NEW YORK (AP) — Asmik Grigorian laughs when she recalls that she had been singing professionally for more than a decade when the International Opera Awards proclaimed her the “best young female singer” of 2016.
“So for 12 years I was nothing, and then I immediately became the best!” the Lithuanian soprano joked in an interview.
Now at the peak of her career and seemingly able to sing just about any role she chooses, from Dvorak’s lyrical “Rusalka” to Puccini’s dramatic “Turandot,” Grigorian is about to make her Metropolitan Opera debut in another Puccini classic, “Madame Butterfly.”
“My only regret is not having booked her sooner,” said Met general manager Peter Gelb. “Asmik is an operatic force of nature, one of the greatest and most complete vocal and acting packages in recent operatic history.”
Growing up in Vilnius she had plenty of exposure to opera. Both her parents, tenor Gegam Grigorian and soprano Irena Milkeviciute, were opera singers and both appeared at the Met, where Asmik traveled with them while a young girl.
Aaron Judge homers 1 pitch after Joe Boyle is called for a balk as Yanks top A's 7
Pupils welcome new semester with lively activities in N China's Hohhot
China's procuratorate orders arrest of former supreme court judge
Portugal marks the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution army coup that brought democracy
Booming ice and snow economy roars in NE China's Jilin
2 dead, 3 missing as ship hits bridge in south China
North Carolina legislators return to adjust the budget and consider other issues
Specialty agricultural products drive rural development
The summer after Barbenheimer and the strikes, Hollywood charts a new course
China to build pilot zones for special needs education reform