Valentina Nafornița


Valentina Nafornița is a Moldavian operatic soprano. She is best known for her interpretation of Mozart and Bel Canto repertoire.

Childhood and Studies

Nafornița was born in Cuhnesti, Moldova. Interested in music from a young age, she began studying singing, violin and dancing as a child. She went on to graduate from the Ștefan Neaga Music College in Chişinău, Moldova in 2006, followed by a degree in Opera from the National University of Music in Bucharest, Romania. There, she studied under Eleonora Enăchescu and Maria Slatinaru-Nistor.
During and following her studies, she began entering vocal competitions, winning the Romanian Orange Prize for Young Musicians, the Hariclea Darclée Competition, and the Young Opera Singers of Europe Competition. In 2011, she won both the Singer of the World and the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Award at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. This marked a turning point in her career.

Career

In September 2011, Nafornita became a member of the Wiener Staatsoper ensemble, where she made her professional stage debut as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. As a member of the ensemble, she debuted numerous roles including: Musetta , Susanna ', Pamina, Adina , Norina ', Gilda ', Zerlina ', Nayade, Clorinda, Oscar , and Ilia '. Also in Vienna, in February 2013 and 2018, she was chosen as the singer to open the prestigious Vienna Opera Ball, the broadcast of which was viewed by over 1.5 million people in the Austrian/Bavarian region.
In 2014, she made her debut at the Salzburger Festspiele as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and in 2016, she made her debut in Paris in the role of Sophie at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées opposite Juan Diego Flórez and Joyce DiDonato. The following season, in September 2017, she made her Opéra national de Paris debut as Valencienne in Die lustige Witwe, and returned to the French capital as Servilia in November 2017, Adina in 2018, and as the title role in Iolanta in 2019.
In 2018, Nafornita made her debut at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma as Musetta, as well as her role and house debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at the Opéra de Lausanne. The later was broadcast on Arte, becoming one of the most viewed operas in 2018 on the channel's online platform.
Other notable debuts include Norina in a new production by Irina Brook with Juan Diego Flórez and Micaela Partusi, conducted by Jesús López Cobos. She was invited twice to perform in the televised Christmas in Vienna concert in 2015 and 2018, broadcast on ORF III and Arte. In 2017, she made her house debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg as Adina.
Highlights of her 2019/20 season include a role debut as Helena in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream', Norina in Don Pasquale, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and a role debut as Irina in Tri Sestri, all at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Adina in L'elisir d'amore'' at the Opéra de Lausanne and the Nationaltheater Mannheim.
Her debut album will be released on January 10, 2020.

Personal life

Valentina is based in Vienna, where she lives with her husband, baritone Mihai Dogotari. She is the patron of CCF Moldova, an organization which helps kids in need in her native Moldova.

Recordings