Vasily Barkhatov 
Aleksei Isaev
Thorsten Grümbel
Sergey PolyakovKünstlerdetails
MezzosopranIrina Shishkova  |
Biographie / biography
Born in St.-Petersburg the Russian mezzo graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Musical College in 2004(piano division), and in 2006(vocal division), she also studied singing at the St.-Petersburg State Conservatory.
In 2022 she will sing Olga in Yevgeny Onegin at the Opéra de Lausanne.
Irina made her operatic debut at the Novosibirsk Opera House singing “Carmen” (title role) in 2008, followed by her role debut as Paulina in “Queen of Spades”.
In November 2009 she toured with the Novosibirsk Opera Theatre in Seoul, South Korea, where she performed in the title role in Bizet’s “Carmen” at the Seoul Arts Center.
In 2010 Irina became the soloist of Mariinsky theatre Academy of Young Opera Singers.
On stage of the Mariinsky Theatre she sang the role of Composer in “Ariadne auf Naxos”, Olga in “Eugene Onegin, Dorabella in »Cosi fan tutte”, Niklausse in «Les Contes d’Hoffmann», Clarice in “The love for 3 oranges”, Cherubino in “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Siebel in a new production of Gounod’s “Faust”, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
2013-2014 season she went on a recital tour with the Academy performing on the stages of Wigmore Hall, London, Grand Theatre de Geneve, Opera de Bordeaux, Serate Musicali Milan, Auditorium St-Pierre-des-Cuisines Toulouse and Prinzregententheater Munich.
Further, she performed at the Latvian National Opera as Olga in “Eugene Onegin” and at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Washington, USA) with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society Chorus.
In October 2014 she sang the role of Olga in «Eugene Onegin» on the stage of Grand Theatre de Geneve (Robert Carsen’s production, conducted by Mikhail Yurovsky).
2015-2016 season she became an ensemble member of the Mariinsky Theatre. There she sang Angelina in “Cenerentola” Rossini (concert performance). At the Mariinsky Theatre also performed Isabella in “L’Italiana in Algeri” at the same season. At the Marinsky Theatre she also performed Cherubino, Dorabella, Siebel, Olga and Maddalena.
Her Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes:
Olga (Eugene Onegin)
Polina, Milovzor (The Queen of Spades)
Bonny Spring (The Snow Maiden)
Olesnitsky (Pan Voyevoda in concert)
Zhenya Komelkova, Rita Osianina (The Dawns Here Are Quiet in concert)
Nicolette, Princess Clarice (The Love for Three Oranges)
Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro)
Sesto (La clemenza di Tito in concert)
Dorabella (Così fan tutte)
Angelina (La Cenerentola in concert)
Isabella (L'Italiana in Algeri in concert)
Flora Bervoix (La traviata)
Maddalena (Rigoletto)
Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos)
Ascanio (Benvenuto Cellini)
Garcias (Don Quichotte)
Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann)
Siebel (Faust).
Her repertoire also includes: Lyubasha (The Tsar’s Bride), Joan (The Maid of Orleans), Carmen (Carmen) and Dido (Dido and Aeneas).
She has toured South Korea and the USA.
She is also a regular guest at music festivals in Russia and abroad.
Irina has already won many awards including Special award “Hope” at The Glinka Vocal International Competition(2006), Award for “Best Debut” at the Obraztsova International Competition of Young Opera Singers (2007), 3rd prize at the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition(2008) and she has been a finalist of “Competizione dell’Opera” in Dresden (2010).
