Marina Poplavskaya (Russian:Марина Поплавская; born September 1977) is a Russianoperaticsoprano. Her repertoire includes leading roles in operas of theRomantic era;[1] she is particularly known for her performances in the operas ofVerdi.[2]
Born inMoscow and educated at the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Music Institute there with professor Peter Tarasov,[1] she sang in the children's chorus of theBolshoi Theatre from the age of 10.[3] She became a soloist at Moscow'sNovaya Opera Theatre,[4] where she performed during 1996–98,[1] and where she was mentored by its founderYevgeny Kolobov.[4]
In 2005 her association with theRoyal Opera, London began when she joined its Young Artists Programme,[1] and in 2006 she received critical acclaim when she sang the title role of Rachel in a London concert performance ofHalévy'sLa Juive.[2]
At the Royal Opera she went on to greater success from 2007, when she performed as Donna Anna inMozart'sDon Giovanni, when as part of the young artists program she was an understudy cover in this production and had to step in for an ailingAnna Netrebko,[2] and Elisabeth de Valois inNicholas Hytner's new production of Verdi'sDon Carlo, which premiered in London in June 2008.[3]
In August 2008, she performed Desdemona in Verdi'sOtello at theSalzburg Festival withRicardo Muti conducting. Richard Fairman, reviewing the performance of 10 August forOpera, wrote "... Marina Poplavskaya’s Desdemona properly fitted the bill, looking a mere slip of a girl and sounding lovely."[5]
In December 2007 after a successful debut at theMetropolitan Opera as Natasha inProkofiev'sWar and Peace.[3] she was invited back in 2009 as Liù inPuccini'sTurandot,[2] and in 2010 as Elisabetta, when Hytner's production ofDon Carlo was taken to New York, and as Violetta inLa traviata, in the New York staging ofWilly Decker's production,[3] in which she had sung the role atDe Nederlandse Opera in 2009 and won The Artist of the Year prize for the best performer.[6] In2009 she also sang Violetta with great success at theLos Angeles Opera.[7]
She secured the role of Violetta at the Met in 2010 after Anna Netrebko dropped out.[3] In June 2011 Poplavskaya joined the tour at short notice to sing Elisabetta inDon Carlo, afterBarbara Frittoli vacated the role in order to replace Netrebko as Mimì in Puccini'sLa bohème.[8] In the 2011–2012 season Poplavskaya performed Marguerite inGounod'sFaust, including in theMet's HD simulcast on 10 December 2011,[9] and in the fall of 2013 she sang five performances as Tatiana in the Met's new production of Tchaikovsky'sEugene Onegin.[10] Vivian Schweitzer, reviewing the performance forThe New York Times, wrote that "Poplavskaya lacks the voluptuous sound of Anna Netrebko, who sang the role of Tatiana on opening night, but offered a more arresting portrayal dramatically."[11]
In October 2014, Poplavskaya withdrew from the Met's productions ofThe Marriage of Figaro andLa traviata.[12] The Met's general manager,Peter Gelb, stated that Poplavskaya "is a wonderful performer, but I know she’s been having some vocal difficulties in recent months."[13]Operabase shows no engagements for her after 2014.[14]
According to a 2020 portrait in Operawire, Poplavskaya was struggling with her voice after her pregnancy in 2014, but has returned to performing and recording, now as a mezzo-soprano, since 2019.[15]
2008: Mozart'sDon Giovanni (Simon Keenlyside as Don Giovanni,Kyle Ketelsen as Leporello, Eric Halfvarson as the Commendatore, Marina Poplavskaya as Donna Anna,Joyce DiDonato as Donna Elvira,Ramón Vargas as Don Ottavio,Miah Persson as Zerlina, Robert Gleadow as Masetto), conducted byCharles Mackerras, performed at the Royal Opera House on 8 and 12 September 2008[18]
2010: Verdi'sSimon Boccanegra (Plácido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra, Marina Poplavskaya as Amelia, Ferruccio Furlanetto as Fiesco,Joseph Calleja as Gabriele Adorno), conducted by Antonio Pappano, performed at the Royal Opera House on 2, 5 and 13 July 2010[20][21]
2010: Verdi'sDon Carlo (Roberto Alagna as Don Carlo, Marina Poplavskaya as Elizabeth,Simon Keenlyside as Rodrigo, Anna Smirnova as Eboli, Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philipp II, Eric Halfvarson as the Grand Inquisitor), conducted byYannick Nézet-Séguin, performed at the Metropolitan Opera on 11 December 2010[23]
2011: Gounod'sFaust (Jonas Kaufmann as Faust, Marina Poplavskaya as Maguerite,René Pape as Méphistophélès), conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, performed at the Metropolitan Opera on 10 December 2011[24]
^Don Carlo (1886 version; Royal Opera, 2008): Films for the Humanities and Science (2010), 3 DVDs,OCLC670480074; EMI Classic (2010), 2 DVDs (all region),OCLC841844898; Opus Arte (2008), e-video,OCLC956369529.
^Otello (Salzburg, 2008): C Major Entertainment, Blu-ray (2010),OCLC823697270; Unitel, DVD (2012),OCLC849517903.
