About

Italian-German mezzo-soprano Ricarda Gross Khachaturian praised as “beautiful voice” and “exceptional dramatic presence” established herself from the beginning of her career as a freelance singer. Among her plans for this season are the mezzo-soprano part in Verdi’s Requiem (Philharmonie Berlin) and the roles of Amneris, Erda and Principessa Bouillon from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur.

As a recipient of Culture Moves Europe, the 2023/24 season included a concert tour to Italy as a scholarship holder of the European Union. In cooperation with the OBBA Oboe Band from Codroipo (UD), the mezzo-soprano entered the international stage of the classical music scene with the ambitious project “ALMA MUSICA” and its concert series “EUROPA UNITA“, which took her to Venice (Lido di Venezia), Vittorio Veneto (Museo della Battaglia), Udine (Teatro Benois De Cecco), the Follina Monastery (Abbazia Santa Maria di Follina), which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and to the Konzerthaus Berlin.

During the 2022/23 season, Ricarda scored a huge success with her debut of the contralto solo in Rossini’s Petite messe solenelle and expanded her Rossini repertoire with the role of Falliero (Bianca e Falliero). Past performances include the alto solo in Mozart’s Coronation Mass (Philharmonie Berlin, 2022), Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Teatro Mancinelli, 2021), Zweite Norne in Die Götterdämmerung (Berliner Wagner Gruppe) and Cover for Adalgisa in Norma.

Other notable stage credits encompass Hansel (Hansel und Gretel), Carmen (Carmen), Charlotte (Werther), Madame Flora (The Medium), Baba The Turk (The Rake's Progress), Annina/Flora (La Traviata), Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Siegrune (Die Walküre), Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito). Ricarda's operatic engagements have included appearances with Theater Bremen, Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Berlin, Komische Oper, Theater Freiburg and Staatsoper Hannover.

In contemporary opera, Ricarda has excelled in creating the first performance of Roger Matscheizik's vorLetzte Lieder for Musikfest Bremen under the baton of the composer himself and Saskia Bladt's eingebrannt performing with the Zafraan Ensemble Berlin at Oper Frankfurt. She was scoring a great success appearing as Zippy in Knussen’s Where the Wild Things are at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe & Theater Bremen. At Konzerthaus Berlin she was featured as Die Unbekannte for the first european performance of Blitzstein's Triple-Sec under the baton of Evan Christ. Even while her studies, she appeared in Nono's Al gran sole in the famous Peter Konwitschny production at Staatsoper Hannover and at Theater Freiburg in Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudon and in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre in the Calixto Bieito production.

Her concert repertoire includes alto and mezzo roles from Baroque to Modern, including Bach's oratorios, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle and Verdi's Requiem.

Ricarda is a graduate of the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Tartini Trieste and she holds an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. She has studied and worked with Grace Bumbry, Dunja Vezjovic, Cheryl Studer and Henriette Meyer-Ravenstein and performed in masterclasses with Airi Tokola, Krisztina Laki and Yaron Windmüller. Ricarda is a recipient of several prestigious awards and prizes: Leni-Geissler Foundation; Scholarship GVL/ Neustart Kultur 2021/22 & Deutsche Musikrat/ Neustart Kultur 2022/23; Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition; semi-finalist in the Anneliese Rothenberger Competition, Offenbach Gran Prix 2021, Vincerò and Concorso per Cantanti Lirici Orvieto;

She is fluent in German, Italian, English, French and Greek. She resides and works between Berlin, Germany and Athens, Greece.

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the Best interpretation of an Brahms song i heard for years of a young singer

/ Kerstin Meyer /