Ezgi Kutlu

Biography

The mezzo-soprano Ezgi Kutlu, critically praised for her wideraged voice streching from her warm low register to her brilliant high, has already performed on numerous European stages with her repertoire ranging from Mozart's “Donna Elvira” in Don Giovanni to Rossini's “Isabella” in L'italiana in Algeri, Bizet's “Carmen” , Verdi's “Fenena” in Nabucco to “Santuzza” in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. She has sung at venues such as Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Edinburgh Festival, Salzburg Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Komische Oper Berlin and Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Her last important house debut was at the Gran Théâtre de Genève as Annina in Richard Strauss' Rosenkavalier. Preceeding this debut, she appeared as Juno in Barrie Kosky's production of Semele at the Komische Oper Berlin, a role she also sang earlier with tremendous success at the Opéra de Lille under the direction of Emanuelle Haim.

Other stops in recent years have included the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg as Lucrecia in Alberto Ginastera's Betrix Cenci, the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Maddalena in Rigoletto, and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Opera in Graz. A production that was released as a CD recording on the Oehms Classics label.

After two seasons in a permanent engagement at the Nuremberg State Opera (2008-2010), during which Ezgi Kutlu sang roles such as Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, her further career took her to numerous major opera houses in Europe such as the Stuttgart State Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Opera Roma. Other engagements have included the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp/Gent, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Edinburgh International Festival, Casa da Musica in Porto, Garsington Opera and the Royal Festival Hall in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Her repertoire includes roles such as Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), Amastris (Xerxes), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Isabella (L'Italiana in Algeri), Angelina (La Cenerentola), Fenena (Nabucco), Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Carmen. Ezgi Kutlu has worked with directors such as Calixto Bieito, Lorenzo Fioroni, Stefan Herheim, Peter Konwitschny, Barrie Kosky, Christoph Waltz and the team Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito. She has sung under the musical direction of Maurizio Benini, Axel Kober, Oksana Lyniv, Enrique Mazzola, Riccardo Muti, Henrik Nánási, David Parry, Kristina Poska, Christof Prick and Marc Soustrout among others.

Ezgi Kutlu has received her Masters from the Juilliard School of Music in New York, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia following her studies at the Bilkent University. She attended master classes and worked with Barbara Bonney, Brigitte Eisenfeld, Marilyn Horne and Christa Ludwig. Ezgi Kutlu won prizes in competitions such as the Licia Albanese Competition and the Marian Anderson Award and was a participant in the first Young Singers Project of the 2008 Salzburg Festival.

In this upcoming sesason Mrs. Kutlu will sing her first Eboli in Don Carlo.