Nadja Stefanoff

Nadja Stefanoff (born 22 July 1976)^[1] is a German operatic soprano based at the Staatstheater Mainz. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano.^[2] She has performed leading roles there and as a guest at major opera houses in Europe, such as Marta in Weinberg's Die Passagierin at the Oper Graz, and Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt.

Nadja Stefanoff
Born	(1976-07-22) 22 July 1976 (age 49) Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany
Education	Musikhochschule Dresden
Occupation	Operatic soprano
Organization	Staatstheater Mainz
Website	www.nadja-stefanoff.com

Career

Stefanoff was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt, the daughter of Bulgarian tenor Stefan Stefanoff.^[3] She studied voice at the Musikhochschule Dresden, graduating in 2010.^[2] She was successful at competitions, such as a third prize at Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin in 2002,^[4] and winner of the Orpheum Public Award for Mozart in Zürich in 2004.^[2] She became a member of the Theater Erfurt, then of the Stadttheater Pforzheim and from 2007 to 2014 at Theater Bremen.^[5] She moved to soprano roles in 2013.^[6] Stefanoff appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Komische Oper Berlin and Oper Bonn. She made recordings with the Staatsoperette Dresden [de].^[2][7]

She moved to the Staatstheater Mainz with the 2014/15 season.^[8] She performed there the title roles of Cherubini's Mèdèe, Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Manon Lescaut^[9] and Tosca, and as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites.^[2]

In the 2020/21 season, she appeared as Marta in Weinberg's Die Passagierin at the Oper Graz,^[6] recorded on CD.^[10][11] Stefanoff portrayed the title role, a Russian princess, of Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt in a new production in 2022, directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Lorenzo Passerini, alongside Jonathan Tetelman as Loris Ipanov.^[6][12][13] Reviewer Jan Brachmann from the FAZ noted the brilliance and agility of her voice, assertive even when singing softly.^[14]