Biography

Mezzosoprano Dubravka Musovic,born in Dubrovnik, graduated in architecture from the University of Zagreb, after which she completed her vocal studies at the Zagreb Academy of Music, where she also earned her master's degree in opera and oratorio. She continued her studies with Ruža Pospiš Baldani, Eva Blahova and Carol Byers.

In 2011, Dubravka Mušović received the Tito Strozzi and Marijana Radev Awards, as well as the Award of the City of Zagreb for her "unique Kundry" in Wagner's Parsifal. For her appearance at the Summer Evenings in Rijeka, where she had sung with José Cura, she was given the Milka Trnina Award by the Croatian Musicians' Association, that carries a special value because it is awarded by the trade. Her concerts in her native city of Dubrovnik, at the world-renowned Dubrovnik Summer Festival, earned her the Orlando Award even twice: for her interpretation of pieces by Johannes Brahms in 2000, and for the concert Tribute to Milka Trnina, dedicated to the famous Croatian diva Milka Trnina (1863-1941), in 2013. Dubravka Musovic  was also decorated with the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the figure of Marko Marulić, presented to her by the President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipović on October 9, 2013 for her special merits in the field of culture. The Croatian Richard Wagner Society declared her "the best Wagnerian voice in 2013" for her interpretation of Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin. In the preceding years, she won - among other things - first prize at the International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary and the special award of the Prague State Opera in 1999.

Dubravka Musovic made her opera début as Carmen at the Prague State Opera in 2000. She also sang the role at the Janáček Opera in Brno in 2002.

She was offered her first permanent engagement by the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and attracted attention in Händel's Julius Caesar and Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. In her début performance as Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos, she sang with Paata Burchuladze. She also embodied the following characters at the Croatian National Theatre: Charlotte (Werther), Marina (Boris Godunov), Zitta (Gianni Schicchi), Gertrud (Hänsel und Gretel), Madame Flora (The Medium) and Amneris (Aida). She sang the role of Amneris in Ljubljana and Brno too, as well as on a tour of the Janáček Opera in Japan.

During the seasons 2005-2009, Dubravka Musovic  was engaged at the State Theatre in Saarbrücken, where she first sang Eboli in Don Carlos and Begbick in the Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, followed by Fricka in Das Rheingold, under the baton of Constantin Trinks, and Adalgisa in Norma, under the baton of Will Humburg.

Besides her permanent engagement in Saarbrücken, Dubravka Musovic continued with her activity at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, singing Mère Marie in the Dialogue des Carmélites and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. At the Antique Festival in Trier, in 2007, she appeared as Delilah in Samson and Delilah. She also sang Carmen with great success in a highly modern staging by Philipp Himmelmann, conducted by Johannes Wildner. In 2008, she embodied Judith in Bluebeard's Castle, and Carmen and Santuzza in Saarbrücken. At the St. Gallen Festival in 2010, she appeared as Delilah again.

The peaks of the theatrical season 2009/2010 included Ježibaba in a new production of Dvořák's Rusalka at the Graz Opera, directed by Stefan Herheim, Amneris in a new Aida production at the Municipal Theatre in Klagenfurt, directed by Torsten Fischer, and Adalgisa in a new production of Bellini's Norma at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, conducted by Antonello Allemandi.

In the seasons 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, she sang Ježibaba at the Vienna Volksoper, in a new staging by the Canadian director Renaud Doucet. It was with great success that she embodied Kundry in Zagreb, in a new production of Wagner's Parsifal, under the baton of Nikša Bareza and directed by Kurt Josef Schildknecht. In the season 2011/2012, Dubravka Musovic  sang, besides Kundry, the role of Gertrud in Thomas's Hamlet under Mo Hervé Niquet, which earned her brilliant reviews. She sang Strauss's Herodias with the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing. In 2013, she made her début as Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin in Zagreb.

Most recently, Dubravka Musovic  appeared as Amneris in Aida, directed by Torsten Fischer, at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich.

The remarkable mezzosoprano has also been active as a concert singer and took part in the performances of Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Mass in B minor and Dvořák's Stabat Mater. At the Prague Spring Festival, she sang the alto part in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Further concert performances included Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder.

Her interpretation of Gregorio Allegri's Miserere mei and of Charpentier's Te Deum have been recorded for Croatia Records. In January 2006, she stood on the podium in Heidelberg and Weinheim, singing the mezzosoprano part in Verdi's Requiem. Together with Jonas Kaufmann she appeared in the jubilee concert of the Saarland Richard Wagner Society at the State Theatre in Saarbrücken in 2006. A year later she took part in a performance of Beethoven's Missa solemnis (with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Nikša Bareza) and sang Brahms's Alto Rhapsody in a televised concert.

She also sang Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde under the baton of Will Humburg, and took part in Mahler's Second Symphony in Klagenfurt (conducted by Peter Marschik) and Wroclaw (conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk). She performed Mahler's Rückert-Lieder in Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Beijing (National Center for Performing Arts).

At the Beethoven Festival 2012, Musovic sang Waldtaube in Schönberg's Gurrelieder under the baton of Stefan Blunier. In 2014, she performed Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Hager, and in Dubrovnik with Christoph Campestrini. Her most recent appearance was in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the baton of Dmitri Kitayenko.

Dubravka Mušović-Šeparović

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