Soprano Pelageya Kurrenaya has a beautiful, golden-hued instrument.

"And we have the wonderful young lyric soprano Pelageya Kurennaya in The Bells. She comes from a Cossack village in southern Russia and is now a member of the Mariinsky ensemble in St Petersburg. Remember the name. Few people know her yet but she will be a star!"

Another diva of this evening – Pelageya Kurennaya. Pelageya graduated last year from the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory und was immediately invited to the Mariinsky Theatre.

It is the star that is burning on the eyes. A young fragile girl with a physique not only for opera singers, extracts sounds of impressive depth. She sings easily one of the most complex opera roles – Bellini’s Norma, followed by likewise admirable Rossini in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. Her final contribution to this festival’s final concert – Giuditta’s “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” in perfect German was greeted with enthusiastic applause, not only because her attractive dancing. 

"Golden sound and burning heart". When the first performance of the Russian soprano PELAGEYA KURENNAYA in the Finnish Kuopio is advertised with this slogan, this naturally raises expectations, and it is a proof of this young artist´s rank that she (almost) met them. With Gliére's Concert for Soprano and Orchestra and Mozart's concert aria "Bella mia fiamma .... Resta, o cara " she had chosen a challenging program, especially as she performed both pieces for the first time. In order to begin with one exception: In Gliére´s piece it was particularly audible in the second part, which is intended for a coloratura soprano, that she did not have it completely "in her throat" yet. She would have benefited from a lighter tone setting and the various staccati were not yet completely precise, too.

But already the first entry in the slow, lyrical part suggested that she has an extraordinarily beautiful and interesting since relatively dark timbred voice whose potential - if I am not mistaken – is best suited for lyrical roles. This impression was completely confirmed in Mozart's difficult concert aria, which already now reached an astonishing perfection. The lyrical part was marvelously arranged with long slurs, while the more embellished second part revealed a technical certainty which was still missing in Glière´s piece. It would be desirable to meet this current guest singer at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater again soon.

A beautiful season opener, which was given a unique character by the performance of the Russian soprano.

Two days later (July 9), Pelageya Kurennaya performed in a recital at the chamber music hall, and none of the listeners would have guessed that this was her very first recital. A well-balanced program with Mozart songs and Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff romances in the first part, as well as opera arias of Mozart ("Idomeneo"), Charpentier ("Louise") , Gounod (“Roméo et Juliette”), Rimsky-Korsakow ("The Czar's Bride") and Bellini ("La sonnambula") after the intermission. Her presentation of the Mozart songs (by the way, in perfect German !!!) made me wish to hear her in all the lyrical roles of this composer, but above all as Susanna, which should be ideally suited for her. With her first encore, Oskar Merikanto's lullaby "Pai, pai, paitaressu”, she moved her Finnish audience to tears  and at the same time proved her great talent for languages as she twisted the listeners around her finger with Delibes' "Les Filles des Cadix". Not just a great singer but despite her youth already now a remarkable personality of great charisma.

What I thought I had already heard in "Tanya-Katya" came to light in the opera arias: a truly lyrical-round voice of highly interesting timbre, which - though more lyrical soprano with coloratura than pure coloratura soprano – combined with her agility, with which she presented arias such as Juliette or Amina, captivated the audience. It will be interesting to follow the path of this promising young soprano, who I will surely soon - if I am not mistaken – meet again on the world´s greatest stages in pivotal roles.

The young soprano Pelageya Kurennaya is a lyrical soprano with coloratura but it is already noticeable that her voice is  developing into the dramatic range. Her timbre is particularly interesting and her musicality is of the highest quality.

The brightest light in Shchedrin's composition was the soprano of Pelageya Kurennaya, an ambitious young singer who with her technically very well focussed voice, homogeneous in all registers, with a sonorous dark color in the depth, was the ideal interpreter for this piece.

As in Munich when I heard her for the first time in November 2015, Pelageya Kurennaya sang in Mikkeli (July 7) Rodion Shchedrin's Romance for Soprano and Strings entitled "Tanya-Katya" and these two names are also the only words of this 13 minute piece, which she performed so vocally convincingly as if this romance had a content. Except for Shchedrin's opera "Christmas Tale," in which she sings the leading role Zamarashka, at the Mariinsky Theatre she is mainly cast for young girl roles such as Barbarina or Flora ("Turn of the Screw"), in which she cannot show her true potential. She proved it herself in Shchedrin's piece: a beautifully timbred lyrical soprano voice of high recognition value. It is impressive, how totally homogeneously she led her precious material from never artificially depressed depths up to in piano as well as forte brilliant heights - technical perfection combined with great emotion.

As in April when I heard this opera for the first time, the young PELAGEYA KURENNAYA excelled as Zamarashka again and amazed and astonished the listener with the confidence and tone beauty with which she mastered the extremely difficult requirements of her role, everything notated in a very high range, at the same time hardly ever exceeding piano or pianissimo. This performance deserves even more respect as she had to artificially reduce her much richer, much darker voice to the requirements of this role. Nonetheless, my compliments, the great talent of this young lady could be perceived at any moment.

In my opinion, PELAGEYA KURENNAYA would have been the more appropriate cast for the Susanna, as in her second year (as a guest) at the Mariinsky the young singer has an excitingly beautiful, dark timbred voice, which made me as a friend of individually timbred voices listen attentively from the first tones of her Barbarina.

But I had not only come to see this new piece of Shchedrin, but above all to hear a young soprano who had fascinated me at a concert in Munich last November. Her name: PELAGEYA KURENNAYA, very young, in her 5th academic year at St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, and yet already chosen by Mariss Jansons and Valery Gergiev to sing under the former Prilepa in "Pique Dame" in Munich and under the latter Shchedrin´s Romance for Soprano and Strings entitled "Tanya-Katya" in the same Bavarian metropolis.

I heard this young lady with this piece in Munich and was spontaneously inspired by the beauty of her truly young voice, her high recognition value, her homogeneous tone production through all ranges, and her great expressiveness. But Zamarashka, a kind of Cinderella in Shchedrin's opera, is entirely different: mostly notated in high range, hardly ever exceeding piano or even pianissimo. Fortunately, my impression in Munich of a great talent was confirmed again in this role. Sooner or later she will sing lyrical roles such as Susanna (already sung by her at the Conservatory).

The role of Zamarashka was performed touchingly by the lyric coloratura Pelageya Kurennaya, a student of Petersburg Conservatory, class of Professor Tamara Novichenko, who had taught Anna Netrebko, Veronica Dzhioeva and Nadine Koutcher. With the help of her flexible and crystal sound she created such an ethereal and disembodied image that it seemed as if in this production she were sent by the heavenly department.

Here you can enjoy the discovery of a new star by the name of Pelageya Kurennaya - slim, petite, with a clear voice and an excellent understanding of the music of her role. Three different casts have prepared this production, but apparently especially Zamarashka- Kurennaya will be its trademark.

The undoubted success of the performance was the debut of a  young singer  from St. Petersburg, soprano Pelageya  Kurennaya. She touchingly put on the stage the image of the heroine Zamarashka, sincerely giving it humanity and warmth of heart.

For many singers this is a milestone work, especially for our  debutante Pelageya  Kurennaya, a wonderful young singer. She played this responsible role, which was entrusted with wringing, in my opinion brilliantly, musically, and artistically. This singer has a very beautiful timbre. (Valery Gergiev)