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Polina Pasztircsák (international spelling: Pastirchak; born 24 September 1982) is a Hungarian opera and concert singer (soprano).
Education and early career
Pastirchak was born in Budapest as the second daughter of a Hungarian father and a Russian mother. Her parents are designers, as well as her sister, Larisza Pasztircsák is the founder of the fashion label Mrs Herskin. Pastirchak began studying voice at the age of 19 with her first teacher, Julia Bikfalvy, in Budapest. In 2004, she won the Simandy National Singing Competition. She continued her musical studies in Italy as a pupil of Mirella Freni. In 2010, she completed her degree in Conservatorio Girolamo Frescobaldi in Ferrara. In addition to her musical studies, she attained a degree in Cultural Management at the West Hungarian University. She works on her repertoire with vocal coaches Carol Richardson-Smith and Jeffrey Smith, as well as on her Liedrepertoire with Jan Philip Schulze in Hannover. In 2007, she made her operatic debut in Modena in a contemporary opera by Lorenzo Ferrero, Le piccole storie.[1] Here at Teatro Comunale Modena, in the next season, she sang with great success in the role of Micaëla. Her international breakthrough came in 2009 when she won the first prize and all special prizes at the Geneva International Music Competition. In 2011, she sang Partenope at the Handel festival in Karlsruhe, and in 2013 Woglinde in the new ring production of Grand Théâtre de Genève.
Artistic development
Since 2011, Pastirchak is regularly guesting at the Hungarian State Operahouse with roles like Desdemona, Amelia, Nedda, Violetta, Melisande, Mimì, Micaëla, Donna Anna, and Contessa. In 2014, she made an important debut as Strauss's Daphne conducted by Zoltán Kocsis. She returns every year at Ádám Fischer's Budapest Wagner Festival as Gutrune. In 2016, she sang Vespina in Cavalli's Veremonda at the Schwetzingen Festival, Mimì in St. Gallen. Later she sang Traviata at the Capitole de Toulouse, Humperdinck's Königskinder and Weinberger’s Schwanda in Oper Graz. Since 2019 is regularly working with René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester with whom she sang Donna Anna and Agathe in Freischütz with a CD recording by Harmonia Mundi.
Pastirchak is also in demand as a concert soloist, for example with Beethoven's IX. and Mahler's IV., which she sang with Ádám Fischer, Christian Arming, Henrik Nanasi and Clemens Schuldt. In 2019, she recorded Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with Harmonia Mundi, René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester. In the same year, Sony recorded Shostakovich's XIV. Symphonie with Michael Sanderling and the Dresdner Philharmonie. In 2011, she sang Mozart arias with Sabine Meyer, Andreas Spering and the Basel Kammerorchester at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, which was also recorded by Sony. In Mahler's VIII. Symphonie she sang Una Poenitentium conducted by Adam Fischer in Düsseldorf. On the occasion of Arvo Pärt's 80 birthday, she sang Como Cierva Sedienta conducted by Gabor Takács-Nagy in Manchester in the presence of the composer. As a soprano soloist, she sang furthermore Mendelssohn's Lobgesang (Thomas Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra), Elias (György Vashegyi, Orfeo Orchestra), Berlioz's Les Nuits d’Ete and Verdi's Requiem (Francesco Angelico, Tiroler Symphonieorchester, Sinfonia Varsovia), Strauss Vier letzte Lieder (Alejo Perez, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande), Ravel Sheherazade (Vassily Sinaisky, Hungarian National Philharmonic), Händel's Brockes Passion (Howard Arman, Capella Savaria), Bach Cantatas (Maurice Steger, Concerto Köln), Beethoven's Egmont (Nikolai Alexeev, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra).
In gala concerts, she sang as a partner of Plácido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Elena Garanca, Erwin Schrott and Jose Cura. She enjoys singing operetta in festive concerts such as in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Marc Albrecht, in the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, in Palermo and Vicenza with Gabor Takács-Nagy, in Köln with Helmut Froschauer and in Kazan with Aleksander Sladkovsky. A significant part of her singing activity are chamber concerts and song recitals with her pianist, Jan Philip Schulze, such as in the Züricher Tonhalle, Marburger Konzertverein, Radio France, Budapest Spring Festival, Mahler Festival in Toblach, Sommets Musicaux Gstaad, Capitole de Toulouse, Jewish Summer Festival, kamara.hu Festival, etc.
