in October 2019 and at the Musikverein Vienna in December 2019. She returned to the Mozartwoche Salzburg in January 2020, this time under Sir András Schiff in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro; in January 2023 she sang in Don Giovanni. In June 2023, she appeared for the first time at La Scala in Milan in Porpora's Carlo il Calvo.

In December 2020, she made her celebrated debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt. Her debuts with the LA Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony are on her calendar for the 2024/25 season.

Orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB), the Orquestra Nacional de España, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Kaohsiung Philharmonic and the Seoul Philharmonic regularly invite Julia Lezhneva and she regularly works with renowned conductors such as Adam Fischer, Giovanni Antonini, Herbert Blomstedt, Emmanuelle Haïm, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski and Andrea Marcon.

Julia Lezhneva is a welcome guest at the Salzburg Festival, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Dubrovnik Festival, the Festival de la Vézère, the Sion Festival, the Nordland Music Festival and at Bayreuth Baroque.

Julia Lezhneva's debut in Handel's Alcina (Morgana) at the Hamburg State Opera in September 2018 was celebrated to great acclaim and she was immediately invited back for Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and further performances of Alcina. In 2021, she sang the role of Poppea in a new production of Handel's Agrippina (stage director: by Barrie Kosky), in 2022 Zerlina in Don Giovanni and in May 2024 she sang Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. Before that, she made her debut at the Liceo in Barcelona in March 2024 in a staged performance of Handel's Messiah.

In winter 2019, she made her debut in Bach's Christmas Oratorio (conducted by Vladimir Jurowski); in the same season, she sang in Handel's Messiah and La Resurrezione, Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans; as well as Haydn's Creation and Mahler's Symphony No. 4. In October 2024 appeared for the first time with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir in Handel's Esther.

Born in 1989 in a family of geophysicists on Sakhalin Island off the Pacific Coast of Russia, Ms. Lezhneva began playing piano and singing at the age of five. She graduated from the Gretchaninov Music School and continued her vocal and piano studies at the Moscow Conservatory Academic Music College. At 17 she came to international attention as the winner of the Elena Obraztsova Opera Singers Competition, and was invited to share the stage with Juan Diego Flórez at the opening of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in the following year. In 2009, she won first prize at the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki and the following year took first prize at the Paris International Opera Competition, as the youngest contestant in each competition’s history. Opernwelt magazine named her “Young Singer of the Year” in 2011 for her debut at La Monnaie in Brussels. The following year she performed at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in Paris.

Julia Lezhneva’s teachers and mentors include Dennis O’Neill, Yvonne Kenny, Elena Obraztsova, Alberto Zedda, Richard Bonynge and Thomas Quasthoff.

Please use this authorized biography of Weigold & Böhm only, Season 2024/25.

Contacts

Photos

  • Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila
  • Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila
  • Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila
  • Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano
  • Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano
  • Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano
  • Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
  • Lezhneva1© Emil Matveev
  • Carlo Il Calvo © Falk von Traubenberg
  • Carlo Il Calvo © Falk von Traubenberg
  • ALCINA 2018 © Staatsoper Hamburg - Hans Joerg Michel
  • Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
  • Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
  • Carlo Il Calvo © Falk von Traubenberg

News

Warner_Hasse_Serpentes_01 NEW c4alt SQ

Among the best 10 classical albums of 2024 - CD „Serpentes ignei in deserto“ with Julia Lezhneva and Philippe Jaroussky

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva's debut at Konzerthaus Berlin - an event!

Warner_Hasse_Serpentes_01 NEW c4alt SQ

CD release “Serpentes ignei in deserto“ with Julia Lezhneva and Philippe Jaroussky

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva's debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva - Happy Birthday, Ton Koopman!

A gift - Julia Lezhneva and Thibault Noally in Bremerhaven

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg - Julia Lezhneva und Adam Fischer © Claudia Höhne

The Elbphilharmonie becomes a theatre stage

Julia Lezhneva - Concerto Köln - Zürich 27. Mai 2024 © Quim Vilar

A great moment with Julia Lezhneva and Concerto Köln in the Tonhalle Zurich

© Bernd Sangmeister

Julia Lezhneva - debut as Cherubino at the Hamburg State Opera

Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano

Julia Lezhneva at the Liceo in Barcelona with Mozart's / Handel's „Messiah"

Lezhneva1© Emil Matveev

Julia Lezhneva - to die for!

