Marina Rebeka

Marina Rebeka (born 10 September 1980) is a Latvian soprano, active on both opera and concert stages. Associated with Violetta in Verdi's "La traviata", she performs primarily in the 19th-century Italian and French repertoire, most notably works by Gioachino Rossini, in addition to Donna Anna in Mozart's "Don Giovanni", another frequent role.
Educated in Latvia and Italy, she made her professional debut in 2007. After her international breakthrough in Rossini's "Moïse et Pharaon" at the Salzburg Festival in 2009, she has been performing leading roles with many opera companies, such as the Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Latvian National Opera.
Background.
Rebeka was born in Riga, to Belarusian father and Siberian-born Latvian mother. The family name used to be Rebeko but was changed to Rebeka during the Soviet era; the name was first adopted by her paternal grandfather. Rebeka's maternal grandfather, Juris Jankovičs (1924–2019), was deported to Siberia with his family in 1941 and only returned more than twenty years later. He detailed his camp experience in two books: "Skorpiona slazdā" ('Scorpio trap', 2009) and "Spīta krustceles" ('Despite the crossroads', 2012), both published by Aleksandra Pelēča lasītava ('Alexander Pelec reading room'). In 2019, the books were combined and then translated into English as "Trapped in Siberia – Surviving Siberia".
She studied at the Nordic Gymnasium (). After attending a performance of Bellini's "Norma" at the Dailes Theatre with her parents at the age of 13 she was inspired to become a singer. Having no prior knowledge, she then began her initial musical studies at the music school "Rīdze" in the evening, concurrent to her Gymnasium studies. At the age of 17, after rejected by the Latvian Academy of Music, she entered the Jāzeps Mediņš Riga Music High School (), studying under Natālija Kozlova. She subsequently went to Italy, studying at the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito in Parma, during which she had her first stage experience in "The Barber of Seville" (Rosina) for a children audience, and then graduated at the Accademia Internazionale delle Arti in Rome (2006), and Conservatorio Santa Cecilia (2007). She had also attended Grace Bumbry's masterclass at the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
Career.
Rebeka made her professional debut in 2007 at the Theater Erfurt as Violetta in "La traviata", a role in which she would be engaged at the Latvian National Opera, Vienna Volksoper and Finnish National Opera. Also in 2007, she participated Alberto Zedda's Accademia Rossiniana, portraying Folleville and Madama Cortese in "Il viaggio a Reims" at the Rossini Opera Festival, where she returned for "Maometto II" (2008), "Stabat Mater" (2010). Other engagements include Agilea in "Teseo" (Komische Oper Berlin), Britten's "War Requiem" (Liverpool Philharmonic), Tatyana in "Eugene Onegin" (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari), Brahms' "Ein deutsches Requiem" (Latvian National Symphony Orchestra). In 2009, she sang Adina in "L'elisir d'amore" at the Latvian National Opera, made her La Scala debut in "Il viaggio a Reims", and performed Elettra in Mozart's "Idomeneo" at the Opéra national de Lorraine. Her international breakthrough came when she her Salzburg Festival debut in Rossini's "Moïse et Pharaon" conducted by Riccardo Muti.
During "L'elisir d'amore" in Riga, she met Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov. They married in 2010 and their daughter, Katrīna, was born on 12 March 2011. Their marriage had ended by the time they performed jointly in "La traviata" in Vienna in May 2016.
Rebeka sang in "War Requiem" with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, at the Usher Hall on 30 April 2010. In May and June, she performed in a series of performances of "Carmen" as Micaëla at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, and Latvian National Opera. In July 2010, she replaced Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta, making her Royal Opera, London debut, where she didn't return until replacing Sonya Yoncheva in the same production in 2015. Later in the year, she sang her first Donna Anna in "Don Giovanni" in a new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and was featured in a new staging of "Moïse et Pharaon" at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma conducted by Muti. In April 2011, she performed in Rossini's "Stabat Mater" with the NDR Sinfonieorchester. In October 2011, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Michael Grandage's new production of "Don Giovanni", and subsequently performed in another "Moïse et Pharaon", presented by Collegiate Chorale, at Carnegie Hall.
The year 2012 saw her performances in Riga: solo concert with the LNSO at the Riga Merchant Guild on 15 January, debut in the title role in "Lucia di Lammermoor" in May and a solo concert on 28 September at the National Opera. She returned to Deutsche Oper Berlin for Violetta, a role which she then repeated at the Teatro Comunale, Florence. Later in the year, she made her Vienna State Opera debut with Donna Anna, and became a regular guest singer, featuring in consecutive seasons in "Don Giovanni", "La traviata", "The Tales of Hoffmann" (Antonia), and "Roméo et Juliette" (Juliette). In 2013, she was engaged in the premiere of Pierre Audi's production of "William Tell" as Mathilde at De Nederlandse Opera, and returned to the Rossini Opera Festival in the same role. She then sang her first Juliette at the Verona Arena, and debuted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in "La traviata".
In May 2013, she made her Zürich Opera House debut in Donna Anna, returning in the 2013/14 season for Donna Anna, Leïla ("Les pêcheurs de perles"), and Fiordiligi ("Così fan tutte"), in the 2015/16 season for Violetta and Vitellia ("La clemenza di Tito").
In 2014, Rebeka performed in "Maometto II" at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and a new "William Tell" production at the Bavarian State Opera. Later in the year, she returned to Chicago for "Don Giovanni" in Robert Falls' new production, which opened the season. She then returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Violetta, followed by Musetta in "La bohème" with the same company. In 2015, she performed in "Così fan tutte" in Munich, then a concert performance of "Turandot" in Riga, and Rossini's "Stabat Mater" at the Rheingau Musik Festival. She later joined the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in concerts at the TivoliVredenburg and Concertgebouw. She returned to Latvia for a concert program as part of the opening of the Great Amber Concert Hall.
The year 2016 saw her debut in various roles: Mimì in "La bohème" (Mannheim National Theatre), title role in "Norma" (Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste), Ginevra in "Ariodante" (Lausanne Opera), title role in "Thaïs" (Salzburg Festival). In October 2016, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Pierre Audi's production of "William Tell", and sang her first Donna Elvira ("Don Giovanni") in the same season.
In the 2017/18 season she was named the first-ever artist-in-residence by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. In 2018, she married Argentine sound engineer Edgardo Vertanessian, and together they launched the record label "Prima Classic", aiming to give artists the freedom to record the repertoire they want instead of what's of the recording companies' interest.
Awards and honors.
Rebeka has won prizes in the multiple competitions.
In 2009, she was awarded the "Outstanding Artistic Achievements" award in the annual Latvijas Gāze Awards from the Latvian National Opera. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the Three Stars for her cultural achievements; the investiture was performed by president Raimonds Vējonis on 6 December 2016. In December 2017, she won a silver medal in Global Music Awards for her Rossini album "Amor fatale". In 2020, she was named "Artist of the Year" by the International Classical Music Awards.
Recordings.
Her first solo CD, "Mozart Arias" with Speranza Scappucci and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, was released by EMI (Warner Classics) in November 2013. Her next album, "Amor fatale" – Rossini arias with Marco Armiliato and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester – was released in the summer of 2017 by BR-Klassik.