Julia Lezhneva

  • Soprano

General management

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

"... sublime cantilenas with ornaments woven in like silver threads, trampoline-springing staccati and evenly swinging trills ... Even more haunting, how she knew how to use the messa di voce, the rising and falling of the tone, as an expression of emotional tremor." (FAZ, May 2021) The Süddeutsche Zeitung sees her as a "...magician: she can almost make her voice disappear, performing the most ludicrous vocal feats and garland fireworks".

Julia Lezhneva's international career began with a bang when she caused a sensation in 2010 at the Classical Brit Awards in London's Royal Albert Hall with Rossini's Fra il padre at the invitation of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

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Just a decade later, she is discovering a broad repertoire with various orchestras, conductors, operas and oratorios. She made her highly successful debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker in October 2019 and at the Musikverein Vienna in December 2019. She returned to the Mozartwoche Salzburg in January 2020, this time under Sir András Schiff in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro; in January 2023 she sang in Don Giovanni. In June 2023, she appeared for the first time at La Scala in Milan in Porpora's Carlo il Calvo.

In December 2020, she made her celebrated debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt. Her debuts with the LA Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony are on her calendar for the 2024/25 season.

Orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB), the Orquestra Nacional de España, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Kaohsiung Philharmonic and the Seoul Philharmonic regularly invite Julia Lezhneva and she regularly works with renowned conductors such as Adam Fischer, Giovanni Antonini, Herbert Blomstedt, Emmanuelle Haïm, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski and Andrea Marcon.

Julia Lezhneva is a welcome guest at the Salzburg Festival, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Dubrovnik Festival, the Festival de la Vézère, the Sion Festival, the Nordland Music Festival and at Bayreuth Baroque.

Julia Lezhneva's debut in Handel's Alcina (Morgana) at the Hamburg State Opera in September 2018 was celebrated to great acclaim and she was immediately invited back for Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and further performances of Alcina. In 2021, she sang the role of Poppea in a new production of Handel's Agrippina (stage director: by Barrie Kosky), in 2022 Zerlina in Don Giovanni and in May 2024 she sang Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. Before that, she made her debut at the Liceo in Barcelona in March 2024 in a staged performance of Handel's Messiah.

In winter 2019, she made her debut in Bach's Christmas Oratorio (conducted by Vladimir Jurowski); in the same season, she sang in Handel's Messiah and La Resurrezione, Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans; as well as Haydn's Creation and Mahler's Symphony No. 4. In October 2024 appeared for the first time with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir in Handel's Esther.

Born in 1989 in a family of geophysicists on Sakhalin Island off the Pacific Coast of Russia, Ms. Lezhneva began playing piano and singing at the age of five. She graduated from the Gretchaninov Music School and continued her vocal and piano studies at the Moscow Conservatory Academic Music College. At 17 she came to international attention as the winner of the Elena Obraztsova Opera Singers Competition, and was invited to share the stage with Juan Diego Flórez at the opening of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in the following year. In 2009, she won first prize at the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki and the following year took first prize at the Paris International Opera Competition, as the youngest contestant in each competition’s history. Opernwelt magazine named her “Young Singer of the Year” in 2011 for her debut at La Monnaie in Brussels. The following year she performed at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in Paris.

Julia Lezhneva’s teachers and mentors include Dennis O’Neill, Yvonne Kenny, Elena Obraztsova, Alberto Zedda, Richard Bonynge and Thomas Quasthoff.

Please use this authorized biography of Weigold & Böhm only, Season 2024/25.

