Valentina Nafornita
Born in Moldova Valentina Naforniţa came from humble beginnings to become one of the most in demand sopranos of her generation. Shortly after earning her degree in Opera at the National University of Music in Bucharest, Romania, Ms. Naforniţa won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World launching her into the international opera scene. As a young member of the Wiener Staatsoper ensemble she was afforded the perfect opportunity to hone her craft as she made several notable debuts. Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte marked her first of many performances which came to include Musetta (La bohème), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Norina (Don Pasquale), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), and Ilia (Idomeneo). She was also honored with opening the historic Wiener Staatsoper Ball first in 2013 and again in 2018, cementing her strong relationship with the house. In the summer of 2014 Ms. Naforniţa made the first of many important international debuts at the Salzburger Festspiele as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), where she was hailed as the “highlight” (Bachtrack) of the show. Shortly after she made her debut in France at the Théâtre Champs-Elysées, followed by debuts at Opéra national de Paris, Opéra de Lausanne, and Staatsoper Hamburg.

She begins her 2019/20 season at the Wiener Staatsoper with a role debut as Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a new production by Franco-British director Irina Brook. This is followed by a reprisal of the role of Norina in Don Pasquale, also at the Wiener Staatsoper and once again in an Irina Brook production which Naforniţa debuted in 2015. More Donizetti is next as she performs one of her signature roles, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, at the Nationaltheater Mannheim - a role she also performs at the Opéra de Lausanne towards the end of her season. She returns to the Wiener Staatsoper for her second role debut of the season as Irina in Tri Sestri and Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. On the concert stage she performs in a gala concert at the Mariinsky Theatre, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen and she ends her season at the Wiener Staatsoper with the Galakonzert des Jungen Ensembles in June.

Additional highlights from her recent seasons include Fiordiligi in a new production of Cosi fan tutte at Opéra de Lausanne, Gilda in Rigoletto at Teatro alla Scala and the Bayerische Staatsoper, the title role in Iolanta and Adina in L’elisir d’amore at the Opéra de Paris, Ilia in Idomeneo at the Wiener Staatsoper, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera at the Staatsoper Berlin, Lisa in La Sonnambula at the Wiener Staatsoper, Adina in L’elisir d’amore at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Musetta in La bohème at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Norina in Don Pasquale at the Liceu Barcelona, a recital with Roger Vignoles at the Edinburgh International Festival, Sophie in Werther at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Juan Diego Florez in the title role and Joyce DiDonato as Charlotte, Musetta with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, her debut recital at Wiener Musikverein, and an appearance at the AIDS Operngala in Bonn and Düsseldorf. She also went on an extensive tour of China with the BBC Concert Orchestra, which was televised.

She has worked with such leading conductors as Bertrand de Billy, Guillermo Garcia Calvo, Karel Mark Chichon, Gustavo Dudamel, Ádám Fischer, Louis Langrée, Jesús López-Cobos, Cristian Mandeal, Ingo Metzmacher, Kazushi Ono, Evelino Pidò, Peter Schneider, Franz Welser-Möst, Simone Young and Massimo Zanetti. Her debut album will be released on January 10th, 2020.