Aleksandra Kurzak

Aleksandra Kurzak (born 7 August 1977) is a Polish operatic soprano. She had specialised in lyric and coloratura soprano roles, including those in Rossinian operas, and Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro", Adina in "L'elisir d'amore", Gilda in "Rigoletto". She transitioned into heavier roles in 19th-century Romantic and verismo operas such as Violetta in "La traviata", Nedda in "Pagliacci", and Cio-Cio San in "Madama Butterfly".
Trained in her native Wrocław and Hamburg, she started her career in Hamburg State Opera's ensemble. She received international attention after her debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera, London in the 2004/05 season. She has since been performing leading roles with further opera companies, such as the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera. Since her marriage with Roberto Alagna in 2015, the couple has been making frequent joint appearances on both concert and opera stages.
Kurzak had been an exclusive Decca Records artist from January 2011 until moving to Sony Classical Records in May 2018.
Early life and education.
Born in Brzeg Dolny and raised in Wrocław, Kurzak is daughter to operatic soprano Jolanta Żmurko and horn player Ryszard Kurzak. She began her musical studies at the age of 7, playing the violin. She had intended to be a ballet dancer, then a violinist. Her singing talent was noticed by conductor Stefan Rachoń when she imitated her mother at the festival in Kudowa-Zdrój. The conductor immediately offered to record an album, which her parents refused. She went on studying in the violin class at the Karol Szymanowski Musical Lyceum. She turned to singing after graduation and started voice lesson just before the entrance of the academy with her mother, whom she still considers her primary teacher.
From 1996 to 2000, Kurzak studied at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Eugeniusz Sąsiadek's class, and meanwhile participated in several music festivals and was laureate in multiple competitions. She also received scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and Aleksander Gudzowaty's Crescendum Est - Polonia Foundation. Despite not having entered the final at the 2000 edition of Operalia, she was discovered by Peter Katona, the casting director of the Royal Opera.
After graduation, she pursued postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg till 2004 with Ingrid Kremling, whom she first met at the 1998 Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw. She received a doctorate degree in music in 2009 and habilitated doctor's diploma in June 2016.
Career.
Early career (2000–2010).
On 26 May 1999, Kurzak made her opera debut in the role of Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro" alongside her mother as the countess at the Wrocław Opera, where she was a soloist for two seasons (2000-2002). In 2001, she performed Hanna in Moniuszko's "The Haunted Manor" at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw. She also returned to the role in January 2007 when the production was again revived.
In the 2001/02 season she joined the Young Artists' Programme of the Hamburg State Opera, and then became an ensemble member from the 2003/04 season. After successful performances as Gilda in "Rigoletto" and the Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute", she gained recognition and was subsequently engaged in various roles including Blonde in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail", Adele in "Die Fledermaus", Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro". In 2004, she performed Marzelline in "Fidelio". In 2005, she performed Cleopatra in "Giulio Cesare" and Servilia in "La clemenza di Tito". After Fraarte in Handel's "Radamisto" in May 2007, she embarked a freelance career.
Kurzak received international attention when she debuted at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Olympia in "The Tales of Hoffmann" in December 2004, and at the Royal Opera, London as Aspasia in "Mitridate, re di Ponto" in July 2005. She returned to the Royal Opera in the following seasons in "Don Pasquale" (Norina), the premiere of Laurent Pelly's "L'elisir d'amore" production (Adina), "The Marriage of Figaro" (Susanna), and "Matilde di Shabran" (Matilde). She made her Bavarian State Opera debut in 2005 with Cleopatra, and sang Adele ("Die Fledermaus"), Rosina ("The Barber of Seville)," and Fiorilla ("Il turco in Italia)" in later seasons. She made other guest appearances in Parma, Toulouse (Gilda in "Rigoletto"), at the Salzburg Festival (Ännchen in "Der Freischütz"), and Teatro Massimo (Norina in "Don Pasquale").
She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 2007/08 for "Die Entführung" (Blonde) and in 2008/09 for "Rigoletto". In September 2008, she made her Vienna State Opera debut in "The Barber of Seville". The year 2009 saw her appearance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Blonde) and Finnish National Opera (Gilda), and portrayal of Aspasia at the Palacio de la Ópera in A Coruña and Welsh National Opera. Later in the year, she was featured in "Don Giovanni" as Donna Anna and "Tancredi" as Amenaide at the Theater an der Wien. She had two further engagements in Donna Anna, in Venice and Salzburg. In 2010, she made her La Scala debut in "Rigoletto", returning in 2012 for Susanna.
Mid-career (2010–present).
