Kristine Opolais is one of the most sought after sopranos on the international scene today, with a firmly established reputation amongst the world’s pre-eminent singing actresses, combining lustrous tone and fierce dramatic intensity. Opolais appears at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Opernhaus Zürich and Royal Opera House Covent Garden. She is working with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Daniel Harding, Andris Nelsons, Fabio Luisi, Kirill Petrenko and Semyon Bychkov.
Kristine Opolais is one of the most sought-after sopranos on the international scene, with an established reputation amongst the world’s pre-eminent singing actresses. Opolais has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera House, Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Opernhaus Zürich, and the Royal Opera House. She collaborates with renowned conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Andris Nelsons, Fabio Luisi, and Kirill Petrenko.
In her exciting 2025/26 season, Opolais joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons for Puccini’s Tosca, performed in concert at the Tanglewood Festival, a role she will repeat with Boian Videnoff and the Mannheimer Philharmoniker later this season. She brings her critically acclaimed portrayal of Katerina Ismailova in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk to the Enescu Festival, with the Romanian Radio National Orchestra and Giancarlo Guerrero, and performs Poulenc’s thrilling La Voix Humaine, at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, led by Karen Kamensek. Opolais will also sing Strauss’ transcendent Four Last Songs with the Würth Philharmoniker and Claudio Vandell.
Last season, as part of the Shostakovich Festival, Opolais appeared as Katerina Ismailova in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at Oper Leipzig with Andris Nelsons, a “commanding” performance in which she “held the entire stage” (Bachtrack), and joined the Gewandhausorchester and Nelsons with Shostakovich 14 which she also performed with Finnish National Opera alongside bass Mika Kares and conductor Roderick Cox. She demonstrated her versatility with a selection of arias by Dvořák, Verdi, Puccini, Massenet, and Bernstein for the opening season gala with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kerem Hasan.
Kristine Opolais has been celebrated for her distinctive performances at The Metropolitan Opera, including her appearances in La bohème, Madama Butterfly, and new productions of Manon Lescaut and Rusalka, which received international broadcasts as part of their live in HD cinema series. In 2018, Opolais returned to the Met to sing Suor Angelica, a role she previously recorded on the Orfeo label. Famously in 2014, she made history at the Met with two role debuts in 18 hours by giving an outstanding performance in the title role of Madama Butterfly, only to step in the following day for a matinée of La bohème, which was broadcast into theatres worldwide.
Opolais’ appearances at the Royal Opera House in London, where she has been heralded as “the leading Puccini soprano of today” (The Telegraph), include the title roles in Tosca, Manon Lescaut, and Madama Butterfly. She also has a relationship with the Bayerische Staatsoper, beginning in 2010 when she made her debut as Rusalka in Martin Kušej’s new production. Additional roles in Munich include Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Tatjana in Eugene Onegin, Margherita in Mefistofele, and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito.
Opolais has made concert and recital appearances at the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Tanglewood Festival, the Musikverein Wien, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, Royal Opera House Muscat, Royal Concertgebouw, and Carnegie Hall. She has appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Filarmonica della Scala and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Opolais’ discography includes a DVD of Tosca in Baden-Baden with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
Last updated: July 2025
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Kristine Opolais · Brenden Gunnell
Günther Groissböck · Peter Hoare
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons
March 28, 2025
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“Ms. Opolais seemed to live with it, growing in stature as the evening went on and radiating the kind of aura – one that demands you watch her, and sympathize with her – that defines a star… She is a performer with a tremendous future ahead of her. New York will be lucky to have her.”
New York Observer