Biography & discography Marijana Mijanovic Contralto The contralto Marijana Mijanovic was born in Serbia. After studying the piano at the Belgrade Academy of Music, she studied singing at the Conservatorium Sweelinck, Amsterdam, with Cora Canne Meijer. Marijana Mijanovic is the winner of several international awards, including First Prize at the National Competition for Young Singers in the Netherlands and the Prix Jeunesse at the International Opera Competition of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Her international breakthrough came at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2000 as Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria under William Christie with his ensemble, Les Arts Florissants. In the ensuing years, Mijanovic gave highly acclaimed guest performances with this production – which is also documented on DVD – in Lausanne, London, New York and at the Vienna Festival. On tour with the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Marijana Mijanovic sang Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda; in the summer of 2004, she celebrated her successful début at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival in the same role.
Mijanovic gave guest performances in the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Nederlandse Opera and at the Palais Garnier in Paris under Marc Minkowski, and also interpreted this role on an extended tour of Europe with the Musiciens du Louvre. In 2007, she was heard in the same role under the conductorship of René Jacobs at both the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, and the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Marijana Mijanovic has also celebrated important successes in Handel roles at Zurich Opera House, where she débuted as Disinganno in Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno under Marc Minkowski, a production that was also staged at Madrid’s Teatro Real in 2008. This was followed by title roles in Radamisto and Orlando, conducted by William Christie, and Ottone in Agrippina under Marc Minkowski.
As a baroque specialist, Marijana Mijanovic has also performed at other opera houses with conductors such as William Christie, Alan Curtis, Paul McCreesh and Marc Minkowski.
Marijana Mijanovic’s interpretations are documented on numerous complete recordings, such as Handel’s Giulio Cesare under Marc Minkowski; Vivaldi’s Bajazet under Fabio Biondi; Handel’s Rodelinda under Alan Curtis; Vivaldi’s Tito Manlio under Ottavio Dantone; and Conti’s David under Alan Curtis. Besides her performance in Orlando with William Christie, Marijana Mijanovic can also be seen on DVD as Giuditta in Mozart’s La betulia liberata at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Christoph Poppen. This production toured Europe under Nikolaus Harnoncourt in 2006. Affetti barocchi, Marijana Mijanovic’s solo album featuring Handel arias, was issued by Sony/BMG in 2007. Besides her work in opera, Marijana Mijanovic is frequently heard on the concert stages of cities such as Amsterdam, Milan, Brussels, Munich, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Zurich, Vienna, New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris, working with conductors like James Conlon, Hartmut Haenchen, Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie, John Nelson, Andrea Marcon, Christophe Rousset, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
Marijana Mijanovic lives in Switzerland.