Elzbieta Szmytka (Soprano)

Born: Poland

The Polish soprano, Elzbieta Szmytka, studied with Helena Lazarska.

Elzbieta Szmytka made her debut at the Krakow Opera as Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Since then she has sung regularly in theaters worldwide including the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Wiener Staatsoper, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She has also performed at international festivals including Salzburg, Aix-en-Provence, and Glyndebourne.

Her many Mozart roles include Cinna (Lucio Silla), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), and both Ilia and Electra in Idomeneo. In addition to Mozart, Elzbieta Szmytka's extensive repertoire includes roles such as Gilda (Rigoletto), Violetta (La Traviata), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Antonia (Les Contes d' Hoffman), Alieja in Janácek's From the House of the Dead, Roxana in Szymanowski's King Roger, and the title role in George Frideric Handel's Alcina.

Elzbieta Szmytka has worked with many conductors including Claudio Abbado, Georg Solti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, John Eliot Gardiner, Antonio Pappano, John Pritchard, Neville Marriner, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Pierre Boulez and Simon Rattle. Her discography includes the complete Mozart arias for Philips, Così fan tutte with Neville Marriner, La Finta Giardiniera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Don Giovanni with Bruno Weil, Lehár's The Merry Widow with Franz Welser-Möst, Szymanowski's King Roger with Simon Rattle, and the complete Chopin songs with pianist Martin Martineau.

Some of Elzbieta Szmytka's recent projects have included Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea at the Hamburger Staatsoper, Szymanowski's Stabat Mater in Berlin and Vienna with Simon Rattle, and Janácek's Glagolitic Mass with Pierre Boulez in Paris. In America, she has sung Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia and at Carnegie Hall; Szymanowski's Stabat Mater with Simon Rattle and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Konstanze in the Los Angeles Opera's Abduction from the Seraglio and Ilia in the Canadian Opera Company's Idomeneo; and Janacek's Glagolithic Mass with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Source: Sony Masterworks Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (December 2008)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Günther Theuring

Soprano

J.D. Zelenka: Magnificat in D major, ZWV 108 ?

Links to other Sites

Elzbieta Smytka (Sony Masterworks)

Elzbieta Smytka - Biography (Colbert Artists)