Bayreuth Baroque 2023 - Julia Lezhneva und Max Cencic © Clemens Manser

Live broadcast of Handel's "Flavio, Re de' Langobardi" with Julia Lezhneva and Concerto Köln in Bayreuth on 17.09.23

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Synopsis of press reviews - Julia Lezhneva in CARLO IL CALVO and IL POLIFEMO

Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila

Julia Lezhneva and Pavel Nersessian inspire with their duo programme in Bonn and Budapest.

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva in Handel's Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at ARTE TV

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Great night for Lezhneva! Julia Lezhneva as Fiordiligi at the TCE in Paris

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva with the Berlin Philharmonic

„Weigold & Böhm“ - artists in German Top 20 Classical Charts

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva at the Salzburger Mozartwoche

Lezhneva1© Emil Matveev

Great - Julia Lezhneva with Dmitry Sinkovsky, Luca Pianca and La Voce Strumentale in Berlin

Concerto Köln ©WarsawPhilharmonic

Julia Lezhneva and Concerto Köln provide „one of the most beautiful evenings in the life of a music enthusiast“ at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele

Concerts

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Girona, 6:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Luca Pianca

    Program:

    Songs of the Golden Age

    Location:

    Auditori Palau de Congressos de Girona

    Organizer:

    https://gironacongressos.girona.cat/cat/index.php

  • Julia Lezhneva, Valer Sabadus, La Cetra Barockorchester Basel

    Lugano, 8:30 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Valer Sabadus

    Orchestra:

    La Cetra Barockorchester Basel

    Conductor:

    Andrea Marcon

    Program:

    Händel: Ouvertüre und ´Come nembo che fugge col vento´´ HWV 46a Arie der Piacere aus ´´Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno´´ Vivaldi: ´´Gelido in ogni vena´´ (Arie der Farnace aus der Oper ´´Farnace´´ RV 711) Vivaldi: Concerto per due violoncelli, archi e cembalo sol minore Händel: Il voler nel fior degl´ anni Duett Bellezza und Piacere aus Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno Vivaldi: ´´Zeffiretti, che sussurrate´´ Arie der Ippolita aus Ercole sul Termodonte RV 749.21 (aus Foà 28) Vivaldi: Vedro con mio diletto Arie aus der Oper Giustino Pause: PAUSE Geminiani: Concerto grosso La follia Nr. 12 d-Moll op. 5 Händel: Venti, turbini HWV 7 aus der Oper Rinaldo Vivaldi: ´´Agitata da due venti´´ (aus der Oper ´´La Griselda´´ RV 718) Händel: Duett Giuglio und Cleopatra Caro! bella aus der Oper Giuglio Cesare

    Location:

    LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura Sala Teatro

    Organizer:

    https://www.luganomusica.ch

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Paris, 8:30 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Max Emanuel Cencic

    Orchestra:

    Les Accents Ensemble

    Conductor:

    Thibault Noally

    Program:

    Pergolesi: Stabat Mater

    Location:

    Salle Gaveau

    Organizer:

    https://www.sallegaveau.com/

  • Valer Sabadus, Julia Lezhneva

    Ludwigsburg, 5:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Julia Lezhneva

    Orchestra:

    Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

    Conductor:

    Shunske Sato

    Program:

    Pärt: My heart´s in the highlands für Countertenor und Orgel Tüür: Action-Passion-Illusion für Streichorchester Pärt: L´abbé Agathon für Sopran, 4 Bratschen und 4 Violoncello Pause: PAUSE Pergolesi: Stabat Mater

    Location:

    Forum am Schloßpark

    Organizer:

    https://www.forum.ludwigsburg.de

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Los Angeles, 8:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Elsa Benoit, Iestyn Davies, Ian Koziara

    Orchestra:

    Le Concert d´ Astrée

    Conductor:

    Emmanuelle Haïm

    Program:

    Händel: Trionfo del Tempo e del Designanno HWV 46a Oratorium in zwei Teilen, Libretto von Benedetto Cardinal Pamphilj

    Location:

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    Organizer:

    https://laphil.com

Projects

  • La Cetra Barockorchester Basel – Andrea Marcon (Leitung & Cembalo) - Julia Lezhneva (Sopran) - Valer Sabadus (Countertenor)

    La Cetra & Friends

    Details

    Program:

