Emma Sarkissyan graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory (Professor Dolivo's class). She worked with the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theatre, where she performed leading roles in the theatre's repertoire. Her performance in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, staged by Walter Phelzenstein, won great acclaim in Russia and abroad.
She has been working in the Novaya Opera Theatre since its inception in 1991.
Emma Sarkissyan sang the part of Nanny with astonishing nobility at the first performance of Eugene Onegin, and this gem of the Russian classical opera has always been part of her repertoire. The singer successfully performed the part of Nanny in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Salzburg Opera Festival (2007).
Emma Sarkissyan has given recitals in Russia and abroad, performing Schumann, de Falla, Granados, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Russian old romances.
The singer took part in the radio recordings of Carmen by Bizet and Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, as well as in the recordings of various arias and romances. She also has her two vinyl discs with Woman's Love and Life by Schumann and Spanish Songs by de Falla.
Emma Sarkissyan is a professor of the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS).
Awards and Honours:
- People's artist of Russia
- Prize-winner of For Devoted Service to Opera Art Award by the Evgeny Kolobov Foundation
- Prize-winner at the Enescu International Competition in Budapest (1st prize and Golden medal, 1961)
- Prize-winner at the Prague Spring Competition (1st prize, 1959)
Roles performed at the Novaya Opera:
Naina in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila
Bobylikha in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden
Ksenia's nurse in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov
Nanny in Rubinstein's The Demon
Giovanna in Verdi's Rigoletto
Clotilde in Bellini's Norma
Nanny in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Lucia in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana
Pig in Valdgardt's The Cat's House
Granny in Old Granny's Tales (Interactive performance for children to the music from Mussorgsky’s The Nursery and Pictures at an Exhibition song cycles)
Parts in the productions:
Romances by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergey Rachmaninov (concert)
Rossini (musical divertissement)
Discography:
Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Eugene Onegin (DVD) — Nurse
Rossini (DVD)
Vincenzo Bellini. Norma (DVD) — Clotilde
Rossini (CD) — Mezzo-soprano (12)
Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Eugene Onegin (CD) — Nurse
