“Impressive voice timbre of fascinating depth”, “Very attractive performance with excellent scenic and vocal results”– this is only part of accolades by professional critics about the contralto opera singer Biljana Kovač, winner of numerous international competitions, scholar of the Young Soloists Training Academy of the Puccini Foundation from Torre del Lago. Biljana graduated vocal and opera studies at the prestigious Milan Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi”. She performed a dual role for the Arena di Verona Foundation Festival, in the title role of Carmen in Brazil, in the theatres in Rome and Milan in Elektra by Richard Strauss and Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, and in Livorno, Pisa and Lucca in the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell and Satyricon by Bruno Maderna. She performed for the audience in the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Belgium in the role of Mistress Quickly (Falstaff). She made her singing debut in the roles of Maddalena from Rigoletto, Countess from The Queen of Spades, in Orpheus and Eurydice by C. W. Gluck and The Princess from Sister Angelica by Puccini, Fortunata from Satyricon and this summer she will make her debut in the role of Marquise of Berkenfield from The Daughter of the Regiment by Donizetti in Austria. She recorded a CD with Mozart’s Requiem in Verona. Accompanied by the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, singing together with Montserrat Caballé, she performed at the concert in Umag in 2011.
With her very rare alto, she is also dedicated to singing baroque and chamber music. Among other roles she made her debut in Orlando by Handel together with the ensemble New Trinity Baroque, while with the Choir and the Symphony Orchestra of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation she performed Magnificat by J. S. Bach. She also performed in the Little Solemn Mass by G. Rossini, Messiah by G.F. Handel, Stabat Mater by Pergolesi as well as The Liberation of Bethulia and Solemn Vespers of the Confessor by Mozart, and gave her premiere performance in oratorio Il Gionata by F. Cartocci and The Seven Last Words of Christ by S. Mercadante. She sang fourteen opera arias by A. Scarlatti together with the Concerto de’ Cavalieri baroque ensemble in Rome.
Vedrana Kovač, piano player with extraordinary talent well recognized in the world of music due to her sincere playing best described by the quote “piano with loud strings” which has been witnessed by the audience throughout Europe, America and Asia. She graduated piano at the famous Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of eminent Professor Lev Nikolayevich Naumov. She mastered her piano playing techniques at the International Imola Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro” with professors Lazar Berman, Piero Rattalino and Louis Lortie as well as at the master classes with Vladimir Aşkenazi, Zoltán Kocsis, Edna Golandsky and Stephen Kovacevich. She works and lives in Vienna, playing together with professor Horst Leichtfried who fosters the fundamentals of piano techniques introduced by Theodor Leschetizky. Vedrana Kovač had remarkable performances at recitals and with orchestras such as State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”, Moscow Philharmonics Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, The Amazonas Philharmonics, George Enescu Philharmonics Orchestra, Musica Viva Orchestra, The Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonics Orchestra, The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Montenegrin Strings Ensemble and Zagreb Chamber Orchestra. She played piano in the Amazon Theatre in Manaus in the framework of musical programme on the occasion of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. She also played in the Romanian Athenaeum Bucharest concert hall on the occasion of the Croatian accession to the European Union.
The scientific analysis of the performance of the great piano masters is a result of cooperation with renowned Russian geophysicist and passionate piano enthusiast, Professor Evgeny Artushkov. The result of this collaboration will soon be published in the book Arts of the Great Masters.
After winning several international competitions in Russia, Italy and Montenegro, she was also the finalist of the jubilee Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Besides performing and recording, solo and with orchestras Vedrana Kovač graduated opera singing at the Vienna Conservatory, making her an extraordinary multi - talented artist.
Program:
J. S. Bach - F. Busoni: Chaconne D minor- piano
G. F. Handel: Gia l'ebro mio ciglio - Orlando's aria from opera Orlando
G. F. Handel: Priva son d'ogni conforto - Cornelia's aria from opera Giulio Cesare
W. A. Mozart: Fantasia in D minor, K.397 - piano
G. Donizetti: Pour une femme de mon nom - Aria of Marquise from opera La fille du régiment
O. Respighi: Nebbie – Romanza for contralto and piano
F. Liszt: Mefisto waltz no.1, S.514 - piano
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Net, tol'ko tot kto znal – Romanza for contralto and piano
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Dumka Op.59 - piano
S. Prokofiev: Mertvoe pole - Aria from cantata Alexander Nevsky
S. Prokofiev: Sonata no.3, Op.28 in A minor - piano
L. Bernstein: I'm easily assimilated" – Old Lady's Tango from operetta Candide