The Romanian-Swiss soprano Ana Maria Labin is celebrated by the international press for her timbre “shimmering between warmth and brilliance,” elegant phrasing, virtuosic coloratura, and exceptionally expressive stage presence. While still a student at the Zurich University of the Arts, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan under the baton of Asher Fisch.

 

Ana Maria Labin shares a special artistic connection with conductor Marc Minkowski, under whose direction she established herself as one of the most prominent Mozart interpreters of her generation. Her most important roles include Aspasia (Mitridate) at the Staatsoper Berlin, as well as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), and the Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) in Ivan Alexandre’s highly acclaimed Da Ponte trilogy performed in Drottningholm, Bordeaux, Versailles, and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Other significant Mozart roles have taken her to Glyndebourne as Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Arminda (La finta giardiniera), the Cologne Opera as Elettra (Idomeneo), and to the Salzburg Festival under Václav Luks for Mozart’s Mass in C minor, among other engagements.

 

Baroque repertoire forms another cornerstone of her artistic work. Her outstanding roles include Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo at Glyndebourne under Laurence Cummings, Angelica in Handel’s Orlando under Marc Minkowski, Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante under William Christie, Semele and the Queen of Sheba in Handel’s Solomon at the Festival de Beaune under Leonardo García Alarcón, the title role in Handel’s Alcina in Beaune, as well as Dalila in Rameau’s Samson at the Opéra-Comique Paris under Raphaël Pichon, directed by Claus Guth.

 

As a guest soloist, the soprano has performed at major opera houses and festivals, including the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Palais Garnier, Teatro alla Scala, Staatsoper Berlin, Opéra-Comique Paris, Theater an der Wien, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, the Salzburg Festival, the Göttingen International Handel Festival, the Ludwigsburg Festival, Innsbruck Baroque Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, the Festival de Beaune, and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest.

 

Highlights of recent seasons include Gertrude in Gasparini’s Ambleto at the Theater an der Wien, Maria Maddalena in Handel’s La Resurrezione at the Caracalla Festival in Rome, Aminta in Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade in Verona, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte in Cagliari, and Micaëla in Carmen at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich under Ruben Dubrovsky. On the concert stage, she has appeared in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Teatro La Fenice, Mozart’s Mass in C minor at the Salzburg Festival, Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra under Jakob Lehmann, and Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony under Alexandre Bloch with the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest. A particular highlight was a Handel Gala with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in Paris celebrating his 80th birthday.

 

She has collaborated with renowned orchestras and ensembles, including Les Musiciens du Louvre, Les Arts Florissants, The English Concert, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra, and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. The conductors with whom she regularly performs include William Christie, Marc Minkowski, Alessandro De Marchi, Philippe Herreweghe, Adam Fischer, Christian Thielemann, Raphaël Pichon, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Giulio Prandi, Ottavio Dantone, Stefano Montanari, Martin Haselböck, George Petrou, Dan Ettinger, Klaus Mäkelä, Enrico Onofri, and Thomas Hengelbrock.

 

In addition to her international opera and concert career, Ana Maria Labin is deeply committed to nurturing young talent, guided in her own artistic development by Prof. Tamar Rachum. Through her private teaching, she supports emerging singers on their artistic paths and regularly conducts masterclasses. Recent invitations include the LUCA School of Arts in Leuven, the Boyne Music Festival in Ireland, the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali Vincenzo Bellini in Italy, Classic Lyric Arts (CLA) Novafeltria, and serving as a jury member for the Friedl Wald Foundation in Switzerland.