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Mezzo-soprano
from Montreal, Quebec, who went to Marianopolis
College and McGill University before enrolling at the Academy of Vocal Arts
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
While in the City of Brotherly Love, she was a member of The
Philadelphia Singers, the chorus-in-residence of The Philadelphia
Orchestra. From 1987 to 1989,
she furthered her education abroad, studying at the Britten-Pears School, which
is located in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England.
She returned
home and debuted in l’Opera de Montreal’s
production of Un Ballo
in Machera in the role of Ulrica. In 1993, she reached the final round
of the Montreal International Music Competition.
Her European
debut was a memorable one, as she was recruited for the role of Anna at the
eleventh hour in a performance of Les
Troyens by Hector Berlioz with the London
Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis. She reprised the role in 1996 with Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, the first of many operas in
which she would appear with that venerable company, eventually making Milan
her permanent home.
In the
mid-to-late ‘90s, she appeared on a pair of recordings, The Garden of the Heart and Rachmaninov:
Complete Songs. She
can be heard and seen on the opera DVDs, Adriana Lecouvreur and Dialogues des Carmelites.
In 2007, she returned
to l’Opera de Montreal’s stage as
Suzuki in Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. She would go on to appear in Puccini’s
Il tabarro as
Frugola at La Scala
with Riccardo Chailly
conducting in the 2007-2008 season.
The 2008-2009 season found her back in Montreal for a gala concert
with l’Opera de Montreal and l’Opera de Quebec, then back over the pond to the
Czech Republic for the Dvorak Festival and the Beethoven Festival.
She spent much
of the 2009-2010 season in Canada, including stops
in Montreal, Quebec City and Val d’Or for Gustav Mahler’s song
cycle, Das Lied von der Erde.
Sources:
- http://annamariapopescu.com/
- http://annamariapopescu.com/bio.html
- http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0004137
- http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm9-1/Annamaria-Popescu-en.htm
- http://www.naxos.com/person/Annamaria_Popescu/9979.htm
- http://www.dispeker.com/page/popescu.html
- http://www.marianopolis.edu/al/popescu.php
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