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The Austrian mezzo-soprano, Elvira Soukop, studied from 1990 to 1998 at the Vienna Conservatory, solo voice with Professor Christine Schwarz and Musical Theatre (singing, dancing, acting). She graduated from both programs "with distinction". From 1997 to 2001 she also studied in the class of Professor Hartmut Holl/Professor Mitsuko Shirai Lied and oratorio. In 1998 she won the 1st Jury and the 1st Audience Prizes at the Nico-Dostal Competition.
With the 2000-2001 season Elvira Soukop began a two-year engagement at the Theater Hagen. There, she sang major roles including Olga in Eugene Onegin, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Rosina in The Barber of Seville and Operetta (Stella in Frau Luna) and musicals (Eliza in My Fair Lady). From 2002 to 2004 she was engaged at Theater Regensburg. Here she expanded her repertoire to include Octavian uin Der Rosenkavalier, Cenerentola in Rossini’s opera of the same name, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Liddy in Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung by Detlev Glanert and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. From 2004 to 2006 she was engaged at the Theater Erfurt. There, she played significant roles in the world premieres of Philip Glass' opera Waiting for the Barbarians (role: Barbarian Girl), Cong Su's "Cuba Libre" (role: Moon / Grandmother) and the scenic premiere of Christian Jost's "Death Knocks" (role: Death). She also perfoprmed Octavian, Hänsel and Second Lady and her role debuts as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Grand Duchess in Die Großherzogin von Gerolstein and Blumenmädchen/Zweiter Knappe in Parsifal.
From 2006 to 2012 Elvira Soukop was freelancing and engaged her as a permanent guest at the Volksoper Wien, to which she belongs as a member of the ensemble from the 2012-2013 season. She performed there roles as Hänsel, Zerlina, Manja in Countess Maritza, Isabella in Boccaccio, as well as Mercedes, Second Lady or the Second Elf in a spectacular new production of Dvorak's Rusalka. At the Klangbogen Wien/ Neue Oper Wien she appeared in 2006 in the premiere of Erik Hojsgaards Don Juan comes to the war. The 2007-2008 season also included performances at the Barbican Hall in London with Waiting for the Barbarians by Dennis Russell Davies and a guest engagement at the Theater Baden.
For several years, Elvira Soukop regularly gives concerts and recitals in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy. At the Goldenen Saal (Golden Hall) of the Wiener Musikvereins, she performed de Falla's El Amor Brujo, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Bruckner's Te Deum. Her wide repertoire of Lieder is ranging from classic works by Schubert, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann's up to rare 20th century works, such as of Reynaldo Hahn and Ernst Krenek.
Elvira Soukop sang the title role of Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate," both the Theater Hagen and at the Südthüringischen Staatstheater Meiningen. With the role of Barbarian Girl (Philip Glass), she appeared in September 2006 at the Amsterdam Music Theatre. In 2008 she sang with the Wiener Symphoniker and the Chorus sine nomine under the direction of John Hiemetsberger Arthur Honegger's oratorio Le roi David at the Großen Saal (Great Hall) of thes Wiener Konzerthaus. |