Contacts

Photos

  • Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila
  • Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila
  • Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila
  • Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano
  • Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano
  • Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano
  • Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
  • Lezhneva1© Emil Matveev
  • Carlo Il Calvo © Falk von Traubenberg
  • Carlo Il Calvo © Falk von Traubenberg
  • ALCINA 2018 © Staatsoper Hamburg - Hans Joerg Michel
  • Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
  • Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
  • Carlo Il Calvo © Falk von Traubenberg

News

Julia Lezhneva and Alexander Melnikov on tour with „Visiting Rachmaninoff“

© Clemens Manser

Videostream - Julia Lezhneva at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival 2025

New Release by Julia Lezhneva - „Visiting Rachmaninoff“

Concert Broadcast “The Golden Age” with Julia Lezhneva and Luca Pianca

(c) warnerclassics_MPhil_DigiCover_Pergolesi

New Release - Stabat Mater von Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

© Oliver Röckle

Ovation for Julia Lezhneva and Valer Sabadus in Ludwigsburg

© LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura 2025 - Studio Pagi

Shining stars of the baroque repertoire in Lugano

2025_01_19_Julia Lezhneva u. Luca Pianca @ TWW

An exceptional lyrical recital in Girona

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Festive music with Julia Lezhneva and the Freiburger Barockorchester tonight on SWR2

Warner_Hasse_Serpentes_01 NEW c4alt SQ

Among the best 10 classical albums of 2024 - CD „Serpentes ignei in deserto“ with Julia Lezhneva and Philippe Jaroussky

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva's debut at Konzerthaus Berlin - an event!

Warner_Hasse_Serpentes_01 NEW c4alt SQ

CD release “Serpentes ignei in deserto“ with Julia Lezhneva and Philippe Jaroussky

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva's debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva - Happy Birthday, Ton Koopman!

A gift - Julia Lezhneva and Thibault Noally in Bremerhaven

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg - Julia Lezhneva und Adam Fischer © Claudia Höhne

The Elbphilharmonie becomes a theatre stage

Julia Lezhneva - Concerto Köln - Zürich 27. Mai 2024 © Quim Vilar

A great moment with Julia Lezhneva and Concerto Köln in the Tonhalle Zurich

© Bernd Sangmeister

Julia Lezhneva - debut as Cherubino at the Hamburg State Opera

Julia Lezhneva Barcelona 2024 Handel/Mozart Messiah © David Ruano

Julia Lezhneva at the Liceo in Barcelona with Mozart's / Handel's „Messiah"

Lezhneva1© Emil Matveev

Julia Lezhneva - to die for!

Bayreuth Baroque 2023 - Julia Lezhneva und Max Cencic © Clemens Manser

Live broadcast of Handel's "Flavio, Re de' Langobardi" with Julia Lezhneva and Concerto Köln in Bayreuth on 17.09.23

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Synopsis of press reviews - Julia Lezhneva in CARLO IL CALVO and IL POLIFEMO

Julia Lezhneva, Pavel Nersessian, Oper Budapest © Nagy Attila

Julia Lezhneva and Pavel Nersessian inspire with their duo programme in Bonn and Budapest.

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva in Handel's Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at ARTE TV

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Great night for Lezhneva! Julia Lezhneva as Fiordiligi at the TCE in Paris

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva with the Berlin Philharmonic

„Weigold & Böhm“ - artists in German Top 20 Classical Charts

Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya

Julia Lezhneva at the Salzburger Mozartwoche

Lezhneva1© Emil Matveev

Great - Julia Lezhneva with Dmitry Sinkovsky, Luca Pianca and La Voce Strumentale in Berlin

Concerto Köln ©WarsawPhilharmonic

Julia Lezhneva and Concerto Köln provide „one of the most beautiful evenings in the life of a music enthusiast“ at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele

Concerts

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Saarbrücken, 8:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Orchestra:

    Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern

    Conductor:

    Josep Pons

    Program:

    Charpentier: Les Plaisirs de Versailles Kurzoper (divertissement) - Auszüge (für Sopran) H. 480

    Location:

    Saarländischer Rundfunk Funkhaus Halberg - Kammermusik -

    Organizer:

    https://www.drp-orchester.de/drp/start100.html

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Lausanne, 7:30 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Orchestra:

    Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

    Conductor:

    Ton Koopman

    Program:

