Biography
Julia Novikova has quickly established herself as one of the leading Russian sopranos of her generation. During the last seasons, she sang Zerbinetta in Toulon, Taipei and Budapest State Opera, the title role of Lakmé in Santiago de Chile, Gilda in Antibes, Oscar at Théâtre Capitole du Toulouse, Jemmy (Guillaume Tell) in Monte Carlo and Paris. She had her debut as First Flower-Maiden in a new production of Parsifal at Berlin State Opera, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Recent performances include a gala performance of Rigoletto with Paolo Gavanelli in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Zerbinetta at the Aalto Theater in Essen and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In December 2015 Julia had huge success as Gilda in Florence in a new Rigoletto production, conducted by Zubin Mehta. In 2016 she sang her first Lucia di Lammermoor at Bonn Opera, Gilda at Bratislava National Theatre, Amor (Gluck: Orfeo et Euridice) at Berlin State Opera and finished the year with her debut at Genève Opera as Musetta in a new production of La bohème. Further events in 2017 are her debut at the National Theatre in Prague with Violetta in Verdis La traviata and Zerlina in Mozarts Don Giovanni, conducted by her mentor, Plácido Domingo. One of her first extraordinary successes was Gilda in the television production of Rigoletto (directed by Marco Bellocchio), which was filmed in the original locations and transmitted live to 148 countries. The opera was conducted by Zubin Mehta and the cast included Plácido Domingo as Rigoletto, Ruggero Raimondi as Sparafucile and Vittorio Grigolo as Duca di Mantova. After her debut with the Vienna State Opera as Königin der Nacht in November 2009 Julia Novikova returned there to sing Adina, Oscar, Zerbinetta and Königin der Nacht. In recent seasons, she also gave guest performances as Gilda in Komische Oper Berlin, Olympia in Frankfurt, Norina (Don Pasquale) at Washington National Opera. Julia Novikova gave concerts and recitals performing at the Grachten Festival in Amsterdam, Les estivales de musique in Médoc, Theatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Carnegie Hall in New York, Budapest National Opera, the Royal Opera House and the Barbican Centre in London and the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory. She was a soloist at Christmas in Vienna 2012. She is a Prize Winner of Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition in Sweden (3rd Prize, 2006), Concours de Geneve (Audience Prize, 2007), Neue Stimmen, Germany (Audience Prize, 2007), and Musik Debüt, Germany (1st Prize, 2008). She has won both the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at OPERALIA 2009 Plácido Domingo's The World Opera Competition in Budapest.
Photo: Felix Broede