Biography


Katarina BradicWith her "rich, expertly controlled contralto" (Financial Times), "tremendous poise and solemnity", playing "with swagger and glamour" (Opera News), Katarina Bradić has established herself as one of today's foremost interpreters of a repertoire ranging from iconic roles such as Bizet's Carmen, Saint-Saëns' Dalila or Britten's Lucretia, to major mezzo-soprano and contralto parts of the Baroque repertoire and contemporary music.

 

This 2021/2022 season, Ms Bradić appears as La Sphinge in Enescu's Œdipe in a new production at the Komische Oper Berlin, as Penelope and L'umana fragilità in a new staging of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at the Theater Basel, in the title role of a new mise-en-scène of Carmen at Staatstheater Cottbus and as Dardano in concert performances of Handel's Amadigi di Gaula in Barcelona and Madrid. On the concert platform, she also sings her first Messiah (Handel) at the Musikverein Wien.

 

Recent performances include - all in new productions - her acclaimed house and role debuts as Dalila in Samson et Dalila at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg and as Eduige in Rodelinda at the Dutch National Opera of Amsterdam; Bradamante in Alcina for her house debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg; debuts at the Opernhaus Zurich (Juno in Semele), the Staatsoper Berlin (Lavinia in Amor vien dal destino), the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (Emilia in Verdi's Otello), the Glyndebourne Festival (Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict), the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow and the Theater Basel (Bradamante in Alcina), La Monnaie de Munt, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Theater an der Wien (Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria). She also sang Bradamante in a new staging of Alcina at the Theater an der Wien, Amastre in Serse at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Ino in a new production of Semele at the Komische Oper Berlin.

 

Other career highlights include the title role of The Rape of Lucretia for Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role of Carmen at the Den Norske Opera of Oslo, Wozzeck and Rihm's Die Eroberung von Mexico at the Teatro Real of Madrid, Amastre in Serse and Ino in Semele at the Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Graz and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Pistocchi’s Il narciso at the Cologne Opera, Elektra at the BBC Proms as well as the world premiere of Nico and the Navigators’ Mahlermania for Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Rouen Opera House.

 

Katarina Bradić was born in Serbia and studied singing at the Vienna Conservatory. She first came to international attention in the 2009/2010 season as a member of the ensemble of the Vlaamse Opera, where her roles included Olga in Evgenij Onegin, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Medea in Cavalli’s Giasone. Subsequently she joined the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

 

Ms Bradić has collaborated with such conductors and stage directors as Semyon Bychkov, Sylvain Cambreling, Adam Fischer, René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, Renato Palumbo, Donald Runnicles; Sebastian Baumgarten, Calixto Bieito, Mariame Clément, Stefan Herheim, Guy Joosten, Barry Koskie, Christoph Marthaler, Katie Mitchell, Laurent Pelly and Fiona Shaw.

 

Her discography includes CD and DVD/Blu-Ray recordings of Alcina (Aix-en-Provence), Béatrice et Bénédict (Glyndebourne), Die Liebe der Danae and Mahlermania (Deutsche Oper Berlin) as well as Giasone (Vlaamse Opera).

 

December 2021