About | mirjam-mesak-soprano

Estonian soprano Mirjam Mesak is a current member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble, where she has left an indelible impression in roles from Iolanta to Musetta. In September 2022, she portrayed the leading role in Axel Ranisch’s film “Orphea in Love” which premiered at the Bavarian State Opera – proving that the soprano possesses not only an “outstanding voice” (Crescendo) but is also a skilled actress. The film was subsequently released in cinemas throughout Germany.

The 2023/24 season marks several exciting debuts for Mirjam Mesak. She makes her house debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo singing Tebaldo in a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo staged by Davide Livermore. She also adds to her repertoire the role of Xenia in Boris Godunov under the auspices of the Bayerische Staatsoper and sees her first performances with the Royal Danish Opera as Michal in Barrie Kosky’s production of Saul. Additionally in Munich, she reprises the roles of Musetta in La bohème and Dama di Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and will also be seen in Shostakovich’s The Nose staged by Kirill Serebrennikov and led by Vladimir Jurowski, Verdi’s Il trovatore under Antonino Fogliani, and Wagner’s Parsifal conducted by Adam Fischer.

In Estonia, Mirjam appears regularly with the Estonian National Opera, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra. In the 2023/24 season, she appears as a soloist in Symphony No.2 (Mahler) with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under maestro Neeme Järvi, and gives two New Year’s concerts with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Kaspar Mänd. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of Rudolf Tobias, the first Estonian professional composer and organist, she is recording his Oratorio "Joonas" with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Tõnu Kaljuste.

Last season in Munich, Mirjam Mesak made her debut as Oscar in Johannes Erath’s production of Un Ballo in Maschera under Ivan Repušic. She also joined Der Freischütz as Ännchen conducted by Lothar Koenigs. Additionally, Mirjam was heard as Tebaldo (Don Carlo) under Andrea Battistoni, Anna (Nabucco) conducted by Daniele Rustioni, 1st Sprite (Rusalka) under Henrik Nánási, The Cunning Little Vixen led by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and Musetta in La bohème conducted by Juraj Valcuha. She successfully jumped in for maestro Marek Janowski’s final concerts as the Music Director of the Dresdner Philharmonie.

In 2021/22 Mirjam appeared in an all-star cast of La bohème conducted by Asher Fisch, streamed internationally by the Bayerische Staatsoper, where her portrayal of Musetta was praised for its “beauty and elegance” (Opera Wire). She also appeared as Juliette in Simon Stone’s landmark production of Die tote Stadt under Kirill Petrenko, since released on DVD. Her portrayal of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Cuvilliés Theater conducted by Alevtina Ioffe earned Mirjam unanimous critical acclaim for her ability to bring an ‘unbelievable amount of depth’ to the character (Bachtrack) and can also be found on DVD. In her hometown Tallinn, Mirjam made a critically acclaimed debut as Norina in Don Pasquale with the Estonian National Opera conducted by Arvo Volmer.

During her tenure in Munich’s Opernstudio, Mirjam made tremendous impressions not only as Iolanta, but also in the roles of Freia (Das Rheingold), Nella (Gianni Schicchi) conducted by Daniele Rustioni, and the Dew Fairy in Richard Jones’ Hänsel und Gretel under Patrick Lange.

Mirjam Mesak is a graduate of Guildhall School of Music & Drama (First Class Honours) where she studied under the tutelage of Prof. Rudolf Piernay. She has performed as a soloist in several of London’s renowned concert halls such as the Barbican Hall, Milton Court Concert Hall (including as part of the LSO’s ‘This is Rattle’ festival), and Wigmore Hall.

In 2019 she was awarded with the Bavarian Art Prize in the section Performing Arts (Bayerische Kunstförderpreis in Der Sparte Darstellende Kunst).