Mezzo Soprano Nina Tarandek will be singing the role of Mercédès (Carmen) at the open-air venue, “Oper im Steinbruch” in Sankt Margarethen, Austria, during the Summer of 2023, as well as performing in Zagreb under the direction of conductor Pier Giorgio Morandi as part of the Gala Concert for the opening of the 2023/24 season of the Croatian National Theater. Prior to those engagements, she will be returning to Oper Frankfurt, where she was a member of the Ensesmble until 2020, for their revival of The Cunning Little Vixen.
Some recent engagements have seen Ms Tarandek perform the roles of Beppe in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, and Ortlinde in Die Walküre at the Tiroler Festspiel in Erl. She has performed there previously in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which was broadcast on ORF in the series Wir spielen für Österreich. Elsewhere, Nina has appeared with the Holst-Sinfonietta in Gare du Nord in Basel in the concert Happy Birthday Dieter Ammann, in the E-Werk Freiburg with the Varaždin Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Tomislav Fačini in Varaždin Cathedral, as well as in the Sultans of Opera concert with the Pera Ensemble at the Croatian National Theater in Varaždin.
While a member of the Ensemble of Oper Frankfurt she enjoyed great success in the roles of Angelina (La Cenerentola), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Tebaldo (Don Carlo), Madama La Rosa (Rossini’s La gazzetta), Sesto (Giulio Cesare in Egitto), Flora (La Traviata), and Kate (Owen Wingrave).
Guest engagements have seen Ms Tarandek perform as Cherubino at Staatstheater Darmastadt, Sesto at Theater Freiburg, in Dido and Aeneas at the Semperoper Dresden, in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Volksoper Wien, as the Zweite Hofdame (Der Prinz von Homburg) at Theater an der Wien, Mercédès (Carmen) and Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte) at the Opernfestspiel St. Margarethen, Dorabella at Vilnius City Opera and with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra at Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas. She also inspired audiences as La Malaspina in the Italian premiere of Sciarrino’s Luci mie traditrici (CD by Stradivarius, DVD by EuroArts) at Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte Montepulciano. She also received great praise for her work at Musikwerkstatt Wien in the title role of the world premiere Mae Mona, which Christoph Ehrenfellner composed for her.
Nina Tarandek has performed in concert with, among others, the hr-Sinfonieorchester; as Anna Kennedy (Maria Stuarda) with the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester in Frankfurt’s Alte Oper; in The Cunning Little Vixen with the BR-Sinfonieorchester under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst at the Gasteig in München; with the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg in Mozart’s C-Minor Mass and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; with the Wiener Philharmoniker on tour in China; with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra; the Zagrab Philharmonic; and in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Wiener Virtuosen in the Vienna Musikverein.
The song interpretation stylings of Ms Tarandek have inspired audiences in Kassel, Germany, at the Kasseler Musiktagen, in Koblenz, Germany, at the Koblenzer Kammerkonzerten, in the hr-Sendesaal performing Wagner’s Wesendonck-Liedern with the Frankfurt String Sextet, at Oper Frankfurt, at the Chamber Music Festival in Čakovec, Croatia, and in Abu Dhabi.
The album 57 Liriche di Franco Alfano, a complete recording of his songs, was released in 2023 on the label bastille musique in cooperation with Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
The Croatian Mezzo-Soprano studied voice with Ute Schwabe and Julia Conwel, as well as Song and Oratorio interpretation with Carolyn Hague and Birgid Steinberger at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität of the city of Vienna.