Aida Garifullina

From her early childhood, Garifullina’s musical development was influenced by her mother. After studying music in Nuremberg, Germany, and the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (learning to sing with the American soprano Claudia Visca), the Russian soprano made her debut as Despina in the university production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

In 2012, Garifullina was chosen to sing at the opening of the Russian House at the XXX Summer Olympics in London. In London, she became acquainted with Valery Gergiev, the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. The following year, in January, she made her debut in the Mariinsky Theatre as Susanne in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, among other roles and performances.

The Russian soprano’s career took off after being awarded in the 2013 Operalia Competition—discover her performance, alongside that of Placido Domingo and others, in this celebration of the singing competition. Aida is an exclusive recording artist for Decca Records—her stunning self-titled debut album was released globally in February 2017 to unanimous critical acclaim and has been awarded a prestigious ECHO Klassik award.

Aida’s recent highlights include her sensational Opéra national de Paris debut in the title role of a new production of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden; solo gala concerts at the Prague Smetana Hall and the Moscow Conservatoire; concerts with Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Grafenegg Festival and with Lawrence Brownlee at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; recitals at Wigmore Hall and the Vienna Musikverein. She has toured the USA with Andrea Bocelli, played the role of Lily Pons in the feature film Florence Foster Jenkins, and was a soloist at the 2016 Bastille Day concert in Paris.

In the 2017-2018 season, Aida returned to the Opéra national de Paris as Musetta in a production of La Bohème by Claus Guth, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The season also saw her return to the stage of the Wiener Staatsoper for La Bohème and Rigoletto; as well as her Gran Teatre del Liceu debut in the title role of a new production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Aida made her debut at The Metropolitan Opera as well as the Berlin Staatsoper, and at the stage of the Opéra national de Paris and the Wiener Staatsoper, alongside concerts, galas, recitals, festivals, and TV broadcasts throughout Europe and beyond. 

In June 2018, the Russian soprano performed at the FIFA World Cup opening gala concert in the Red Square in Moscow. On the same occasion, the star soprano also performed at the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, singing with Robbie Williams on the notes of the pop song Angels. With other artists such as Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Flórez, and Plácido Domingo, she sang with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.

Aida is a former member of the ensemble of Wiener Staatsoper (between 2013 and 2016) where she performed various opera roles including Musetta, La Bohème; Susanna, Le Nozze di Figaro; Princess Eudoxie, La Juive; Elvira, L'italiana in Algeri; Adina, L'elisir d'amore; Zerlina, Don Giovanni; Norina, Don Pasquale. Aida was also a regular principal of the Mariinsky Theatre in roles such as Natasha in War in Peace (the new production by Graham Vick which was broadcasted live in cinemas), Gilda, Susanna, and Adina.