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The Hungarian soprano, Polina Pasztircsák [Pastirchak], was born in Budapest into a Hungarian family of artists with Russian, Slovakian and German roots. She started her international career after winning the famous Geneva International Music Competition in 2009. Since that time she is singing in opera houses and concert halls around Europe. In addition to the first prize, the public prize and three special prizes in Geneva, her talent was also recognized at the ARD Music Competition in Munich with a special prize in 2012. In 2014 she has been awarded with a star on the “Walk of Fame” for her successful Traviata performance in Szombathely, as well as in 2016 with the Hungarian State Opera’s Chamber Singer prize. In 2015 she received the National Silver Cross of Merit given by the Hungarian State for her outstanding professional qualities.
Polina Pasztircsák is considered one of Hungary’s leading sopranos sharing the stages in Budapest with Plácido Domingo, Erwin Schrott and José Cura. She made her operatic debut in 2007 in Modena as a leading female role in a contemporary opera of Lorenzo Ferrero. In Germany she first appeared singing Partenope at the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe under the musical direction of Michael Hofstetter. After winning the Geneva Competition she sang Woglinde in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, staged by Dieter Dorn and conducted by Ingo Metzmacher. Since 2011 she is regularly guesting at the Hungarian State Opera as Mimi, Nedda, Traviata, Micaela, Donna Anna, Contessa, Amelia and Desdemona. She also sang there with great success the leading role at the world premiere of György Selmeczi’s Spiritisti.
Polina Pasztircsák is singing every year at the Wagner Festival in Budapest as Woglinde, 3. Norn and Gutrune under the musical baton of Ádám Fischer. In 2015, she celebrated her triumphant role-debut as Strauss' Daphne under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis and the Hungarian National Philharmonic. She appeared in Cavalli’s Veremonda at the Schwetzinger Festspiele 2016 as well as Mimi in La Boheme in Oper Graz and in Theater St. Gallen in 2017-2018. Her future engagements include Traviata and Tatjana in Capitole Toulouse and Gänsemagd in Engelbert Humperdinck’s Königskinder in Oper Graz.
Polina Pasztircsák is also internationally well established as a concert soloist singing for example Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14 with Dresdner Philharmonie and Michael Sanderling, Felix Mendelssohn's Lobgesang at Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival with Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with Francesco Angelico and the Sinfonia Varsovia, W.A. Mozart arias with the Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, L.v. Beethoven's Egmont at St. Petersburg Philharmonia with Nicolai Alexeev, at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad where she first appeared singing W.A. Mozart arias with Sabine Meyer and the Kammerorchester Basel and later with Concerto Köln singing J.S. Bach cantatas with Maurice Steger, at the Manchester International Festival singing Arvo Pärt's Como cierva sedienta with Manchester Chamber Orchestra and Gábor Takács-Nagy, Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Alejo Pérez, Ravel's Shéhérazade with Vassily Sinaisky and the Hungarian National Philharmonic, Gustav Mahler's Sympnonies Nos. 2 & 8 with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Ádám Fischer, G. Mahler's Sympnony No. 4 with the Komische Oper and Henrik Nánási as well as with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Haydn and Clemens Schuldt, George Frideric Handel's Brockes Passion, HWV 48 with Howard Arman, L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Haydn Philharmonic and Ádám Fischer, Verdi’s Requiem with Francesco Angelico at Tiroler Landestheater.
Polina Pasztircsák also enjoys singing operetta concerts such as the one with Daniel Behle and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln conducted by Helmut Froschauer, or with Thomas Blondelle and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marc Albrecht, or with Sergey Skorohodov and the Tatarstan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Aleksander Sladkovsky, or at “Salute to Vienna” concert series in Canada.
Polina Pasztircsák especially likes to devote her time to sing song recitals. For example she performed already at the Radio France, the Budapest Spring Festival, the kamara.hu Festival leaded by Dénes Várjon and Izabella Simon, the Festival Sommets Musicaux De Gstaad, the Marburger Konzertverein, the Tonhalle in Zürich and the Mahler Festival in Toblach; always accompanied by Jan Philip Schulze whom she works with since 2010.
Polina Pasztircsák’s first portrait album was released in 2010 by the Ysaye Records with songs of Richard Strauss, Dmitri Shostakovich, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. In 2014 Sony released Sabine Meyer's solo album, where Polina sings W.A. Mozart arias. |
