Biography v Upcoming Performances

"The Sieglinde of our time…a shooting star of international Wagner and Strauss renown. Pieczonka glitters with a lyrically expressive, well nuanced soprano, appearing effortless even in top range, always with clearest articulation." (Die Zeit)

"Adrianne Pieczonka's singing was impeccably pure and iridescent vocally, the kind of silvery tone one imagines in the abstract for Strauss" (Financial Times)

"Her lyric-dramatic soprano really is a natural wonder, with its glistening top range and even tone. Pieczonka is a smart young singer who finds new thrills in every one of her choices." (Globe and Mail)

Dramatic and stunning, Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka is hailed for her beauty of "tone that can bloom into radiance or shrink to a whisper" (Daily Telegraph). She performs on leading opera and concert stages throughout Europe, North America and Asia under the direction of such conductors as James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Sir Neville Marriner, Claudio Abbado, the late Richard Bradshaw, Lorin Maazel, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Anthony Pappano and the late Sir Georg Solti.

In 2007, Adrianne was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. Earlier in the same year, she was named a Kammersängerin by the Austrian government. Originally bestowed by the royal courts, the title "Kammersänger(in)", or chamber singer, is awarded to distinguished singers who have made a significant contribution to the arts in Austria.

Performances:
Adrianne's 2009-2010 season begins with performances of Tosca with Staatsoper Hamburg before she takes to the Houston Grand Opera stage for the first time in one of her most critically acclaimed roles, Elsa in a new production of Lohengrin. November sees Adrianne at home in Toronto for the launch of her new all-Puccini recording with a special recital at the Four Seasons Center. The seasons sees Adrianne in Vienna for the title roles of Arabella and Ariadne auf Naxos, and in Berlin for reprisals of Tosca and Arabella. In the New Year, she makes her debut as Amelia in the Metropolitan Opera production of Simon Boccanegra, to be simulcast in HD to theatres around the world as part of the Met's Live in HD series and heard on radio on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. Adrianne also makes her debut in the title role of Die Kaiserin in Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten at Florence's Maggio Musicale and will return to Vienna to participate in the Vienna State Opera Gala honouring the retirement of long-time Intendant Ioan Holender.

Future seasons will feature her debut at the Paris Opera and returns to the Canadian Opera Company and the Bayreuth Festival.

Recent Highlights:
The 2008-2009 season featured performances in Dresden of Der Rosenkavalier and Don Carlos, before returning to Bilbao as the Prima Donna in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos and to New York for a the Verdi Requiem at Carnegie Hall. Her much-anticipated debut as Leonora in Fidelio with the Canadian Opera Company earned rave reviews: "an expressive, flexible, velvet-trimmed voice backed up by ample reserves of steely resolve. Every phrase is gorgeously shaped, every emotion conveyed with a minimum of fuss and maximum effect." (Toronto Star). She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in New York for one of her favourite roles - Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, to Munich for Otello and Vienna for Arabella, completing her season in San Francisco for performances of Tosca.

Adrianne's celebrated portrayal of Sieglinde in Die Walküre in some of the world's most famed houses - the Bayreuth Festspiele, Metropolitan Opera, the Canadian Opera Company - made it one of her signature roles and earned her title as "the Sieglinde of our time" (Die Zeit). Other recent highlights include her long-awaited debut as Tosca at the Los Angeles Opera to unanimous acclaim - "Adrianne Pieczonka was imperious and imposing, mercurial and gorgeous, impetuous and smitten. A Diva-in-Full. She has a creamy mid-range, a crystalline top, solid anchoring, she projects effortlessly, she's got power to burn." (OC Register). Past seasons have included Arabella and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Vienna Staatsoper, a tour with the Bavarian State Opera to Japan in Tannhäuser, appearances as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Los Angeles Opera, Lisa in Pique Dame and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier in Munich. She has received high praise for performances in Der Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival, performances as Elisabetta in Don Carlo at the Dresden State Opera, the COC, the Teatro Comunale in Florence, Lisa in Pique Dame at the Metropolitan Opera, and Elisabeth in Tännhauser at Milan's famed La Scala.

Concerts and Recitals:
A consummate concert and recital artist, Adrianne has performed on stages in Europe and North America. Her debut recital at Roy Thomson Hall, garnered such praise as "Adrianne Pieczonka's pearly soprano is as lustrous a sound as anyone could imagine…" (Globe & Mail). She has given song recitals in Great Britain, Austria, France and Canada and has appeared with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, where she performed Messiaen's Poèmes pour Mi, conducted by Kent Nagano, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, among many other orchestras.

Recordings
Following the critical and popular success of her Wagner-Strauss recording for Orfeo, Adrianne's latest offering is an all-Puccini disc of much-loved arias from Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut among other favourites: "Her interpretations and the beauty of tone captivate the listener...Each interpretation is fresh and new and every phrase is well thought-out, her voice is likewise always fresh and there are always small details which make these arias true highlights." (Klassik) She also stars as Elsa in a new recording of Lohengrin on the Hännsler label, which also features Johan Botha as Lohengrin and conducted by Semyon Bychkov. "Adrianne Pieczonka's Elsa is also scrupulously delivered...it surely merits a place among the most beautifully sung." (Opera) Also, a recent release is her recording of Paul Griffiths's tribute to Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire The General with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Kent Nagano on the JUNO-Award winning CD Beethoven: Ideals of The French Revolution (Analekta).

Her solo first recording of arias by Wagner and Strauss received high praise for showcasing her "dramatic finesse and musical intensity" (Bühne) and "her bright, gleaming sound with its vibrant top…ideal in the jügendlich-dramatisch fach. Her singing combines beauty, power and nuance." (La Scena Musicale). Her other critically applauded recordings include Falstaff with Bryn Terfel and Claudio Abbado Don Giovanni (Naxos), The Complete Orchestra Songs of Richard Strauss (Nightingale), and Die Fledermaus (Nightingale).

Ms. Pieczonka began her career at the Canadian Opera Company in Lady MacBeth of Mzensk in 1988, returning to that company in 1994 to sing the role 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 U.K. debut at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni brought an immediate invitation to return to sing the title role of Arabella in 1996. In 1997 she made her debut at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, and in 1998, made her debut as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in Hamburg and as Desdemona at the Vienna Staatsoper.

lAdrianne Pieczonka makes her home in Toronto, Canada.

Last Updated: October 20, 2009

© 2000 Moira Johnson Consulting, All Rights Reserved