Russian mezzo Irina Makarova was born in Voronezh (Russia) and received her formation at the Voronezh State Academy of Arts. She was awarded the titles of Laureate in different international competitions, from the Irina Arkhipova Fund, the National Theatre Prize "Golden Mask"

She started to perform as a professional vocalist on the stage of the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theatre, moving on to the Moscow Municipal Theatre "New Opera", the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, the Mariinsky Theatre directed by Valery Gergiev, the Bolshoi Theatre and from 2005 to 2007 she performed as a soloist at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as well as on the stage of such prestigious concert halls such as the Munchener Herkulessaal and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. She worked with such distinguished orchestras as: Bayerischen Rundfunks, State Orchestra of Hermitage, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Berlin orchestra of Radio and Television, Orchestra of Moscow Philharmonic Hall, Bolshoi Symphonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester, National Orchestra of Russia under the baton of: Mtislav Rostropovich, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Kazushi Ono, Theodor Currentzis, Daniel Lipton, Gianandrea Noseda, Marco Guidarini, Mikail Pletnev.

Ms. Makarova performed on the opera and concert stages together with the outstanding world opera stars: Irina Arkhipova, Elena Obraztsova, Ludmila Shemtchuk, Vladimir Ognovenko, Paata Burchuladze, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Renata Scotto, Gabriella Tucci, Violeta Urmana, Carlo Guelfi, etc… on tours in Russia (St.Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Ekateninburg), Italy (Milan Teatro alla Scala), Germany (Berlin Staatsoper, Munich, Bielefeld), Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hague), Spain (Madrid, Valencia), Belgium, Skopje (Macedonia), Poland (Warsaw, Poznan, Bydgoszch), Bulgaria (Sophia National Opera), Georgia (Tbilissi Opera Theatre), Ukraine (Kiev).

Her repertoire includes: Marfa in Kowanshchina, title role in Musorgsky’s Salambo (in Munich under Rostropovitch), Amneris in Aida (Kremlin Palace Congress in Moscow, Stars of the White Nights Festival conducted by Valery Gergiev, Teatro alla Scala under Chailly and Zeffirelli, Staatsoper Berlin), Soloha in Tchaikovsky’s Tcherevichki (Teatro alla Scala), Helen Bezuhova in Prokofiev’s War and Peace (Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow directed and conducted by Rostropovich), Azucena in Il Trovatore (Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania), Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo (Bielefield), Fenena in Nabucco (Moscow International Music House), as well as the roles of Principessa di Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Dalila in Samson et Dalila, Charlotte in Werther, Olga in Evgenij Onegin, Pauline in Pikovaja Dama, Lyubov in Mazepa, Lyubasha in The Tzar’s bride, Ratmir in Ruslan and Lyudmila, Marina Mnishek in Boris Godunov, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen.

Her concert repertoire also includes: Songs and Dances of Death, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky (Bolshoi Theatre with the Berlin Radio and Television Orchestra), Mahler’s Third Symphony (Moscow Conservatoire, where the National Philharmonic orchestra of Russia under T. Currentzis), Verdi’s Messa da Requiem (Gewandhaus Leipzig).

Vincenzo Bellini

Norma (Adalgisa)
Beatrice di Tenda (Agnese)

Hector Berlioz
La damnation de Faust (Marguerite)

Les Troyens (Cassandre, Didon)

 

Georges Bizet
Carmen

 

Francesco Cilea
L’Arlesiana (Rosa Mamai)
Adriana Lecouvreur (Principessa di Bouillon)
 

Gaetano Donizetti

Anna Bolena (Giovanna Seymour)

Maria Stuarda (Elisabetta)
Roberto Devereux (Sara)

La Favorita (Leonora)

 

Mikhail Glinka

Ruslan e Lyudmila (Ratmir)

 

Pietro Mascagni
Cavalleria rusticana (Santuzza)

 

Jules Massenet

Werther (Charlotte)

 

Giacomo Meyerbeer
Le prophete (Fidès)

 

Modest Moussorgsky

Boris Godunov (Marina)

Kovanchina (Marfa)

Amilcare Ponchielli
La Gioconda (Laura)

 

Les dialogues des Carmelites (Mere Marie)

 

Sergej Prokofiev

Guerra e pace (Hélène Bezukhova)

 

Giacomo Puccini

Edgar (Tigrana)
Il Tabarro (Frugola)
Suor Angelica (Zia Principessa)

 

Camille Saint-Saens
Samson et Dalila (Dalila)

 

Piotr Ilic Tchaikovsky

Evgenij Onegin (Olga)
Pikovaja Dama (Pauline)

Tcherevichki (Soloha)

Mazepa (Lyubov)

Giuseppe Verdi
Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio (Cuniza)

Aida (Amneris)
Il Trovatore (Azucena)
Rigoletto (Maddalena)

Nabucco (Fenena)

Luisa Miller (Federica)
La forza del destino (Preziosilla)

Don Carlos (Eboli)