Julia Gertseva

The beauty of the voice and the rich mezzosoprano timbre, the dramatic talent and the stage presence have allowed to Julia Gertseva to tread the best stages in the world: Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Bavarian Staatsoper , Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Teatro Regio of Turin, Royal Theater of Madrid, Mariinsky of Saint Petersburg, Bolshoi of Moscow, Wiener Staatsoper ...
Born in Leningrad, in a philologist-musical family, she studied music from her childhood. With honors he graduated from the famous Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, studying singing, choral conducting and piano.
At the age of 18 she was invited to join the company of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, where she sang the main mezzo-soprano parts.
In 2002, Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich call her to sing Sonetka in Shostakovich's "Lady Macbet of Mtsensk" at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome: from that moment her international career began.
Already in two years, in 2004, Julia made her debut at the Scala in Milan singing the title role in Bizet's "Carmen". In the following years he returned to the Milanese theater for other productions, including "Tannhauser" by R.Wagner, directed by Maestro Zubin Metha, in which he sang the part of Venus.
With M ° Metha, Julia collaborates in various productions: Eboli in "Don Carlo", in Tel Aviv, Preziosilla in "The Force of Destiny", "Alexandr Nevsky" by Prokofiev and "Carmen" at the Maggio Musicale.
The role of Carmen stands out in the singer's career and becomes her "workhorse". In fact, he has played this part in many theaters around the world: Bavarian Staatsoper, Staatsoper in Dresden, Teatro Regio in Turin, Royal Opera House in Muscat, Tokyo, Mariinsky in St. Petersburg, in Modena, Piacenza, Staatsoper in Hamburg, in Palau de les arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and many others.
Julia was chosen by the great Maestro Georges Pretre for his latest "Carmen", staged in the form of a concert, at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. For the interpretation of the role of Carmen, Julia received the Gianni Poggi International Award in Piacenza.
She sang Dalila at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, in Santander, in Liège. In Karsruhe she collaborated with the tenor Jose Cura recording  the DVD “Samson et Dalila”.
In Wiener Staatsoper, in Avignon and in Bologna she sings the part of Charlotte in Massenet's “Werther”. At the Teatro Comunale in Bologna she sings together with Andrea Bocelli and, subsequently, they record the CD (DECCA).
In Bologna and in Wiener Staasoper sings Fenena in Verdi's "Nabucco", Tigrana in Puccini's "Edgar" at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana" in Cape Town, Suzuki in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" at Choregies d ' Orange. At Choregies d’Orange she also sings Mozart's "Requiem" under the direction of Maestro Myung Wung Chung. She sings Ulrica in “A masked ball” in Parma, in Deutsche oper in Berlin and at the Teatro comunale in Bologna.
With the Tel Aviv Philharmonic Orchestra and Concertgebouw orchestra (Conductor Sir Colin Davis) he sings Berlioz's "Romeo and Juliette".
Julia Gertseva also performs in the Wagnerian repertoire: at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg he sings Fricka in “Die Walkuere”, under the baton of M ° Valery Gergiev and Venus (“Tannauser”) in Budapest. 
At the Fenice in Venice she sang Varvara in Leos Janacek's “Katia Kabanova”; with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bolzano Symphony Orchestra  his “Missa glagolitica”, conducted by Maestro J. Valcuha. Julia performs in public and records two CDs of not so well known operas: "Les Barbares" (in the role of Livia) by Saint-Saens at the Theater of Saint Etienne (conducted by M ° L. Campellone) and "Mirra" by D.Alaleone (in the role of Cecri), with the Radio France orchestra (conducted by M ° J. Valcuha)in Paris.
For Russian music, Julia  has always felt a great love, to the point that Russian operas are a constant in her repertoire, as well as chamber music.
She sang Pauline in Tchaikovsky's “La Dama di Piche” at the Scala in Milan under the direction of M ° Temirkanov and at the Teatro Regio in Turin; the titular part in Tchaikovsky's "The Maid of Orleans" at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Liubasha in "The Tsar's bride" by Rimsky-Korsakov at Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Marfa in "Khovanjina" by Mussorgsky in Antwerp and Gent (dir. D. Jurovsky), Sonetka in "Lady Macbeth by Mzensk" by Shostakovich at the Theater San Carlo di Napoli, Clarice in Prokofiev's “L'amour des trois oranges” at the Teatro di Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Julia had part of  the "AIDS gala" at Deutche oper in Berlin; UNESCO gala in Khakassia; gala dedicated to the memory of Galina Vishnevskaia at the Bolshoi in Moscow.
At the Royal Theater of Madrid she is called for the part of Marina in “Boris Godunov”; she sings this role also at the Teatro la Fenice (dir.E.Inbal) and at the Maggio Musicale with Maestro S.Bychkov.
At the Bellini Theater in Catania sings "Alexandr Nevsky" by Prokofiev and Laura in "Gioconda" by Ponchielli.
With M ° Fruebeck de Burgos Julia sings the mezzo-soprano part in “Requiem” by G. Verdi, with the symphonic orchestras of Oslo, Cincinnati, St. Louis. She also performed in Verdi's “Requiem” with the Philharmonic Orchestras of Copenhagen, Boston, St. Petersburg, Bonn, in the D.Hvorostovsky Festival in Krasnoyarsk.
With the RAI orchestra of Turin Julia sings "The songs and dances of death" by Mussorgsky.
For the inauguration of the season at the San Carlo Theater in Naples in 2019, Julia makes her debut in the role of Countess in Tchaikovsky's "La Dama di Picche" directed by J. Valcuha.
The singer's repertoire includes more than 40 roles in operas.
She performed chamber music recitals in London, accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera, in Germany with Alexandr Melnikov, at the Città di Castello Festival, in St. Petersburg with Anatoliy Kuznetsov, in Krasnoyarsk with Lev Vinokour presenting the different chamber music programs, romances and lieder.
Sacred music occupies a large part of the singer's repertoire and commitment. Julia sings the oratorial music of Bach, Mozart, Handel. Recently, she recorded the CD "Ambrosian songs", collecting ancient melodies from the sacred repertoire, dating back to the early centuries of the Church, especially with the aim of recovering, enhancing and making available the vast musical heritage that unites the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, before the schism.
In the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, on the occasion of the concert promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, on the occasion of the Year of Faith and in honor of Pope Francis, she performed in Beethoven's IX Symphony, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Rai of Turin, directed by M ° J. Valcuha.
She also performed before His Excellency Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Prefect of the Papal Household and Special Secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, in a Mozart repertoire and also performing the piece "Mother of Love", taken from the Encyclical of Benedict XVI, “Deus Caritas est” and to music by S. Cropanese, with whom he has established a great musical collaboration.
Julia lives with her family in Lugano and is the titular director of the choir of the Russian Orthodox Church of Italian Switzerland.
In Lugano a singer, actress and conductor Julia Gertseva founded the school "La Musica di Julia Gertseva", where transmit her music, vocal and theater’s experience.