Romanian soprano Anita Hartig builds her international career on a reputation of creating genuine characters on stage. Her compelling portrayals of some of opera's most beloved heroines have earned her enthused reviews, noting her stirring, emotional characterization.

Her passion for singing started at the tender age of ten, when she began participating in performances taking place in the German Forum of her home town, Bistrita. She was also a member of the church choir. That contributed greatly to her appreciation of sacred music and oratorio. Her strong interest in music led her parents to enroll her in the Music High School in Bistrita. It was during her studies there, aged seventeen, that she first listened to a recording of Maria Callas. This represented a turning point in Anita’s life, when she first felt an intense call to become an opera singer herself. She did not look back.

Anita’s first step was to refine her singing abilities at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj Napoca, which has produced many artists of international standing over the decades. While still a student, she won several national and international vocal competitions. These led to her debut as Mimi in La Boheme at the Romanian National Opera in Cluj Napoca in 2006. Little did she know that this would become a staple role in her rapidly ascending career.

In September 2009 Anita became a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble. She made important debuts as Musetta and Mimi La Boheme, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Despina Così fan tutte. And also as Zerlina Don Giovanni, Marzelline Fidelio, Micaela Carmen and Susanna Le nozze di Figaro. These early successes led to her much-acclaimed debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Mimi in La Boheme in 2012. Her remarkable performance, valued by critics and audiences alike, led CNN to produce a documentary on her artistry.

The following year Anita made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London in John Copley’s legendary production of La Boheme. That same autumn she was invited to perform Mahler’s Second Symphony at the “George Enescu” Festival in Bucharest, Romania.

2014 represented another highlight in Anita’s career. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimi in La Boheme. The season continued with further performances of Mimi at the Bayerische Staatsoper and at the Opera de Bastille in Paris, as well as a star performance at the Vienna Opera Ball.

The 2015 – 2016 season brought an important role debut as Violetta Valery in David McVicar’s production of La Traviata at Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona. Anita also performed the role of Liù in Franco Zeffirelli’s Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in January 2016. Earlier, in November 2015 Anita had the pleasure of performing the role of Mimi again, in a special performance at the National Romanian Opera in Cluj Napoca, nine years after her debut on that same stage.

During her career she performed together with most distinguished colleagues such as Anna Netrebko, Sonya Yoncheva, Elina Garanca, Anita Rachvelishvili, Krassimira Stoyanova, Isabel Leonard, Rachel Willis-Soerensen, Piotr Beczala, Roberto Alagna, TeodorIlincai, Gabriele Viviani, Masimo Cavalletti, Simon Keenlyside, Luca Pisaroni, Vittorio Grigolo, Massimo Giordano, Ludovic Tezier, Aleksandrs Antonenko and Erwin Schrott and with renowned conductors: Adam Fischer, Franz Welser-Möst, Bertrand de Billy, Alexander Joel, Daniele Rustioni, Peter Schneider, Carlo Rizzi, Dan Ettinger, Mark Elder, Christian Mandeal, Ivor Bolton, Pablo Heras-Casado, Marco Armiliato, Evelino Pidò and Fabio Luisi among others.

Anita also performed in many other important venues around the world: the Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Yokohama, the Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and the National Opera in Bucharest.

Her future engagements include Marguerite in Faust, in Zurich and Vienna, Mimi in La Boheme in Vienna, Berlin and Madrid, as well as a Liu in Turandot, also in Vienna.