Born in Russia but a French Citizen, Svetlana Lifar studied at the Moscow Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, the CNIPAL in Marseille [former postgraduate opera training centre] and spent a couple of seasons as a member of the ensemble at the Opéra de Lyon.

 

Soon after, she made her debut at the Paris Opera in Rusalka (Second Nymph) - DVD, La Traviata (Flora), Ariadne auf Naxos (Dryade), and the world premiere of Philippe Fénelon’s new piece, La Cerisaie (Douniacha).

 

In 2005, she sang Paulina from Pikovaya Dama at La Scala in Milan and also in Liège and Monte-Carlo. In the Russian repertoire, she also sang Vava in Shostakovich’s Moscow Cheriomushki (Lyon), Konchakowna from Prince Igor (Monte-Carlo), Larina / Filipievna from Evgeny Onegin  (Monte-Carlo, Montpellier, Rennes, Limoges, Saint-Etienne, Rouen), The Mother from Noces by Stravinsky and Martha from Iolanta (Nancy and Metz), Fiodor from Boris Godunov (Toulouse, Salle Pleyel, and touring Spain), The Nurse from Boris Godunov (Toulouse, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and in another production in Avignon, also singing the Innkeeper), The Old Gypsy from Aleko (Nancy), The Nurse from The Demon by Rubinstein (Bordeaux) and The Governess from Pikovaya Dama (Marseille, Avignon).

 

Her repertoire also includes such roles as Geneviève from Pelléas et Mélisande (Limoges and Tours), Ježi Baba from Rusalka (Tours), Madame de Croissy from Dialogues des Carmélites (Saint-Etienne), Die dritte Dame from Die Zauberflöte (Reims, Nice, Sanxay Festival) The Mother from Hänsel und Gretel (touring France), Mamma Lucia from Cavalleria Rusticana (Avignon, Gattières Festival), Smeaton from Anna Bolena (Toulon), Neris from Medea (Nancy), Bianca from The Rape of Lucretia (Angers/Nantes), Suzuki from Madama Butterfly (Tours, Besançon and Nice), Emilia from Otello (Bordeaux), Zulma from L'Italiana in Algeri (Saint-Etienne), La Schiava Smaragdi from Francesca da Rimini (Monte-Carlo), Fenena from Nabucco (Toulon), The Mayor's Wife and The Sheperdess from Jenůfa (Dijon, Caen, Toulouse), Berta from Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Saint-Etienne),  The First Maid from Elektra (Toulouse), Mrs Sedley from Peter Grimes (Avignon), The Third Nymph from Rusalka (Toulouse), Mistress Bentson from Lakmé (Monte-Carlo, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Nice) and Annina from La Traviata in Marseille.

 

In the concert field, she sang Brahms' Alto Rhapsody in Salzburg, Verdi's Requiem in Nancy, Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle in Avignon, Mozart's Requiem in Saint-Etienne, Lyon and Nice. She sang Les Nuits d’Eté at the Berlioz Festival and cinema screening of Eisenstein/Vassiliev's Alexander Nevsky with live music by Prokofiev in Saint-Etienne. She gave recitals with a program related to Pushkin pieces in Nantes, Lille, Tours and Paris and sang the Leçons de Ténèbres by Fénelon at the Capitole in Toulouse.

 

During season 2024-2025, she sings the part of Catherine from Jeanne au Bûcher by Honegger in Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris and Hamburg alongside Marion Cotillard with the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt conducted by Alain Altinoglu. ​She will also sing The Third Nymph from Rusalka in Massy.

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