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 the 2026/27 season, Ms. Opolais returns to the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. She is a renowned interpreter of the role, with Opera Magazine calling her “a Lisa with the lithe beauty of a wild animal, fabulous passion and a melting, burnished, gripping sound.” She will also make her Mexican debut, appearing in recital alongside Abdiel Vázquez on the piano, presented by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL). The duo will perform works by Ponchielli, Catalani, Cilea, Verdi, Massenet, Puccini, Giordano and Dvořák at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the largest cultural venue in Mexico.
Last season, Ms. Opolais joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons for Puccini’s Tosca, performed in concert at the Tanglewood Festival, a role she repeated with Boian Videnoff and the Mannheimer Philharmoniker later that season. She brought 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 performed Poulenc’s thrilling monodrama, La Voix Humaine, at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, led by Karen Kamensek. Ms. Opolais also sang Strauss’ transcendent Four Last Songs with Würth Philharmoniker and Claudio Vandell.
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