“… Margarita Slepakova was a delightful Dido, in the richness of the aliquots of her mezzo-soprano containing emotions absolutely consistent with her stage prowess.” – (A. Suprynowicz, Dwutygodnik)

“Her voice is of great elegance, firm and sonorous, with an excellent projection” – (Classique News)

“(…) my favorite, endowed with a remarkable tone of voice and full of charisma mezzo-soprano Margarita Slepakova (Cecilio, Opera Rara)” – (Mateusz Borkowski, Ruch Muzyczny)

Margarita is a coloratura mezzo-soprano based in Basel and Warsaw. After graduating from Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the prestigious Monteverdi Apprenticeship program under the guidance of John Eliot Gardiner, she enjoys an international career as an opera, concert, and recital singer cooperating with ensembles and orchestras in Europe. She has sung in Carnegie Hall, Harris Theater Chicago, and in most European countries in concert halls including Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, St.Petersburg State Capella, Palau di Musica Catalana, Mozarteum Salzburg, Philharmonies of Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Essen, Luxembourg and Budapest and opera houses of Zürich, Vienna, Basel, Antwerp, Ghent, Warsaw and Cracow.

Season 2022/2023 sees her performing the role of Dido in Dido & Aenesas by Henry Purcell at Warsaw Chamber Opera, the role of Cecilio in Lucio Silla by W. A. Mozart with Capella Cracoviensis at the Opera Rara festival, the role of Maria Maddalena in La Resurrezione by G. F. Haendel in Bern & Fribourg. She will also perform recitals with the ensemble Le Sommeil during the Freunde Alter Musik Basel concert series and Early Music Festival at the Wilanow Palace in Warsaw and a program of arias and songs of Henry Purcell for Baroque Vivant Basel. Her contemporary music performances include the premiere of a new piece by composer Stefan Wesołowki during the festival Eufonie in Warsaw as well as collaboration with experimental electronic band Nanook of the North at the concert in Gdańsk at the St. John’s Cathedral. She will also once again join Monteverdi Choir during their performances of Les Troyens including Château de Versailles, Salzburger Festspiele, Berliner Festspiele, and BBC Proms. Spring 2022 also brought a release of an album she recorded with Nanook of the North under the German label Denovali.

As a soloist and ensemble singer, she has worked with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, Andrea de Carlo, Alessandro Moccia, Bart Naessens, Kent Nagano, Riccardo Minasi, Ivor Bolton, Kristiina Poska, Florian Helgath.

Her other recent engagements include a role of Lucinda in Moro per Amore by Alessandro Stradella with Ensemble Mare Nostrum under the direction of Andrea de Carlo during a series of shows in Italy and an album recording for Arcana – Outhere Music label; a role of Poppea in “L’incoronazione di Poppea” by Claudio Monteverdi for Opern Fest in Berlin, a role of Ariel in Purcell’s The Tempest in Collegium Nobilium Theater in Warsaw, solo with B’rock Orchestra in Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp and Ghent in production of “Cantus Firmus/Mea Culpa”, a recording release by Universal with ensemble Le Sommeil, a solo recital with the ensemble «El Gran Teatro del Mundo» under the direction of Julio Caballero Pérez with a program including arias by Haendel, Marais, and Eccles; a song recital with a pianist Marek Bracha with a contemporary repertoire of Shakespeare sonnets by Andrzej Czajkowski and lieder by Mahler, Zemlinsky, Weinberg, and Schubert.

Her numerous oratorio performances include i. a. solo in “Missa in Angustiis” (Haydn), Oratorio de Noël (Saint-Saëns), “B Minor Mass” and “Actus Tragicus” (JS Bach), “Jesu Membra Nostri” (Buxtehude), “Salve Regina (Porpora), “Nisi Dominus” (Vivaldi), “Stabat Mater” (Brunetti, Pergolesi & Vivaldi) and others sacred works of Mozart, Caldara, Palestrina, Brixi, Praetorius performed in Switzerland, France, Italy, and Germany.

She recorded for Universal, Arcana- Outthere Music, Denoval Records, WocomoMusic, and Soli Deo.

She has also sung contemporary music compositions and premiered music written particularly for her. Her particular interest in combining elements of early music tradition with contemporary arts resulted in collaboration with audio designer Clemens Fiechter and the creation of a sound installation “Das Rezitativ” shown in modern art galleries in Vienna, London, and Warsaw.

