Biography
Szabina is known for her unique presence and glow on stage, her dynamic vocal range and her magical ability to entice and seduce audiences time and time again. The beauty of her voice and diversity of her style is matched by her clear delivery – whether in German, French, Italian, Hungarian, English, Russian, Czech or Swedish; as well as her heartfelt presence and contagious sense of humour!
The soprano comes from Budapest, Hungary. She began her singing studies at the Varga Tibor Music Institute under the tutelage of Prof. Judit Nemeth in 2002, where she received her singing teacher diploma four years later. In 2006 she continued her studies at the University of Art and Music Zurich (ZhdK) under the mentorship of Prof. Laszlo Polgar. In 2009 she received her concert diploma with a special award.
Between 2010-2012 she got her second master diploma at the Swiss Opera Studio in Biel under the mentorship of Prof. Barbara Locher. In her final exam production, she sang the leading role of ‘Mrs. Ford’ in Salieri’s Falstaff.
She won 1st prize at the International Song Contest in Schlossoper Haldenstein in Chur (2011), was a semi finalist at the Hans Gabor Bellvedere in Vienna (2009) and is a scholarship holder of the Universitas Kultur Scholarship (2005).
During her studies at the ZhdK, she sang in opera performances such as Une Education Manquée (‘Hélene’) from E. Chabrier (2009), The Turn of the Screw (‘Governess’) from B. Britten (2007) and performed at Zurich Tonhalle with Karol Szymanowky’s song cycle The Love Songs of Hafiz in the same year. In 2009 she sang Mozart and Haydn concert arias with the Zurich Orchestra Society.
In 2010 she performed in a striking debut performance as Olga in Karol Beffa and Laurent Festas’ K et la piste du Chateau (France, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary – Tour). In April 2011 she sang the soprano part on the first recording of Ferenc Erkel’s Magyar Cantate. In August of the same year she debuted in Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata as Violetta under the direction of Sebastian Tewinkel in the Schlossoper Haldenstein, in the Tonhalle Zurich and at Lindau Theater. This was followed by a debut as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and as Bacchis in Offenbach’s La Belle Hélene in 2012.
Several major performances followed, including Poulenc’s Gloria and Gounod’s Messe de Saint Cécile with the Radio Symphonic Orchestra Pilsen in the Tonhalle in Zurich; and the role of Rosalinda in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus with the Konkordia Orchestra.
In 2012-13 she sang the role of Lisa in a production of Franz Lehár’s The Land of Smiles by the Theatre of Biel-Solothurn.
In 2014 Szabina became a mom and decided to take a well-deserved break from singing. Then, between 2015 and 2017, she shifted her focus to Lieder and Oratories and performed countless wonderful concerts, such as Mozart’s David Penitente, Händel’s Die Schöpfung, and Liszt’s Missa Coronationalis. She also made her debut appearance with the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Schønwandt.
In 2018 Szabina performed the lead role (Josepha) in Benatzky’s The White Horse Inn twenty-four times. She appeared in numerous other oratories until the summer, at which point she spent an entire year performing as the Countess in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro to a stunned and bewitched Hungarian audience.
Shortly thereafter, she debuted in her role as Constanze in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio.
Locked down in 2020…
During 2020, the covid-19 crisis prevented Szabina from performing a large number of scheduled dates. This, however, did not deter her in the slightest. In 2020 alone, she focused on her own personal practice and development, has performed in countless church services, provided music for a book-vernissage from Andreas Doepfner: „Frühlingsduft mit Sommerlachen im Herbst“ in Männedorf , and produced a beautiful live video together with pianist Frederic Champion where she performed her own Lieder-evening – a fine selection of Strauss, Debussy, Duparc and Poulenc.
In addition, Szabina has ventured deep into a different side of her psyche with her work on Eine Kleine Avant-Garde Hardcore Operetta, an experimental, operatic Metal project – to be released soon. She has also branched out into the Pop and Jazz world, both as a recording artist and live performer.
This year, Szabina is back, stronger and better than ever before!