Opera roles and engagements (selection)
| Year | Role | Venues |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Irma (Le piccole storie) | Teatro Comunale Modena |
| 2009 | Mimi (La bohème) |
|
| 2009 | Micaëla (Carmen) |
|
| 2011 | Partenope (Partenope) | Haendel Festival Karlsruhe |
| 2013 | Violetta Valéry (La traviata) |
|
| 2013 | Woglinde (Rheingold, Götterdämmerung) | Grand Théâtre de Genève (2013, Feb. 2019)[7][8] |
| 2013 | Desdemona (Otello) | Hungarian State Opera[9] |
| 2014 | Nedda (Pagliacci) | Hungarian State Opera[10] |
| 2015 | Daphne (Daphne) | Müpa Budapest[11] |
| 2016 | Vespina (Veremonda) | Schwetzingen Festival |
| 2016 | Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) | Erkel Theatre Budapest[12] |
| 2016 | Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) |
|
| 2017 | Gutrune (Götterdämmerung) | Müpa Budapest Wagner Festival |
| 2018 | Amelia (Simon Boccanegra) | Hungarian State Opera |
| 2019 | Gänsemagd (Die Königskinder) | Opernhaus Graz[14] |
| 2021 | Dorotka (Schwanda) | Oper Graz |
| 2022 | Agathe (Der Freischütz) | German Tour |
| 2022 | Mélisande (Pelleas et Mélisande) | Hungarian State Opera |
Concert repertoire and performances (selection)
| Composer | Title | Performers |
|---|---|---|
| Soviet Lieder with Jan Philip Schulze (Revolution-Perestroika) | Amici della Musica di Padova 2019 | |
| Christmas concert at Aachen Dom | WDR Funkhausorchester, Enrico Delamboye (2018) | |
| ”Alles Walzer!” | WDR Funkhausorchester, Helmut Froschauer (2014) | |
| Operetta Gala | Netherlands Philharmonic, Marc Albrecht (2018) | |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | Cantatas | Concerto Köln, Maurice Steiger (2016) |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Egmont | St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicolai Alexeev (2012) |
| 9th Symphony |
| |
| Missa Solemnis | Freiburger Barockorchester, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs (Philharmonie de Paris, Mai 2019)[16] | |
| Hector Berlioz | Les Nuits d’Ete | Sinfonia Varsovia, Francesco Angelico (2011) |
| Gabriel Fauré | Requiem | Grand Theatre Geneve (2010) |
| George Frideric Handel | Brockes Passion | Capella Savaria, Howard Arman (2016) |
| Gustav Mahler | 4th Symphony | Komische Oper Berlin, Henrik Nánási (2017)[17] |
| 8th Symphony | Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Ádám Fischer (2018) | |
| Felix Mendelssohn | Elijah | Orfeo Orchestra, György Vashegyi (2018) |
| 2nd Symphony | Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard (2014) | |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Arias | Sabine Meyer, Kammerorchester Basel, Andreas Spering (2015) |
| Arvo Paert | Como cierva sedienta | Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Gábor Takács-Nagy (2015) |
| Maurice Ravel | Shéhérazade | Hungarian National Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (2017) |
| Dmitri Shostakovich | 14th Symphony | Dresdner Philharmonie, Michael Sanderling (Kulturpalast Dresden, Jan. 2019)[18] |
| Richard Strauss | Vier letzte Lieder | Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Alejo Perez (Victoria Hall Geneva, 2013) |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Requiem | Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck, Francesco Angelico (2014) |
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- Simandy József National Singing Competition, Hungary, 1. prize and Tchaikovsky prize (2004)
- Geneva International Music Competition, 1. prize, audience prize and special prizes(2009)
- ARD International Music Competition, special prize of Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation (2012)
- Cross of merit (silver) of the Hungarian State (2016)
- Kammersänger of the Hungarian State Opera (2016)
- Polina Pasztircsák: R. Strauss, D. Shostakovich, B. Bartók, Z. Kodály. Musikkollegium Winterthur, Alexander Rahbari. Montres Breguet, Ysaye Records 2010.
- Mozart Arias: Arrangements for clarinet & orchestra by Andreas N. Tarkmann. Polina Pasztircsák, soprano, Sabine Meyer clarinet, Kammerorchester Basel conducted by Andreas Spering. Sony, 2012.
- György Selmeczi: Spiritisti. Polina Pasztircsák as Colombina. Hungarian State Opera, 2017.
- Gustav Mahler: Symphonie 8. Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Adam Fischer. Deutschlandradio, 2018
- Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies 1–15 with Polina Pasztircsák as a soloist in Symphony No. 14. Dresden Philharmonic, Michael Sanderling. Sony, 2019.
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis. Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs. Harmonia Mundi, 2021.
- Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz. Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs. Harmonia Mundi, 2022.
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