soprano
"...Nicolaidou is admirable, but her most important feature is the quality of color of the voice; very round and fleshy"(Mahler, Bilbao)
Praised by the French press as "a honey-colored voice with a noble sound and moving presence", Cypriot soprano Zoe Nicolaidou studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna – Magister Artium. A laureate of the prestigious Atelier Lyrique at Opera de Paris she received the Award for the most promising young singer of the season, Le Prix Lyrique du cercle Carpeaux.
Nicolaidou made her debut at the Opera National de Paris as Prima Sorella in Puccini’s Suor Angelica under Music Director Philippe Jordan, and returned to perform the roles of Kathe in Fenelon’s Faust under Bernharndt Kontarsky, Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro under the baton of Evelino Pido and Dan Ettinger, Amor in Gluck’s Orpheus und Eurydike under Thomas Hengelbrock, and the soprano solo in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. Soon after, she made her debut at the Rudolphinum in Prague in the world premiere of Kabat's piece for string quartet and soprano Misterium Fidei. (Vlach Quartet)
Operatic highlights include the roles of Amor (Gluck’s Orpheus und Eurydike) at Palais Garnier and at the Lincoln Center in New York, Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) at the Festival Oper Klosterneuburg and from the same opera, Contessa in a New Year's concert at the Montpellier Opéra Corum; Serpetta (Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera) in France under Guillaume Tourniaire; Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice) and Flower girl (Wagner’s Parsifal) at Theater Aachen, Micaëla (Bizet’s Carmen) in Vienna; Mae Jones (Kurt Weill’s Street Scene) at the Amphitheatre Bastille; Popelka (Martinu’s Veselohra na
moste) at the Festival Retz in Austria; The Fairy and The Night (Purcell’s The Fairy Queen) in Theatre du Jorat (Switzerland); The Mother (Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors) at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York; Amore and Valetto (L'incoronazione di Poppea) at the Festival de Menton, France under Maestro J.C. Spinosi.
Concert perfomances across Europe have included: Brahms’ Requiem (Festival La Roque d’Antheron), Mahler's Symphony No.4 (Bilbao Concert Hall, Palacio Euskalduna Kuursaal, Vittoria Theatre and Pamplona Auditorio under conductor Jun Merkl ) as well as in Portugal (Casa da Musica de Porto) and Thessaloniki State Orchestra; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Magnificat, Haydn’s Stabat Mater and Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers, Bach’s B minor Mass (Real Filharmonia de Galicia under the baton of Antoni Ros-Marba), Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgefahrt (Amphitheatre Bastille), Von Williams' Serenade to Music (in Palais Garnier conducted by Philippe Jordan), Händel's Dixit Dominus and Vivaldi's Gloria (Palau de la Musica Cataluña Barcelona, Chapelle de la Trinité in Lyon, Angers Nantes Opera and Chapelle Royale de Versailles conducted by Jean Christophe Spinosi); Ravel's Mélodies Hébraïques at Casa da Musica in Portugal, Faure’s Requiem and Handel’s The Messiah with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, song recitals at the Pharos Foundation in Cyprus (Piano Olga Zado), as well as a number of world premieres including Piotr Moss' Et apres eux le silence.
She has furtermore appeared in renowned venues and festivals including Palais Garnier in Paris, Musikverein Wien, Lincoln Center in New York, Villa Medicis in Rome, Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Casa da Musica in Portugal, Festival Echternach, Festival La Roque d’Antheron, Wratislavia Cantans Festival, Wiltz Festival, Opéra de Toulon, Klangvokal Dortmund Festival, Cairo Opera House.
Nicolaidou has begun in recent years focusing on more full lyrical roles ranging from Mozart to Verdi and Puccini heroines including: La Contessa, Donna Elvira, Desdemona, Luisa Miller, Amelia (Boccanegra), Mimi, Liu and Rusalka
Her most recent Role Debuts include: Antonia (Les Contes d’ Hofmann) in Austria (Oper Rund um), a jump in as Violetta (La Traviata) in Opera La Baugé in France and Nedda (I Pagliacci) at the Ehrbaarsaal in Vienna.
Zoe Nicolaidou has recorded Mahler’s Fourth Symphony for Skarbo Recording Label.
She is the First Prize-winner of the Kyrenia Opera Award and the Schlossoper Haldenstein International Singing Competition.