Laura Aikin

Laura Aikin (born June 20, 1964) is an American operatic coloratura soprano. She is noted for her portrayal of the title character in Lulu, which has received very positive reviews in the press. She has also appeared as Mozart's Queen of the Night, Zerbinetta by Richard Strauss and in contemporary opera at international opera houses and festivals.

Life
Born in Buffalo, New York, Aikin is the daughter of a metal worker and a housewife, growing up together with four sisters in modest circumstances. At the age of 15 she experienced an opera on stage for the first time. She first studied art at the State University of New York in Buffalo, and then music at Indiana University Bloomington, as well as on a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship with Reri Grist at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.

In 1991, Aikin made her debut at an opera gala in Berlin. From 1992 to 1998 she was a member of the ensemble of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin where she performed more than 300 times. Her roles there included the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, Sophie in his Der Rosenkavalier and the title role in Alban Berg's Lulu.

In 1995, she first appeared at the Vienna State Opera, as Olympia in Offenbach's Hoffmanns Erzählungen, where she also appeared as Zerbinetta, Sophie, Arminta in Die schweigsame Frau, the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Adele in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, and Emilia Marty in Janáček's The Makropulos Affair. Also in 1995, she performed at the Salzburg Festival in a choral concert in the Mozarteum, and returned for many opera performances, as both Blonde and Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the Queen of the Night, Badi'at in the world premiere of Henze's L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, Marilyn in Robin de Raaff's Waiting for Miss Monroe, Marie in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten and in Birtwistle's Gawain.

Aikin has appeared as a guest at major European opera houses, including the Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Opéra de Lyon, Semperoper in Dresden, Oper Frankfurt, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Zürich Opera House, at the festival Maggio Musicale in Florence, Teatro San Carlo in Naples and at the Liceu in Barcelona. In the United States, she first appeared at the Met as the Queen of the Night in 1998/99. She took part in the world premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino's Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo at La Scala in Milan, in the role of the Sängerin. The opera was co-produced with the Staatsoper Berlin, where it was first performed in July 2018. Aikin is acknowledged for her vocal range of three octaves, acting talent and stage presence. <!--== Repertoire == Aikin's signature role is the title role in Alban Berg's Lulu. She first played this role in Berlin, from 2002 in Amsterdam and Zürich, from 2003 to 2011 in a Willy Decker's production in Paris, and finally from 2009 in a Peter Stein's production in Lyon, Milan and at the Vienna Festival.

Aikin's performances in the classical coloratura parts of Mozart, Jacques Offenbach and Richard Strauss were also successful: The Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), she sang in Berlin and Vienna, in 1998 at the Met and in 1999 in the Achim Freyer's production at the Salzburg Festival. She performed in Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, as well as at the Salzburg Festival in 2003 and 2006 as Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail). She played Olympia (The Tales of Hoffmann) in Berlin, Vienna and Paris, Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) again in Berlin, Vienna and Paris, as well as in Munich, Milan, Florence, Lyon and Chicago, Fiakermilli (Arabella) only in New York.

Aikin has a wide repertoire, ranging from Baroque to present. Her Mozart roles range from early works – such as the title role in Zaide (in Berlin), Aspasia in Mitridate, re di Ponto (Santa Fe), Guinia in Lucio Silla (Barcelona) – from Blondie (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Salzburg Festival 2004) to Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), concertant 2010 in Budapest and 2011 in New York). In Richard Strauss' works Aithra in Die ägyptische Helena and several times Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Furthermore, Aikin also sang classical repertoire – Gilda (Rigoletto) in Berlin, Marcelline (Fidelio) in Milan and Adele (Die Fledermaus) in Berlin and Vienna.

From the baroque repertoire, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare (in Dresden) and the title role in Alcina (at the festival in Beaune) should be mentioned. Aikin also appeared in roles such as Amenaìde in Tancredi (in Berlin and Zürich), and Diana in Soler's L'arbore di Diana (in Barcelona).

Aikin participated in the following world premieres, first performances and important revivals:


 * 2003 as Badi’at in the world premiere of H. W. Henze's L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe at the Salzburg Festival
 * 2005 as Flight Controller in the revival of Jonathan Doves Flight at the Glyndebourne Festival
 * 2007 as Manon in the Spanish premiere of Henze's Boulevard Solitude at the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona
 * 2012 as Marilyn Monroe in the premiere of Waiting for Miss Monroe by Robin de Raaff at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam
 * 2012 as Marie in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten at the Salzburg Festival
 * 2013 as Morgan Le Fey in the continental European premiere of Birtwistle's Gawein, again at the Salzburg Festival
 * 2015 as Emilia Marti in The Makropulos Affair, Wiener Staatsoper.

Aikin was also active in the field of classical modernism, as Soeur Constance in the Dialogues des Carmélites at the Scala, as Anne Truelove in The Rake's Progress and as Angel in Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise, both in San Francisco, and as Cundegonde in Candide in Naples. Since the end of the 2000s, the singer has also tried to gain a foothold in the Belcanto field – as Minna in the French Holländer (Le vaisseau fantôme) by Pierre-Louis Dietsch in Berlin, in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in Montpellier and as Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots at the Opéra national du Rhin. will return when sources can be found -->

Recordings

 * Ludwig van Beethoven: Christus am Ölberge. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim
 * Bernard Herrmann: Wuthering Heights. Orchestre national de Montpellier, conducted by Alain Altinoglu
 * Ned Rorem: Lieder, with pianist Donald Sulzen
 * Arnold Schönberg: Die Jakobsleiter. Südwestfunk Symphony Orchestra
 * Ottorino Respighi: La campana sommersa. Opera de Montpellier
 * Robin de Raaff: Waiting for Miss Monroe Dutch National Opera

DVD

 * Alban Berg: Lulu – live from Zürich Opera House
 * Hans Werner Henze: Boulevard Solitude
 * Hans Werner Henze: L'Upupa
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Salzburg Festival
 * Francis Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites – La Scala, conductor: Riccardo Muti
 * Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Die Soldaten