Adrianne Pieczonka
Celebrated Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka has performed on major opera stages throughout Europe, North and South America including Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Salzburg, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Milan, Zurich, Toronto and Vancouver under the direction of such conductors as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Neville Marriner, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Anthony Papano and the late Georg Solti.
The 2000–2001 season again saw Adrianne Pieczonka performing on many of the major European opera stages. She began the season in September with performances as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at the Vienna Staatsoper, then returned to Hamburg for performances of Otello. Ms Pieczonka appeared in concert at the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona in November and then travelled to Budapest to make a recording of Don Giovanni. In January 2001, Adrianne Pieczonka took on the rôle of Falstaff’s Alice Ford in a production conducted by Zubin Mehta in Munich, in February she performed in Die Fledermaus in Hamburg and in March she returned to Munich as Agathe in Der Freischütz and performed in a special memorial concert honouring the late Rudolphe Kempe at St John’s Smith Square in London, April in Berlin for a recording of Falstaff, conducted by Claudio Abbado and for performances of the same opera with the Berlin Staatsoper. In May, an appearance in a concert performance of Der Rosenkavalier in Torino, with Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting was followed, on May 29, with her recital début at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. The summer of 2001 included concert performances and a recording of Der Freischütz in Rotterdam and Cologne, with Bruno Weil conducting, a return to Munich in Falstaff and Die Meistersinger and a concert performance of the 3rd act of Lohengrin at the Salzburg Festival.
Adrianne Pieczonka opened the 2001–2002 season with her American début at the Los Angeles Opera in one of her most acclaimed rôles—Elsa in Lohengrin. She then returned to Munich for appearances in Don Giovanni. She made her Japanese début in the same rôle, with performances in Tokyo in late November. Ms Pieczonka then returned to London to reprise the rôle at Covent Garden, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. April took her to Hamburg for the title rôle in Kát’a Kabanová and in July 2001, she took on the rôle of Lisa in Pique Dame at La Scala.
In 1999–2000, Adrianne Pieczonka made her début as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier in Bilbao, appeared as Elsa in Lohengrin in both Vienna and Munich, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes and Desdemona in Otello. She reprised the rôles of Donna Anna in the very successful 1999 Vienna Staatsoper production of Don Giovanni, with Riccardo Muti conducting and Elsa in Lohengrin.
In addition to her busy opera career, Ms Pieczonka is also an active concert artist, having given song recitals in Great Britain, Austria, France and Canada. Her performance of Sieglinde at the 1997 Edinburgh Festival was voted best concert performance of the year by London’s Independent newspaper. In 1998, she made her Paris début in a recital of Strauss’s Four Last Songs under the direction of James Conlon. Ms Pieczonka’s appearance at the 1999 New Year’s Eve Opera Gala in Toronto was unanimously praised by both the press and public.
Considered a major interpreter of Richard Strauss, Adrianne Pieczonka has completed a solo recording of Strauss’ Orchestral Songs for Nightingale Classics. She is also featured on The Complete Orchestra Songs of Richard Strauss (Nightingale). Ms Pieczonka has also recorded Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde) for the same label.
Adrianne Pieczonka began her career at the Canadian Opera Company in Lady MacBeth of Mzensk (female prisoner) in 1988, returning to that company in 1994 to sing the rôle of Mimi in La Bohème. In 1989 she joined the Vienna Volksoper and established her home and career in Europe. In 1991 she became a member of the Vienna Staatsoper where she continues to enjoy great success. In 1995, Adrianne Pieczonka’s UK début at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni brought an immediate invitation to return to sing the title rôle of Arabella in 1996. In 1997 she made her début at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, with Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title rôle and in 1998, made her début as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in Hamburg and as Desdemona at the Vienna Staatsoper.
Adrianne Pieczonka makes her home in London, England.
For further information, please visit Adrianne Pieczonka’s website.
Biography courtesy Moira Johnson