Kurzak sang her first Violetta in February 2010 in the Polish National Opera's premiere of "La traviata", which revived in later seasons with her in the same role. She returned to the Royal Opera for Fiorilla, and in consecutive seasons for Rosina, Susanna, Adina. In October 2010, she sang Lucia for the first time at the Seattle Opera, and for which she was named 2010/11 "Artist of the Year" by the company. Despite the success as Violetta and Lucia, she performed primarily lighter roles, mostly Adina, Susanna, and Gilda. In 2011, she made her Verona Arena debut in Rosina, returning next two years for Juliette ("Roméo et Juliette"), and Gilda. She returned to Vienna State Opera for Adina, and in consecutive seasons for Susanna, Marie ("La fille du régiment"), and Violetta. Later in the year, she made her Los Angeles Opera debut in "Così fan tutte" (Fiordiligi), and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for "Hansel and Gretel". In 2012, she made her San Francisco Opera debut with Gilda, in which she made her Zürich Opera House debut in 2013. In September 2013, she went on maternity leave, withdrawing from "Rigoletto" opening in November at the Metropolitan Opera.
She returned to stage in performances of "L'elisir d'amore" at the Bavarian State Opera in May 2014. She portrayed her role in various productions of the same opera including Pelly's production at her Paris Opera debut and Sher's production at the Metropolitan Opera. She continued to give performances of Gilda in various venues such as the Royal Opera House and Vienna State Opera, Marie at the Teatro Real, and Norina in Zürich. She returned to La Scala for Countess Adèle in "Le comte Ory", and the Metropolitan Opera another revival of "Hansel and Gretel". In 2015, she performed in "La traviata" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and returned the London Royal Opera for a revival of "Il turco in Italia", for which she won the Best Female Singer in the Bachtrack Opera Awards. She then performed the title role in "Maria Stuarda" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. In 2016, she shared the title role with Diana Damrau in Katie Mitchell's new "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Royal Opera.
Kurzak made several role debuts in 2016: Rachel in "La Juive" (Bavarian State Opera), Nedda in "Pagliacci" (Zürich Opera House), Mimì in "La bohème" (Berlin State Opera). Her 2017 role debuts were Micaëla in "Carmen" and Alice Ford in "Falstaff" (Opéra Bastille), Liù in "Turandot" (Royal Opera), Vitellia in "La clemenza di Tito" (Palais Garnier). She was to embody all heroines in "The Tales of Hoffmann" in Munich, but withdrew due to dispute with the conductor. In 2018, she returned to the Met for "Pagliacci", and then to the Vienna State Opera for her first Desdemona in "Otello" and reprise as Liù. She performed Desdemona at the Hamburg State Opera and, later in the year, Violetta at the Paris Opera, where she would sang Desdemona in the same season, and the title role in a concert performance of "Luisa Miller" at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
The year 2019 saw her performance as Nedda in several venues such as the NDR Klassik Open Air in Hanover and the Liceu. She starred in "Carmen" at the Metropolitan Opera, and in summer, Franco Zeffirelli's new "La traviata" production at the Verona Arena, which was a tribute to the late producer. She also made role debuts as Cio-Cio San in an open-air concert performance of "Madama Butterfly" at the Parade Square in Warsaw and as Elisabetta di Valois in "Don Carlo" at the Paris Opera.
In 2020, Kurzak gave performances as Violetta at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Royal Opera House.
Concert and events.
Kurzak was frequently featured in Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" as the soprano soloist. In February 2015 she took part in Szymanowski's "Stabat Mater" conducted by Ingo Metzmacher at the Berliner Philharmonie and Wiener Musikverein. On 20 November 2016, she performed in Nowowiejski's oratorio "Quo Vadis" at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, where she returned for Verdi's "Requiem" conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk on 27 September 2019. She is also an interpreter of songs by Chopin.
She was featured in the 2011 Napa Valley Festival del Sole and was a guest performer at the 2012 Semperopernball.
Personal life.
Kurzak married baritone Jacek Jaskuła, whom she met during college studies, in 2000. He remained in Wrocław while she was pursuing studies and career in Hamburg. They divorced in 2007. She had been in a relationship with Waldemar Dąbrowski, general manager of the Grand Theatre, Warsaw. She met French tenor Roberto Alagna during performances of "L'elisir d'amore" at the Royal Opera House in 2012. Their daughter, Malena, was born on 29 January 2014. They married in November 2015, between performances of "L'elisir d'amore" at the Paris Opera. 
Opera roles.
Roles which have been performed on stage or fully recorded in studio. Small roles during the years at the Hamburg State Opera are included.
Discography.
Kurzak signed an exclusive contract with Decca Classics in January 2011, being the first-ever Polish singer to do so. She signed to Sony Classical in May 2018.
The Szymanowski album won the Album of the Year – Choral Music, Oratorio & Opera in the 2018 Fryderyk Award.