Internationally recognized as one of today’s finest interpreters of Bizet’s Carmen, Rinat Shaham first performed the role at the 2004 Glyndebourne Festival and most recently jumped into a run at Barcelona’s Liceu She has since portrayed Carmen in over 45 productions worldwide including in Vienna, Rome, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Baden Baden, Lisbon, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Sydney, Moscow and throughout the USA and Asia.
Highlights this season include Margret in Wozzeck with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk and de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat alongside the London Symphony Orchestra- both under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle and a return to Bregenz for Flora in La Traviata.
2024/ 2025 highlights included a return to the Bayerische Staatsoper for Euryclée Pénélope, de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Sir Simon Rattle and Mahler’s Das Lied von Erde with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop.
In 2023/2024 Rinat Shaham returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper for Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and as Margret in Berg’s Wozzeck before travelling to Tokyo to perform in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Maestro Alan Gilbert and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. A further highlight of the 23/24 season included Rinat’s return to the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra for Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
2022/ 2023 saw Rinat’s debut at Teatro Colon, Argentina singing Judith in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle. This was followed by a return visit to the Wien Konzerthaus singing the Jeremiah Symphony under the baton of Marin Alsop with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Later that season, Rinat performed the Berio Folk Songs with the Rheinische Philharmonic before going to Opéra Royal de Wallonie - Liège to sing Fenena in Nabucco. Rinat closed the season at the Berlin Konzerhaus singing Mozart’s Requiem under the baton of Maestro Eschenbach.
In the 2021/22 season, Rinat returned to the Liceu Opera Barcelona twice singing Maddalena Rigoletto and Margret Wozzeck. Other highlights included the Jeremiah Symphony with the Orchestre National de Lille, Berlioz Nuit d’été with the Bochumer Symphoniker and Steven Sloane and Judith Bluebeard’s Castle with RSO Wien and Marin Alsop at the Wien Konzerthaus.
Past engagements have included performances of Ravel Shéhérazade with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra and Stéphane Denève; Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle with Karina Canellakis and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Robert Treviño and the Basque National Orchestra; her debut at the Bregenz Festival singing the roles of Maddalena and Giovanna in Verdi’s Rigoletto; the title role of Carmen for Opera Australia (Sydney and Melbourne), Wielki Theater Warsaw, Florida Grand Opera and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; Donna Elvira in a new production of Don Giovanni directed by Krysztof Warlikowski at La Monnaie, Brussels and at Angers Nantes Opera; Preziosilla in La forza del destino at English National Opera; a New Year’s Eve Gala with Christian Thielemann, Lang Lang and the Staatskapelle Dresden, broadcast across Europe on ZDF TV; Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with the Israel Philharmonic; Berlioz Les Nuits d’été with Dan Ettinger and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony.
She has recorded excerpts from operas by Lully under William Christie for Erato as well as a solo CD of Gershwin and Purcell and another of Benedetto Marcello with The Viol Group “Fuoco e Cenere” on ATMA. She made her feature film debut as the Jazz Singer in the István Szábo film, Taking Sides, with Harvey Keitel. Her performance as Carmen from Opera Australia has also been released on DVD.
September 2025
