Russian mezzo-soprano ELENA MANISTINA (alto II, Maria Aegyptiaca) was born in Saratov and trained at The Music School of Saratov and at the Moscow State Conservatory P. I. Tchaikovsky. She was the winner of the first prize in the 2002 Operalia Competition and a finalist in the 2003 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and she has won numerous other prizes.

Manistina made her debut as Marfa in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina in Saratov, a role she has repeated many times. Other roles have included Countess in Pique Dame for the Washington Opera, Amelfa in Le coq d’or for the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and also for the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. She has also sung Martha in Iolanta, Lyubasha in Tsar’s Bride at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and Azucena in Il trovatore at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Washington Opera, and Opéra National de Paris, Bastille.

She has recently sung Sosostris in The Midsummer Marriage at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Alexander Nevsky at the BBC Proms, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas in Lucerne and Luxembourg, Marina in Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House, London, Lyubasha in The Tsar’s Bride at the Frankfurt Opera, and Amneris in Aida at the Arena di Verona.

She has also sung Alexander Nevsky and Verdi’s Requiem at the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Alexander Nevsky with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera at Opéra de Bordeaux and Teatro Municipale di Santiago, and Jewish Folk Songs with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Her 2008/09 engagements include Ulrica at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra du Rhin, Covent Garden, Opéra Paris Bastille, Washington National Opera, and Oviedo Opera, Azucena in Il trovatore at the Liceu in Barcelona, Amneris in Avignon, The Rake’s Progress at the Glyndebourne Festival, Tigrana in Edgar at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, as well as these performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Hollywood Bowl.