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Elena Tsallagova was born in Vladikavkaz, southern Russia. She was awarded a bursary to attend the famous Saint Petersburg Conservatory and went on to sing several roles at the Mariinsky Theatre (Le Coq d’Or, Suor Angelica...).
She studies repertoire and interpretation with Mme Ileana Cotrubas , recently working on such roles as Ilia (Idomeneo), Marzellina (Fidelio), Sophie (Werther), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Adèle (Die Fledermaus). Winner of the regional Rachmaninov vocal competition in Saint Petersburg, she integrated the young artists programme at the Opéra National de Paris in October 2006. It’s with this opera house that she sang the Italian Singer (Capriccio), Despina (Così fan Tutte) and the Falcon (Die Frau ohne Schatten).
In December 2007 she sang the soprano role in Cimarosa’s Il Ritorno di Don Calandrino under Maestro Riccardo Muti’s direction having made her Salzburg Festival debut in summer 2007 as Zelmira (Armida), Haydn.
In autumn 2008 she was invited back to the Paris Opera for the title role of Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen for which she received outstanding reviews. The production was shown on French television and has now been released as a DVD, winning
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Elena Tsallagova was born in Vladikavkaz, southern Russia. She was awarded a bursary to attend the famous Saint Petersburg Conservatory and went on to sing several roles at the Mariinsky Theatre (Le Coq d’Or, Suor Angelica...).
She studies repertoire and interpretation with Mme Ileana Cotrubas , recently working on such roles as Ilia (Idomeneo), Marzellina (Fidelio), Sophie (Werther), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Adèle (Die Fledermaus). Winner of the regional Rachmaninov vocal competition in Saint Petersburg, she integrated the young artists programme at the Opéra National de Paris in October 2006. It’s with this opera house that she sang the Italian Singer (Capriccio), Despina (Così fan Tutte) and the Falcon (Die Frau ohne Schatten).
In December 2007 she sang the soprano role in Cimarosa’s Il Ritorno di Don Calandrino under Maestro Riccardo Muti’s direction having made her Salzburg Festival debut in summer 2007 as Zelmira (Armida), Haydn.
In autumn 2008 she was invited back to the Paris Opera for the title role of Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen for which she received outstanding reviews. The production was shown on French television and has now been released as a DVD, winning DVD of the year at 'Les Victoires de la Musique' awards.
In November 2008 Elena began a two year contract with the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich where among the roles she sang Despina (Così fan Tutte), Sophie (Werther), Nanetta (Falstaff), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Musetta (La Bohème). She returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper this season for Der Zwerg.
She made her UK debut as Nanetta with Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 2009 and returns for the Glydnebourne Festival in 2013 as Nanetta.
Following her debut at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro this summer she sings Corinna and La Contessa di Folleville at De Vlaamse Opera in Il Viaggio a Reims and returns there the following season for Agrippina.
This season also sees her debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid (L'Incoronazione di Poppea) and she returns to the Paris Opera in 2012 to sing her first Mélisande under Philippe Jordan's direction, in a production to be released on DVD.
Recent concert engagements include Ravel’s Schehezade with the MDR Leipzig and Mozart Concert Arias with concerto Köln conducted by Ivor Bolton as part of their anniversary season. This season she will debut at the Lucerne Festival in a programme of Bach Cantatas.
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Reviews
"Servi par une Mélisande remarquable, à la fois froide et corporelle (comme le souhaitait Barthes), excellente dans les parties lyriques plus difficiles - une des seules à paser constamment la barre de la fosse. (Pelléas et Mélisande, Opéra national de Paris, mars 2012)"
Opéra magazine, Marie Gil
"Elena Tsallagova was outstanding as the unbalanced Contessa di Folleville, her agile soprano able to reach coloratura heights without apparent effort or loss of quality. (Il Viaggio a Reims, De Vlaamse Opera, December 2011)"
Opera by John McCann
"Elena Tsallagova, Folleville à la plastique - vocale et physique – irréprochable, qui flirte sans mal avec l’aigu le plus extrême sans renoncer pour autant à mordre le fruit d’un soprano charnu, déjà lyrique. (Il Viaggio a Reims, De Vlaamse Opera, décembre 2011)"
Forum Opera by Christophe Rizoud
"Rhythms, with the very occasional exception, were taut and the structure was admirably clear. Elena Tsallagova showed herself as agile of voice as she was on stage, in the title role. Her rapport with Hannah Esther Minutillo’s Fox was genuinely moving, whatever reservations one might entertain in principle about a couple of foxes falling in love. (The Cunning Little Vixen, Opéra national de Paris, October 2008)"
Seen and Heard International by Mark Berry
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