Larissa Diadkova is a principal artist of the Kirov Opera where she appears in major roles mainly with the company’s music director Valery Gergiev. Ms Diadkova graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory where she studied with Professor Iraida Levando.

1991 marked her professional debut in the west as Liubov in Tchaikowski’s Mazeppa at the Bregenz Festival.

In addition to the Russian musical literature, a considerable part of her repertoire is also devoted to composers such as Bach, Händel, Mahler, Wagner and Verdi. It was as Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino that established her as an major international artist. She was invited back to the Maggio to sing Amneris in Aida and took part in the theatre’s tour of Japan in 1997 under the baton of Zubin Mehta.

In 1998, she made her debut at Teatro alla Scala as Laura in La Gioconda and returned to the theatre as Marfa in Khovanshchina conducted by Valery Gergiev.

For the 100th Anniversary of the death of Verdi, she devoted most of the 2000/01 season to performing roles by the composer. Her Azucena, Amneris and Ulrica was seen in major houses around the world including the Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, San Francisco Opera, Arena di Verona and Teatro Regio di Parma. She also appeared as Mistress Quickly in the production of Falstaff at the Salzburg Easter Festival conducted by Claudio Abbado.

In 2001, she made her debut at the Paris Opera as Marfa in Khovanshchina conducted by James Conlon and returned to Paris to sing Azucena as well as Jezhibaba in Dvorak’s Rusalka opposite Renee Fleming.

Her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago took place in 2003 as Ulrica and she has also appeared there as Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walkure conducted by the music director Sir Andrew Davis.

Since 1996 she has been a regular guest at New York’s Metropolitan Opera where she has performed roles such as Azucena, Amneris, Ulrica, Marfa as well as Herodias in Salome and Fricka in Die Walkure. In the 2005/06 she performed the role of Liubov in the new production of Mazeppa conducted by Valery Gergiev.

Larissa Diadkova has also performed with some of the world’s major orchestras including the New Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra with important conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yuri Temirkanov, Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti.

She has made many CD and DVD recordings. For Phillips Classics she has recorded Ruslan and Lyudmilla, Mazeppa, Betrothal in a Monastery all conducted by Valery Gergiev. Her most recent recordings include Il Trovatore with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna conducted by Antonio Pappano for EMI Classics and Falstaff conducted by Claudio Abbado for Deutsche Grammophone.

In the 2009/10 season Larissa’s engagements included a new production of The Tsarina’s Slippers at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Madelon in Andrea Chenier at the Teatro Real Madrid and Ivan the terrible in concert with Orchestre de Paris. In the 10/11 season she performed Duenna in A Betrothal in a Monastery at Toulouse Opera at the Opera Comique and Jezhibaba in Rusalka at the Glyndebourne Festival.
Engagements in the 11/12 season and beyond include Countess in Pique Dame, Marfa in Khovanshchina and Jezhibaba in Rusalka at the Paris Opera, Ivan the Terrible in concert in Bucharest and Mistress Quickley in Falstaff at the Hamburg State Opera.