    G. F. Händel - Ouvertüre zur Oper «Ariodante»
    G. F. Händel - «Un pensiero nemico di pace» aus «Il Trionfo del Tempo e del disinganno»
    A. Vivaldi - «Gelido in ogni vento» aus der Oper «Farnace»
    Oder G. F. Händel - «Crude furie degli orridi abissi» aus der Oper «Serse»
    A. Vivaldi - Concerto per 2 violoncelli g-moll
    G. F. Händel - «Il voler nel fior degli anni», Duett Bellezza & Piacere aus «Il Trionfo del Tempo e del disinganno»
    A. Vivaldi - «Zeffiretti, che susurrate», Arie aus «La fida ninfa»
    A. Vivaldi - Concerto per 2 oboi
    A. Vivaldi - «Vedrò con mio diletto» aus der Oper «Giustino»
    PAUSE
    F. Geminiani - La Follia
    G . F. Händel - «Venti turbini», Arie des Rinaldo aus der Oper «Rinaldo»
    A. Vivaldi - «Agitata da due venti» aus «La Griselda»
    G. F. Händel - «Caro! Bella!», Duett aus der Oper: «Giulio Cesare»

    Contact:

  • La Cetra Barockorchester Basel – Andrea Marcon (Leitung & Cembalo) - Julia Lezhneva (Sopran) - Valer Sabadus (Countertenor)

    La Cetra & Friends

    Details

    Program:

    G. F. Händel - Ouvertüre zur Oper «Ariodante»
    G. F. Händel - «Un pensiero nemico di pace» aus «Il Trionfo del Tempo e del disinganno»
    A. Vivaldi - «Gelido in ogni vento» aus der Oper «Farnace»
    Oder G. F. Händel - «Crude furie degli orridi abissi» aus der Oper «Serse»
    A. Vivaldi - Concerto per 2 violoncelli g-moll
    G. F. Händel - «Il voler nel fior degli anni», Duett Bellezza & Piacere aus «Il Trionfo del Tempo e del disinganno»
    A. Vivaldi - «Zeffiretti, che susurrate», Arie aus «La fida ninfa»
    A. Vivaldi - Concerto per 2 oboi
    A. Vivaldi - «Vedrò con mio diletto» aus der Oper «Giustino»
    ---
    F. Geminiani - La Follia
    G . F. Händel - «Venti turbini», Arie des Rinaldo aus der Oper «Rinaldo»
    A. Vivaldi - «Agitata da due venti» aus «La Griselda»
    G. F. Händel - «Caro! Bella!», Duett aus der Oper: «Giulio Cesare»

    Contact:

  • Stuttgarter Kammerorchester (18 Musiker) – Julia Lezhneva (Sopran) – Valer Sabadus (Countertenor)

    In Paradis Gloriae

    Details

    Program:

    Arvo Pärt - "My Heart’s in the Highlands" für Countertenor und Orgel (9min)
    Sven-Erkki Tüür - "Action-Passion-Illusion" für Streichorchester (18 min)
    Arvo Pärt - "L'abbé Agathon" für Sopran, 4 Bratschen und 4 Violoncello (15 min)
    Pause
    Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - "Stabat Mater" für Sopran, Alt und Streicher

    Contact:

  • Kammerorchester Basel – Julia Lezhneva (Sopran) - Carlo Vistoli (Countertenor)

    Mermaids & Water in music

    Details

    Program:

    Werke von Porpora, Vinci, Händel, Bononcini, Sarro

    Contact:

  • La Cetra Barockorchester Basel – Andrea Marcon (Leitung & Cembalo) - Julia Lezhneva (Sopran) - Valer Sabadus (Countertenor)

    La Cetra & Friends

    Details

    Program:

    G. F. Händel - Ouvertüre zur Oper «Ariodante»
    G. F. Händel - «Un pensiero nemico di pace» aus «Il Trionfo del Tempo e del disinganno»
    A. Vivaldi - «Gelido in ogni vento» aus der Oper «Farnace»
    Oder G. F. Händel - «Crude furie degli orridi abissi» aus der Oper «Serse»
    A. Vivaldi - Concerto per 2 violoncelli g-moll
    G. F. Händel - «Il voler nel fior degli anni», Duett Bellezza u. Piacere aus «Il Trionfo del Tempo e del disinganno»
    A. Vivaldi - «Zeffiretti, che susurrate», Arie aus «La fida ninfa»
    A. Vivaldi - Concerto per 2 oboi
    A. Vivaldi - «Vedrò con mio diletto» aus der Oper «Giustino»
    F. Geminiani - La Follia
    G . F. Händel - «Venti turbini», Arie des Rinaldo aus der Oper «Rinaldo»
    A. Vivaldi - «Agitata da due venti» aus «La Griselda»
    G. F. Händel - «Caro! Bella!», Duett aus der Oper: «Giulio Cesare»

    Contact:

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Biography 2024/2025