LU WEI

The Chinese mezzo-soprano Lu Wei graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in China from Shandong University and the China Conservatory of Music. She is currently a PhD student at the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland, where she studies with Professor Katarzyna Suska-Zagórska. In 2017, she starred in the Chinese national opera Sister Jiang and performed in a lecture-concert on Le Barbier de Séville. Her accolades include third place at the 58th Dvořák International Vocal Competition (2024) and second place at the 25th Mikuláša Schneidera-Trnavského International Vocal Competition (2023).

This eclectic program spans the operatic repertoire from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, highlighting the mezzo-soprano’s versatility. The first round combines Rossini’s Bel canto with Isabella’s aria from L’Italiana in Algeri, in which the protagonist laments her fate, and a highly lyrical aria by Orphée from Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice. The semi-final offers a contrast between the Baroque and the twentieth century: Ariodante’s aria from Händel’s Ariodante, where the prince expresses his joy after discovering his beloved’s betrayal, a piece of great coloratura and virtuosity, and Annina’s aria from Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street, where the character expresses her simple faith despite the problems surrounding her.