Vesselina Kasarova
was born in Stara Zagora (Bulgaria). After receiving her piano concert diploma, she studied singing at the Sofia Academy of Music and performed major roles at the National Opera there while still a student. In 1989, a permanent contract brought her to the Zurich Opera House, where she quickly became an audience favorite and was hailed as a great discovery by international experts. In the same year, she also won first prize at the German singing competition “Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh. In 1991 Vesselina Kasarova made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Annio in La Clemenza di Tito conducted by Sir Colin Davis. Other roles at the Salzburg Festival included Tancredi, Ombra Felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto, and Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). In the autumn of the same year, Vesselina Kasarova made her highly acclaimed debut at the Vienna State Opera as Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) under Donald Runnicles. Performing roles by Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) and Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) as well as Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) and others, she has appeared at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam as well as at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Vesselina worked with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seiji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton and Friedrich Haider. Recitals and concerts have taken Vesselina Kasarova to Munich, Berlin, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Dresden, La Scala Milan, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch, and the Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey. Vesselina Kasarova has recorded numerous CDs for RCA Red Seal, which have received numerous awards.