Dolora Zajick

Vocalists — Mezzo-Soprano

Manager: Elizabeth Crittenden , Artistic Advisor & Consultant
Management Territory: Worldwide

"For her performance as Santuzza on Sunday was the best singing that I have heard, not only in Washington but anywhere, in a long, long time...The basic equation of the afternoon was: Zajick onstage equals riveting opera; opera minus Zajick equals something considerably less riveting." —Washington Post - Santuzza in 'Cavalleria rusticana', Washington National Opera debut

“As the haunted gypsy Azucena, mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick remains a vocal phenomenon of the first order…for sheer visceral thrills in this music she's hard to beat.” —San Francisco Chronicle - Azucena in 'Il trovatore', Metropolitan Opera

"Zajick's mezzo really is a proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, her delicately-spun legato in 'Ai nostri monti' all the more impressive after her hair-raising Act III curse and the thunderous chest register she employed in 'Mal reggendo'. Her characterization of the bedeviled gypsy was a pointed reminder of Zajick’s largely unchallenged position as THE Verdi mezzo of the day." —Opera News - Azucena in 'Il trovatore', Lyric Opera of Chicago

About

Hailed as “THE Verdi mezzo of the day” (Opera News) and considered “a mezzo in a class by herself" (New York Times), Dolora Zajick has been internationally acclaimed as that rare voice type, a true dramatic Verdi mezzo-soprano, typified by the composer's most famous and difficult mezzo-soprano roles. In her signature roles as Azucena in “Il trovatore”, Amneris in “Aida”, and Eboli in “Don Carlo”, Dolora has appeared on the world’s greatest stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera . . . , Teatro alla Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Berlin Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, among numerous others, as well as at the Salzburg and Orange Festivals, and the mammoth Arena di Verona.

Her colorful voice and commanding presence have also given vigor to the Verdi roles of Ulrica in “Un Ballo in Maschera” and Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth”, Princess de Bouillon in Cilea's “Adriana Lecouvreur”, Marfa in Moussorgsky's “Khovanshchina”, Jezibaba in Dvorák's “Rusalka”, Santuzza in “Cavalleria rusticana”, Adalgisa in “Norma”, and the title roles in Tchaikovsky's “Maid of Orleans”, Donizetti's Italian and French versions of “La favorite”, Dalila in Saint-Saens's “Samson et Dalila”, and Massenet's “Hérodiade”.

She has appeared in opera and concert with some of the foremost conductors of today, which include Bruno Bartoletti, James Conlon, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Michael Tilson Thomas, and the late Mstislav Rostropovich.

PERFORMANCES
Following a busy summer directing her Institute for Young Dramatic Voices and performances at the Arena di Verona and Glimmerglass Festival, the 2012-2013 season features Dolora in Verdi’s three premier mezzo roles at the Metropolitan Opera: Azucena in “Il Trovatore”, Ulrica in “Un Ballo in Maschera” and Amneris in “Aida”. She also appears in “Norma” at the Washington National Opera and in “Il Trovatore” in Houston. June 2013 takes her to Rome for performances as Ulrica in “Un Ballo in Maschera” with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, a role she reprises in a long-awaited return to the Festival d’Orange.
Future highlights include the title role in the world premiere of the San Francisco Opera’s production “Dolores Claiborne” based on Steven King’s renowned novel and with music composed by Tobias Picker. She also returns to opera stages in Madrid, Barcelona, and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
The 2011-2012 season saw Dolora perform several of her signature roles – Amneris in “Aida” in Verona, Azucena in “Il Trovatore” in Salerno, Italy and in Nice, Adalgisa in “Norma” in Oviedo and Princess de Bouillon in Cilea's “Adriana Lecouvreur” at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Spain. She also appeared in the Verdi “Requiem” with the San Francisco Symphony, at a Gala in Los Angeles and gave a series of much-coveted Masterclasses at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
The highlight of Dolora’s 2010-2011 season was undoubtedly her debut in her first Wagnerian role as she took on the scheming Ortrud in Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Los Angeles Opera, where she garnered such acclaim as:” Zajick’s aggressive top fits the role of Ortrud well, and she threw herself into the strong-willed character's scheming aggression”. (Opera Today) In a second major role debut of the season, she appeared as the Countess in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” of which the New York Times said: “Staying true to the character and the music Ms. Zajick reined in her voice and acted with aching vulnerability, especially in the poignant scene in which, after a ball, the countess sings herself to sleep with the strains of a romantic song from her youth.”