    Mozart: Ouvertüre zur Oper ´´Die Zauberflöte´´ KV 620 Mozart: ´´Exsultate, jubilate´´ - Motette für Sopran, Orchester und Orgel KV 165 Mozart: Serenade für zwei kleine Streichorch. und Pauken D-Dur KV 239 ´´Serenata notturna´´ Mozart: Voi avete un cor fedele - Arie für Sopran G-Dur KV 217 Pause: Pause - Intermission Mozart: Sinfonie Nr. 38 D-Dur KV 504 ´´Prager Sinfonie´´

    Location:

    Beaulieu Lausanne

    Organizer:

    https://www.ocl.ch

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Genf, 7:30 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Orchestra:

    Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

    Conductor:

    Ton Koopman

    Program:

    Mozart: Ouvertüre zur Oper ´´Die Zauberflöte´´ KV 620 Mozart: ´´Exsultate, jubilate´´ - Motette für Sopran, Orchester und Orgel KV 165 Mozart: Serenade für zwei kleine Streichorch. und Pauken D-Dur KV 239 ´´Serenata notturna´´ Mozart: Voi avete un cor fedele - Arie für Sopran G-Dur KV 217 Pause: Pause - Intermission Mozart: Sinfonie Nr. 38 D-Dur KV 504 ´´Prager Sinfonie´´

    Location:

    Victoria Hall

    Organizer:

    https://www.osr.ch

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Amsterdam, 1:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Yuriy Mynenko, Max Emanuel Cencic, Sonja Runje

    Orchestra:

    Concerto Köln gGmbH

    Conductor:

    Benjamin Bayl

    Program:

    Händel: Flavio HWV 16 Oper in tre atti

    Location:

    Het Concertgebouw N.V.

    Organizer:

    https://www.omroepmuziek.nl/en/contact/

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Wien (TAW), 7:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Max Emanuel Cencic, Lucile Richardot, Rémy Brès-Feuillet, Hugo Hymas

    Orchestra:

    {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna

    Conductor:

    Martyna Pastuszka

    Program:

    Händel: Poro, Re dell´Indie HWV 28 Dramma per musica in drei Akten

    Location:

    Theater an der Wien

    Organizer:

    https://www.Theater-Wien.at

  • Julia Lezhneva, Valer Sabadus

    Timisoara, 7:00 pm

    Details

    Partner(s):

    Valer Sabadus

    Orchestra:

    Musica Ricercata

    Conductor:

    Gabriel Bebeselea

    Program:

    Händel: Ouvertüre aus der Oper Giulio Cesare HWV 17 Händel: Da tempeste il legno infranto - Arie der Cleopatra aus der Oper Giulio Cesare in Egitto E-Dur HWV 17 Händel: Cara speme - Arie aus der Oper Cesare Händel: Io t’abbraccio Duetto aus Rodelinda HWV 19 Händel: Un pensiero nemico di pace aus Il Trionfo el Tempo e del disiganno HWV 46a Händel: ´´Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa´´ HWV 46a Arie der Piacere aus ´´Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno´´ Händel: Il voler nel fior degl´ anni Duett Bellezza und Piacere aus Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno Pause: PAUSE Händel: Ouvertüre aus Alcina HWV 34 Händel: Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion Nr. 18 Arie für Sopran aus dem Messiah Pause: PAUSE Händel: O Lord, Whose Mercies Nberless (Saul) Händel: Duetto finale Ginevra / Ariodante Bramo aver mille vite aus der Oper Ariodante Händel: Parto, si; ma non so poi Arie der Emilia aus Flavio, Re de´ Longobardi HWV 16 Händel: Crude furie aus der Oper Serse HWV 40 Händel: Caro! Bella! Duett aus der Oper Giulio Cesare Händel: Duo Almirena / Rinaldo Scherzano sul tuo volto aus der Oper Rinaldo

    Location:

    Opera Nationala Romana Timisoara

    Organizer:

    https://filarmonicabanatul.ro/

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Baden-Baden, 6:00 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Olivia Vermeulen, Julian Prégardien, Hanno Müller-Brachmann

    Orchestra:

    Budapest Festival Orchester

    Conductor:

    Ivan Fischer

    Program:

    Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248

    Location:

    Festspielhaus und Festspiele Baden-Baden gGmbH

    Organizer:

    https://www.festspielhaus.de

  • Julia Lezhneva

    Budapest, 7:45 pm

    Details
    Tickets

    Partner(s):

