Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Manistina trained in her hometown at The Music School of Saratov and later the Moscow State Conservatory P. I. Tchaikovsky. She was winner of first prize in the 2002 Operalia Competition and made her stage debut as Marfa in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshina in Saratov, Russia.
Elena is best known for her spectacular performances of Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera, which she has performed in numerous houses including Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opera de Bordeaux, Oviedo Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera du Rhin, Opera de Paris Bastille and the Teatro Municipal di Santiago. Elena also regularly performs the role of Azucena Il Trovatore and has sung it at the Metropolitan Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Liceu Barcelona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Washington Opera, Opera National de Paris, Bastille, Opera de Bordeaux and Opera de Marseille. Other major roles include Marina Boris Godunov which she has sung at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Ježibaba Rusalka with Canadian Opera Company, Mazeppa which she has sung with Monte Carlo Opera, and Martha in Iolanta and Lyubasha in Tsar’s Bride both roles which she has performed with Frankfurt Opera. These roles have led Elena to work with numerous world-renowned conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Edward Gardner, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Daniel Oren.
In concert her highlights have included Alexander Nevsky with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, repertoire which she has also sung with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Other concert repertoire includes Jewish Folk Songs which she has sung with the San Francisco Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Mahler Symphony No. 3 with the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Hollywood Bowl under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.
