Nadezhda Karyazina

Nadezhda Karyazina is a Russian-Swiss mezzo-soprano, born in Moscow, who studied at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts there and then joined the Bolshoi Theatre’s Young Artists Programme. From 2013 to 2015 she was a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and she went on to ensemble years at the Hamburg State Opera (2015 to 2020) and Zurich Opera (2020 to 2023), singing roles from Carmen to Rossini’s Isabella. A prizewinner at Operalia and Neue Stimmen, she received the Herbert von Karajan Prize in 2025. Her voice is prized for the richness of its low register, qualities that suit the grave, inward simplicity Mahler asks of the alto in ‘Urlicht’.