She pursued her vocal studies in the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis obtaining two diplomas of Master (2018) and a Specialized Master of Arts (2019) in historical performance in the classes of Gerd Türk and Rosa Dominguez. Before, she got her Bachelor’s diploma in singing at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in a class of prof. Jadwiga Rappé and another bachelor’s diploma in Culture Studies at Warsaw University. She also developed her skills by taking lessons from Margreet Honig, Anita Garanča, Valerie Guillorit, and during masterclasses with René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, and Raphaël Pichon. Presently, she is further developing her vocal technique with prof. Christian Hilz and takes coaching sessions with Flavio Ferri-Benedetti and Nadia Carboni.

Before pursuing her career as a singer Margarita obtained a diploma in clarinet at the age of sixteen and also worked as an art director, dancer, and lyricist.

Upcoming performances:

June 9, 2023, 19:30

“The Night herself is here” – recital of arias and songs

by H. Purcell, H. Lawes, and J. Coprario

Joan Boronat Sanz – Cembalo, Leitung
Soma Salat-Zakariás -Viola da Gamba
Ryosuke Sakamoto – Laute / Viola da Gmba
Pablo FitzGerald – Theorbe

Museum Kleines Klingental, Basel

February 16 & 18, 2023

Role of Cecilio, opera Lucio Silla, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Capella Cracoviensis, conductor: Alessandro Moccia

Festival Opera Rara, Cracow

April 9, 2023

Role of Maria Maddalena, oratorium La Resurrezzione, Georg Friendrich Haendel

Orchestra Neukomm, Conductor: Aurore Baal

Sankt Peter und Paul Kirche Bern, Switzerland

June 9, 2023

“The night herself is here”

solo recital, music by Henry Purcell

Conductor: Joan Boronat Sanz

Festival Baroque Vivant, Basel, Switzerland

 

Past performances:

December 11, 2022

recital with Le Sommeil

Wilanow Palace Early Music Festival

Warsaw, Poland

December 7, 2022

recital with Le Sommeil

Festival Freunde Alter Musik Basel

Basel, Switzerland

November 25/36, 2022

premiere of the new piece by Stefan Wesołowski

Eufonie Festival

Warsaw, Poland

November 18/20, 2022

Concert of pieces by Franz Xaver Brixi

dir. Ilse Zeuner

Münchenstein, Switzerland

October 7/8/9, 2022

Role of Dido, opera Dido & Aeneas, Henry Purcell

Warsaw Chamber Opera, Poland

Conductor:  Dirk Vermeulen

Director: Tomasz Cyz

Stage design & Costumes: Natalia Kitamikado

August 31, 2022

Role of Lucinda, opera Moro per amore, Alessandro Stradella

Ensemble Mare Nostrum dir. Andrea De Carlo

Festival Barocco Alessandro Stradella di Viterbo, Italy

August 25 -30, 2022

Recording (Arcana – Outhere music)

Role of Lucinda, opera Moro per amore, Alessandro Stradella

Ensemble Mare Nostrum dir. Andrea De Carlo

August 13, 2022

Festival WarszeMuzik, Warsaw 2022

Recital with Marek Bracha

Songs of Andrzej Czajkowski, Paweł Mykietyn, Gustav Mahler

July 3, 2022

Kirchgemeindezentrum Leimbach, Switzerland

Consort, das Projekt ‘Palestrina/Lauridsen’

dir. Oscar Mario Etcheverry

June 26, 2022

Fribourg, Switzerland

Maria Maddalena, G. F. Haendel, Resurrezzione

Ensemble Callisto, dir. Takahiro Sasaki

June 19, 2022

Philharmonie Berlin

Georg Friedrich Händel: Israel in Egypt HWV 54

Zürcher Sing- Akademie

Freiburger Barockorchester

René Jacobs Leitung

June 16, 2022

Philharmonie de Paris

Georg Friedrich Händel: Israel in Egypt HWV 54

Zürcher Sing- Akademie

Freiburger Barockorchester

René Jacobs Leitung

May 8, 2022

Festival Baroque Vivant, Basel

Solo recital, G.F. Haendel,  M. Marais, J. Eccles – arias from operas “Semele”

Ensemble “El Gran Teatro del Mundo”, dir. Julio Caballero Pérez