HIGHLIGHTS
Other recent highlights include appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in “Il Trovatore”, “Aida”, both of which were simulcast in HD to theatres around the world as part of the Met’s Live in HD series, Eboli in Verdi’s “Don Carlo” at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Spain, and on tour with Teatro alla Scala in Japan, a return to the Vienna Staatsoper in one of her signature roles as Santuzza in “Cavalleria Rusticana”, and to the Opera Festival Arena di Verona in the role of Amneris. She was featured in recital at the Morgan Library in New York for the George London Foundation, the 25th Anniversary Gala of the LA Opera, and in a Concert of Signature Arias with Arizona Opera.
RECORDINGS
Dolora’s discography includes recordings of “Aida”, “Il trovatore” and “Don Carlo” on Sony Classical and conducted by James Levine; “La forza del destino” and the Verdi “Requiem” with Riccardo Muti on EMI; “Alezander Nevsky” with Mstislav Rostropovich and “Hérodiade” with Valery Gergiev, both on Sony Classical; and “Rusalka” with Sir Charles Mackerras on Decca. On Telarc, her highly acclaimed solo disc entitled Dolora Zajick: The Art of the Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano contains not only the dramatic mezzo-soprano arias for which she is famous, but also coloratura mezzo-soprano arias by Rossini and several dramatic soprano arias.

Her most recent DVD release is of her 2008 performances of Eboli in Verdi’s “Don Carlo” at La Scala (Hardy Classics), about which Opera News exclaimed “’O don fatale,’ a Zajick showstopper…At this point in her vocal life, she can do almost anything.” Also on DVD are her performances as Amneris in “Aida” and Azucena in “Il trovatore”, both from the Metropolitan (Deutsche Grammophon), as well as productions of “Aida” from Arena di Verona (TDK) and Naples’s Teatro San Carlo (Image Ent). On television and DVD, Dolora has been seen in several Richard Tucker Foundation Galas (having been a winner herself early in her career), on several Pavarotti Plus Galas, and in two anniversary galas from the Metropolitan Opera stage, one commemorating the 25th anniversary of James Levine and the other the 30th anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti.

INSTITUTE FOR YOUNG DRAMATIC VOICES
A recent addition to Dolora’s already challenging schedule is her role as vocal pedagogue and General Director of The Institute for Young Dramatic Voices which she founded in 2006. Born of a desire to train young dramatic singers and help them reach the world stage, the institute is an intensive 3-week summer program of study with leading coaches and voice teachers who understand the nature of large or unusual voices. It takes place annually in Orem, Utah in July.

BACKGROUND
Oregon-born but Nevada raised, Dolora Zajick studied voice with Ted Puffer, the conductor and former Artistic Director of the Nevada Opera, as well as professor at the Manhattan School of Music. She came to his attention when she joined the chorus of the Nevada Opera, while she was in pre-med at the University of Nevada. She eventually graduated from the University with both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in music, before going to New York for further music studies at the Manhattan School of Music. After winning the Bronze Medal at the 7th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and being accepted in the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, she made her major operatic debut with the San Francisco Opera as Azucena in “Il Trovatore” which launched her into international stardom.

Dolora Zajick was one of the first recipients of the Opera News Award held in 2005 along with James Conlon, Régine Crespin, Susan Graham, and Plácido Domingo, and in October 2009 was honored by the Giulio Gari Foundation in recognition of her extraordinary operatic career. In 2011 she was honored to receive the Marjorie Lawrence Award for Opera Excellence.