    Olivia Vermeulen, Julian Prégardien, Hanno Müller-Brachmann

    Orchestra:

    Budapest Festival Orchester

    Conductor:

    Ivan Fischer

    Program:

    Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248

    Location:

    Budapest Congress Center

    Organizer:

    https://www.bfz.hu

Projects

  • Les Accents – Thibault Noally (Leitung) – Julia Lezhneva (Irene) - Carlo Vistoli (Tamerlano)

    Vivaldi – Tamerlano

    Details

    Program:

    Julia Lezhneva (Irene)
    Carlo Vistoli (Tamerlano)
    Eva Zaicik (Andronico)
    Renato Dolcini (Bajazet)
    Anthéa Pichanick (Asteria)
    Suzanne Jérosme (Idaspe)

    Vivaldi - Tamerlano (auch Il Bajazet, RV 703)

    Contact:

  • Les Accents – Thibault Noally (Leitung) – Julia Lezhneva (Irene) - Carlo Vistoli (Tamerlano)

    Vivaldi – Tamerlano

    Details

    Program:

    Julia Lezhneva (Irene)
    Carlo Vistoli (Tamerlano)
    Eva Zaicik (Andronico)
    Renato Dolcini (Bajazet)
    Anthéa Pichanick (Asteria)
    Suzanne Jérosme (Idaspe)

    Vivaldi - Tamerlano (auch Il Bajazet, RV 703)

    Contact:

  • Il Giardino Armonico – Giovanni Antonini (Leitung) – Julia Lezhneva (Sopran)

    Details

    Program:

    Antonio Vivaldi:
    Concerto in E minor for strings and basso continuo RV 134 (Allegro, Andante, Allegro)
    "Anderò, volerò griderò" from Orlando finto pazzo RV 727
    "Sposa son disprezzata" from Bajazet RV703
    "Gelosia" RV711
    Concerto in D Major "il Gardellino" RV 428 for flautino, srings and basso continuo (Allegro, Largo, Allegro)
    "Vedrò con mio diletto" from Il Giustino RV 717
    "Siam navi all'onde algenti" from L'Olimpiade RV 725
    ***
    G. P. Telemann:
    Concerto in C Major TWV 51: C1 for recorder, strings and basso continuo (Allegretto, Allegro, Andante, Tempo di Minuet)
    F. J. Haydn:
    Arianna a Naxos Hob. XXVIIb:2 (anonymous 18th century transcription) for soprano, strings and basso continuo

    Contact:

  • Julia Lezhneva (Sopran) – Alexander Melnikow (Klavier)

    Lieberabend - Sergey Rachmaninoff

    Details

    Program:

    Julia Lezhneva und Alexander Melnikow veröffentlichen ein neues Album mit Liedern und Werken von Sergey Rachmaninoff.

    Darin enthalten eine Auswahl von Liedern aus Opus 21, 26 und 34.

     

    Lesen Sie zur Album Veröffentlichung

    Contact:

  • PRJCT Amsterdam – Julia Lezhneva - Maarten Engeltjes - Carolyn Sampson - Benedikt Kristjansson - Fabio Trumpy

    Brockes-Passion

    Details

    Program:

    Tochter Zion: Julia Lezhneva
    Maria / Gläubige Seele: Carolyn Sampson
    Johannes / Judas / Gläubige Seele: Maarten Engeltjes
    Evangelist / Gläubige Seele: Benedikt Kristjansson
    Peter: Fabio Trümphy

    Händel: Brockes Passion

    Dieses Werk ist mit den fantastischsten und herzzerreißendsten Arien gefüllt. Händel war von Brockes' Text zutiefst inspiriert und sein Genie blühte hier auf. Bach wiederum war von dem Stück zutiefst inspiriert und führte es mehrmals in Leipzig auf. Es inspirierte ihn auch zu seiner Johannes-Passion, in der der Entwurf der Brockes-Passion spürbar ist.

    Contact:

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Biography 2024/2025