9.00pm, Friday 7th August, Teatro Signorelli
Performing with  Nina Kotova (cello), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) Carlo Montanaro (conductor) and Symphonic of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (orchestra).

The young Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska, winner of the 2006 Domingo Operalia competition, made an unexpected Metropolitan Opera (MET) debut in Puccini’s La Boheme in 2006 and was immediately engaged to premiere the MET’s new production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with James Levine in 2007.  Subsequently, she has garnered ecstatic reviews for her Salzburg debut in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini conducted by Valery Gergiev and her Glyndebourne debut in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.
The 2008-09 season included appearances with the Boston Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper and the Torre del Lago Festival in Italy.
Looking ahead to the 2009-10 season, Ms. Kovalevska will appear in a new production of Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) at the Bayerische Staatsoper; return to the MET for Turandot, Benvenuto Cellini and a new production of Carmen; as well as make her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in Carmen.
Ms. Kovalevska lives in Italy where she continues to study with legendary Italian soprano Mirella Freni.