Biography
Irina Ignata
(former last name Maltseva)
mezzo-soprano
(former last name Maltseva)
mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Irina Ignata captivates on stage with the radiant, dark timbre of her voice and her intense stage presence.
Irina sings all over Europe and recently performed roles such as Polina (The Queen of Spades) at the Latvian National Opera in Riga, Olga (Eugene Onegin) at the Opéra de Lausanne, Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia) in Innsbruck and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) at the Immling Festival.
The press acclaims her as a «(...) vocally and dramatically absolutely ideal Olga.» (onlinemerker.com, 9 April 2022) and praises her Lucretia «(...)a flexible, colorful mezzo-soprano with bright piercing top notes and is secure under pressure, all of which made her well-suited to the role.» (Operawire.com, 30 June 2021).
On the concert stage Irina enthused the audience with her deeply moving alto solo in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 at the Immling Festival. Most recently, she made her successful Danish debut with the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester, performing the mezzo-soprano part in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, where she showcased the flexibility and warmth of her voice in the belcanto repertoire.
The press acclaims her as a «(...) vocally and dramatically absolutely ideal Olga.» (onlinemerker.com, 9 April 2022) and praises her Lucretia «(...)a flexible, colorful mezzo-soprano with bright piercing top notes and is secure under pressure, all of which made her well-suited to the role.» (Operawire.com, 30 June 2021).
On the concert stage Irina enthused the audience with her deeply moving alto solo in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 at the Immling Festival. Most recently, she made her successful Danish debut with the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester, performing the mezzo-soprano part in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, where she showcased the flexibility and warmth of her voice in the belcanto repertoire.
In the season 2022/2023 Irina was ensemble member at the Tiroler Landestheater where she appeared as Margaretha (Schumann, Genoveva) and Feodor (Boris Godunov), among others.
Press reviews were thoroughly enthusiastic about Irina's interpretations and write, for example, about her as Margaretha «(...) a brilliant performer with a fulminant voice.» (onlinemerker.com, 25 September 2022)
From 2016 – 2020 Irina was member of the Staatstheater Nürnberg. At the International Opera Studio she sang roles like Mercédès in Carmen, Anna in Calixto Bieito’s new production of Les Troyens, Emilia (Otello), the alto part in a staged version of St. Matthew’s Passion, Rossweise (Die Walküre) and Flora (La Traviata). Staying at the Staatstheater Nürnberg as member of the ensemble, her most important roles were Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) and Hélène Bezukhova (War and Peace).
Irina Ignata worked with conductors such as Marcus Bosch, Keri-Lyn Wilson, Oliver Dohnányi, Yi-Chen Lin, Wolfgang Katschner, Joana Mallwitz, Guido Johannes Rumstadt, Kerem Hasan and Lutz de Veer, as well as with directors like Calixto Bieito, Mariame Clément, Jens-Daniel Herzog, Tilman Knabe, Peter Konwitschny, David Mouchtar-Samorai, Georg Schmiedleitner, Laura Scozzi and Taddeus Strassberger, to name but a few.
She attended master classes with Kirsten Schötteldreier, Daphne Evangelatos, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Grace Bumbry and Daniel Ottevaere.
She attended master classes with Kirsten Schötteldreier, Daphne Evangelatos, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Grace Bumbry and Daniel Ottevaere.
Irina Ignata is the winner of numerous competitions. She won the Grand Prize at the 10th «Musica Classica» Festival Competition in Moscow, the 1st Prize at the Singing Competition in Lonigo (Italy) and the 3rd Prize at the Rachmaninov Competition in Rostov-on-Don. She was a finalist in the Otto Edelmann singing competition in Vienna, the Nuits Lyriques de Marmande competition in France and lately in the Ebe Stignani Competition in Imola, Italy (2023).
After finishing her vocal studies at the Russian Gnessins Academy of Music in Moscow Irina Ignata continued her studies at the University Mozarteum Salzburg and successfully completed her Master degree at the Hochschule für Musik in Nürnberg.