Biography
Maria Kataeva
A rising star of her generation, the Russian mezzo-soprano Maria Kataeva’s repertoire ranges from Baroque to Contemporary music. Maria started her career during her studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory when she became a member of the opera studio at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and 2 years later, she became a permanent member of the ensemble and leading soloist.
Guest performances have taken Maria Kataeva to such opera theatres as the Bolshoi Theater Moscow, the Dresden Semperoper, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Opéra Bastille Paris, the Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, the Opera Vlaanderen Antwerpen/Gent and the Edmonton Opera Canada, having legendary stage partners such as Placido Domingo in various occasions, such as the “Placido Domingo & Friends” Gala at the beginning of the 2020/2021 season, at the Bolshoi Theater, and the “Stars of the White Nights” Gala in June 2021 at the Mariinsky Theater.
Winner of many awards in numerous voice competitions, won in 2014 the 3rd prize in the Paris Opera Competition, the 1st prize in the general category and 3rd prize in the German category of the voice competition “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” (Nuremberg, 2016); in 2019 she was awarded the 2nd Prize and the Audience Prize of Placido Domingo’s Operalia, in Prague.
Her most recent engagements include Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito as Sesto and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, her house debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in the title role of Rossini’s Cenerentola, her debut at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Italy), where she performed Isolier in Le Comte Ory. At the same time, the 2022/23 season started for Kataeva with a new production of Bizet’s Carmen at the Hamburg State Opera, Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the Abschlusskonzert Mozartwoche 2023 in Salzburg on February 5th. Maria Kataeva will be reunited on stage with Placido Domingo in a concert entitles “Noche Zarzuela” at the Salle Gaveau in Paris on March 9th.
Future engagements include Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, La Clemenza di Tito at the Grand Theatre de Geneve, and a solo recital with orchestra at the 2023 edition of Rossini Opera Festival.