(Credit: Ruth Waltz)

The Salzburg Festival is set to open this week in a reduced edition with various concerts and two new operas including R.Strauss’ “Elektra.” The new production will be headlined by an all-star cast that includes rising star Asmik Grigorian in the role of Chrysothemis.

The new production will mark the soprano’s third appearance at the festival following her breakout debut as Marie in “Wozzeck” in 2017 and her sensational role debut as “Salome” that put Grigorian on the map as a rising star. For her “Salome” critics raved and stated that Grigorian “captivates the audience as much as she captivates Herod…Grigorian’s soprano is bright, rippled with steel and it slices tirelessly through a rampant Vienna Philharmonic. Yet she can scale it down too.” For her turn, the soprano went on to win numerous accolades including the Austrian Music Theatre Awards.

Her appearance as Chrysothemis will mark the second time in the role following her interpretation in 2018 in Amsterdam. However, it will mark the first time she does the role in a full production. For those not in Salzburg, “Elektra” will be broadcast on Mezzo.tv on August 1.

This fall the soprano is also scheduled to perform at the Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real de Madrid, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Grigorian is the founding member of Vilnius City Opera and has twice been awarded the Golden Stage Cross in Lithuania. She has also been honored with the Young Female Singer award and Female Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards. The soprano has performed with such companies as Gran Teatre del Liceu, Lithuanian Opera, Oper Frankfurt, and the Teatro alla Scala, among others.

Further Reading 

Recordings

For those not familiar with Grigorian, the soprano has two DVDs of her “Wozzeck” and “Salome” from the Salzburg Festival.

Here is her acclaimed interpretation of “Madama Butterfly” from the Royal Swedish Opera.

And here she is as “Manon Lescaut.”