Marina Colda
Born in Carinthia, soprano Marina Margaritta Colda has been singing since early childhood and was selected for music theatre projects with children in her teens (including Papagena in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Peppi the Rosebud in Mayathe Bee by Bruno Bjelinski – both at the Villach Congress Centre, Mexican Death in the rock opera Maximilian at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt). At the age of eighteen she began studying concert singing and later vocal pedagogy at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. During her studies she already performed in various roles: (among others: Princess in Puss in Boots by César Cui, Papagena in The Magic Flute and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart, Ida in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, Sandmännchen and Taumännchen in Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck, Lucy in The Telephone or L’amour á trois by Gian Carlo Menotti, Musetta in La Bohème by Puccini, Sophie in Die weiße Rose by Udo Zimmermann). She has also been engaged in oratorio (soprano solo in Mozart’s Requiem at the Schottenkirche, soprano solo in Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Casino Baden). She appeared in the opera Brundibár by Hans Krása (who was murdered by the National Socialists in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1944), which was performed in the course of a memorial service on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance against Violence and Racism in the Austrian Parliament and broadcast live on ORF. Further engagements in the genre of musical theatre followed: Marie in Grüezi – Der wilde Mann by Robert Stolz with the Ensemble Mutz (Musiktheater Zürich) at the “Weisser Wind” house in Zurich, Adele in Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss at theKUMST (Kulturverein Marchfeld Strasshof) with the Ensemble Oper@Tee, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel by Humperdinck at Oper in der Krypta. The versatile singer has also performed alongside well-known actors. After playing and singing Die Jugend in Der Bauer als Millionär by Raimund at the Theater in der Josefstadt under the direction of Josef Köpplinger, she was invited to Kobersdorf for the Schlossspiele under the artistic direction of Wolfgang Böck, where she impersonated Nannette in Das Mädl aus der Vorstadt by Nestroy (director: Beverly Blankenship). Most recently she appeared as Rita in the operetta Die Rose des Kaisers by Paul Hertel, directed by Gernot Kranner, at the Theater Center Forum and the Kaiserbahnhof Laxenburg. In the last few years she has repeatedly dealt in depth with songs by female composers. For example, she sang selected songs in the context of the exhibition “Musica Femina” at the Orangerie Schönbrunn as well as in a concert programme on Clara Schumann, which was arranged at the Klaviergalerie Wien for the Soroptimistinnen Association. In the course of these projects she dealt with song repertoire by Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Cecile Chaminade and especially Pauline Viardot. In 2023 Marina Colda, accompanied by the pianist Julia Tinhof, recorded songs by the Austrian composer Victor Urbancic, who emigrated to Iceland in 1938. These recordings were released under the title Vorahnung by the Viennese label Gramola.The album release concert took place at the Exilarte Center for Banned Music. Julia Stemberger also read poems by Victor Urbancic's wife, Melitta Urbancic. With a selection of pieces from the album, the artsong duo is also touring Iceland in July 2023.