awards
2022
Lifetime Member of the Immortals’ Troupe
2020
Kossuth Prize
2018
Hungarian Academy of Arts Scholarship
Kammersängerin of the Hungarian State Opera
2016
Vastaps Special Prize for Fiordiligi, Katona József Színház
Award of Excellence for Violetta, City of Debrecen
Székely Mihály Memorial Medal
Ágai Karola and Szendrey-Karper László Memorial Medal
2013
Kammersängerin of the Hungarian State Opera
2011
Fonogram Prize Nomination (Liszt Songs CD)
2010
Liszt Prize
2005
Artisjus Prize
2003
Special Prize and 2nd place International Haydn Singing Competition
2000
1st place and Special Prize Hungarian Radio Singing Competition
1997
Special Prize Toti dal Monte singing competition, Treviso
2nd place, III. Budapest International Singing Competition
bio
Klára Kolonits (dramatic coloratura soprano)
Klára Kolonits was born in Budapest. She graduated from Franz Liszt Academy of Music. After having won a series of prizes in major music competitions she has been engaged by the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest in 2002, remaining its soloist since then.
In 2010 she has been awarded with a prestigious Liszt Prize. In 2013 and again in 2018 she received the title of Kammersängerin of the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest. Also in 2018 she received Hungarian Academy of Arts Scholarship for her educational project Master Class: Let’s Build a singer!
In 2020, she received Kossuth Prize, which is the topmost acknowledgment by the Hungarian State for work in the field of Hungarian culture. for her exceptionally virtuoso singing technique, splendid bel canto repertoire, highest artistic quality presented both in Hungary and abroad.
The core of her stage repertoire are the great bel canto roles, among others the eponymous Norma (Nadine Duffaut‘s production in Hungary, Anne Delbée‘s production in Toulouse under the baton of Giampaolo Bisanti), title role in Maria Stuarda, original version of Lucia di Lammermoor and its reprise in traditional keys with Antonello Allemandi, Puritani’s Elvira with Riccardo Frizza, Giulietta (I Capuleti ed i Montecchi), Lucrezia Borgia and Beatrice di Tenda in Denmark as well as as Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) on the stage of Hungarian State Opera. In 2022 she gave a recital of bel canto arias during Festival Lyrique en Tronçais. The Hungarian bel canto is also exceptionally close to her heart, represented by the heroines of Ferenc Erkel: Melinda (Bánk Bán), Szilágyi Erzsébet (Hunyadi László), Bátori Mária, Erzsébet and Crescimira (King Stephen).
Her Verdian repertoire includes Violetta (among others in Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia), Odabella (among others in Nürnberg in the staging of Peter Konwitschny), Gilda (Rigoletto), Gulnara (Il Corsaro), Luisa Miller, Maria-Amelia in the Phillip Himmelmann production of Simon Boccanegra in Rouen, under the baton of Antonello Allemandi.
The third pillar of her stage repertoire is Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Konstanze), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna in Austria and Croatia), Cosi fan tutte (Fiordiligi), Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess), Ascanio in Alba (Fauno) and the Magic Flute (Queen of the night in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Finland, where she sang the role in Finnish).
Another important item in her repertoire is the triple role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann(Olympia-Giulietta-Antonia) which she performed in many productions in Hungary, in Spain and in Czech Republic. She also performs rarities like Marschner’s Malwina and Offenbach’s Belle Helene, as well as classical operetta.
Important part of her career is the interpretation od immensely rich Lied/Art Song literature performed in original languages on the Liederabend concerts in Hungary and abroad.
On the concert stage she is particularly appraised for her interpretation of soprano part in Verdi’s Requiem, that she frequently performs: among others in Yekaterinburg with Dmitry Liss and in Budapest with Daniele Rustioni.
In 2009 EMI / Hunnia Records issued her Liszt Songs CD album, which has been nominated to Fonogram award. Recorded with Hungarian Studio Orchestra under the baton of Dániel Dinyés, the Bel Canto Reloaded album was issued in December 2014. It consists of gems of Bel Canto literature such as Anna Bolena’s complete mad scene, Elvira’s aria from I Puritani and fanfarous cabaletta from the first edition of Verdi’s Macbeth. Having quickly received unanimously enthusiastic reviews from the critics and the audience, it has also caused a growing interest in that particular repertoire and style. In 2023 she recorded a new album featuring the most important Erkel scenes which is going to be issued in the following months.
In between her opera engagements, Klára Kolonits is an avid gardener and rosarian, tending to nearly 300 roses in her gardens near Budapest.