Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya was a Jette Parker Young Artist for The Royal Opera 2005–7, singing roles including Third Norn (Götterdämmerung), Rachel (La Juive, in concert at the Barbican) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for The Royal Opera. She has since returned to The Royal Opera almost every Season, singing roles including Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Elizabeth of Valois (Don Carlo), Donna Anna, Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra), Marfa (The Tsar’s Bride), Violetta (La traviata), Corinna (Il viaggio a Reims), Desdemona (Otello) and Alice (Robert le diable). In the 2014/15 Season she returns to sing Alice Ford (Falstaff).

Poplavskaya was born in Moscow and as a child sang with the children’s chorus at the Bolshoi. She studied singing with P. Tarassov and began her career at the Bolshoi. Early awards include first prize at the 2005 Maria Callas Grand Prix. She sings regularly for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, her roles with the company including Natasha (War and Peace), Elizabeth of Valois, Violetta, (La traviata), Liù (Turandot) and Marguerite (Faust). Other engagements include Leonora (Il trovatore) in Zürich, Desdemona at the Salzburg Festival, Lucrezia (I due Foscari) in Los Angeles and Gutrune (Götterdämmerung) for Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim.

Poplavskaya’s concert appearances include Verdi’s Requiem under Barenboim and Samyon Bychkov and Britten’s War Requiem under Bychkov.