Aigul Akhmetshina stars this winter in Carrie Cracknell’s new production of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Courtesy of the Met Opera
At just 27 years old, Aigul Akhmetshina is already an international opera veteran and on the brink of yet another coup: starring in the Met Opera’s new production of Carmen, opening on New Year’s Eve.
Since the Russian mezzo-soprano’s debut at the Royal Opera House in 2017, at 21, Akhmetshina has drawn comparisons to Anna Netrebko and wowed audiences across the globe with her powerful voice and undeniable stage presence.
Under the direction of Carrie Cracknell (of Netflix’s Persuasion), her Carmen promises an unflinching look at the violence women face and how society confronts it (or doesn’t).
Written by French composer George Bizet in 1875 and originally set in Seville, Carmen is the story of a woman whose love for two men leads to her tragic death—giving opera one of its most intoxicating and memorable tunes, “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” or the Habanera.
We spoke to Akhmetshina at the Met about reimagining Carmen in 2023, how she relaxes in her off-hours, and what is at the top of a 20-something opera star’s Spotify Wrapped.
Vogue: Where are you from and how did you start singing?
Aigul Akhmetshina: What kind of music were you listening to as a kid?
Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion…I loved Queen! I love Depeche Mode now and Amy Winehouse.
Now my day can start with, say, listening to Wagner…the overture to Tannhäuser. Or it can start with jazz or salsa. Or I put on some Depeche Mode.
I am planning to see the jazz singer Samara Joy, which I am very excited about.
How did you go from singing folk songs in your village to debuting at the Royal Opera House in Covet Garden at 21?
My first performance was in kindergarten. I performed for the village..like a Mother’s Day celebration.
When I was six I decided I wanted to go to music school. For my mother it was a bit difficult; she was a single mother with three kids.
I finished music school early and left at 14 to go to college, to study classical singing. I also worked as a waitress and a stilt walker while I was there!
When I finished college, I was going to try and study music in the university in Moscow, but they didn’t accept me. That s unbelievable, sitting here now.
So there were some setbacks. Yes. I told my mother that after that I would choose to study something more stable, not music.
When I was returning home from Moscow, I got in a car accident that nearly ruined my voice. I put all of my awards and trophies from singing in a box in the garage labeled “Aigul’s Bullshit” and waited to apply to university the next year, maybe journalism or psychology.
But my teacher said no way and we started again, rebuilding my voice. I sounded like a dying animal. During that time, I got a phone call from a competition in Moscow, to compete.
There I met a casting director of a young artists program at the Royal Opera House, which eventually took me to London.
You’ve just come from London, where you did a performance with Marina Abramović involving famous scenes from Maria Callas’s career. How was that?
Tell me about this production of Carmen, which is a role you’ve done several times now. How is this production different?
This is the seventh production of Carmen for me. This season for me is full of Carmen; I call it “50 Shades of Carmen.” (Laughs.) I opened the season with Carmen in Munich, then I sang it in Berlin. Now I am singing it here in a new production. After, I will go to London, where it will be another new production. Then I have Carmen in Glyndebourne. Then in Napoli…constantly.
