Larissa Schmidt

Kazakhstan-born and conservatory-trained in Novosibirsk and Lübeck, Larissa Schmidt completed her studies at La Scala's Accademia di Perfezionamento per Cantanti Lirici and in master classes with Leyla Gencer, Leo Nucci, Luciana Serra and Shirley Verrett. She made her professional debut in 1999 as Paoluccia in Piccinni's La Cecchina, and the roles that followed — Rosina, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Zulma in L'italiana in Algeri, Beppe in L'amico Fritz, Santuzza, Laura in Iolanta, Smeraldina in The Love for Three Oranges — took her to La Scala, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro Carlo Felice, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro de la Maestranza and the German houses of Koblenz, Ulm and Krefeld-Mönchengladbach. She has also worked as a vocal consultant. At the Landestheater Linz she sang Ulrica in 2008–09, Azucena in 2010–11 and Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites in 2011–12.