The Heavenly Début of Ruzan Mantashyan Royal Opera House in London

Among her more recent roles are Natacha Rostova (“War and Peace”) in Geneva, Tatyana (“Eugene Onegin”) in Liège, Fiordiligi (“Così fan tutte”) in Zurich, Tatyana and Alice Ford (“Falstaff”) at the Komische Oper Berlin and Rachel (“La Juive”) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Mantashyan’s Mimi (“La Bohème”) is certainly one of her most acclaimed roles, performed in Geneva, Zurich and London.

Mantashyan was a finalist in the Francisco Vinas International Singing Contest in Barcelona, winning the competition’s Special Prize. She is also the winner of the Italian Toti dal Monte International Singing Competition for her role as Musetta (“La Bohème”).

Currently Mantashyan lives in Germany with her Ukrainian husband, who is also opera singer, and their baby boy, she told me. Curiously, she is not represented by a top agency but by a small Paris-based firm called Masis, yet their collaboration has proved fruitful and mutually rewarding.

“La Bohème,” Puccini’s much-loved opera about friendship, passion, poverty and endurance, is set in the bohemian Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1890s. A group of young artists and intellectuals care more about their artistic integrity and freedom than financial gain, sharing what little they have with one other. The central characters of the libretto, written by playwright Luigi Illica and poet Giuseppe Giacosa, are Rodolpho – a penniless poet — and his young and beautiful neighbor Mimi — a poor seamstress, who suffers from tuberculosis (TB).  The opera was first performed in Turin’s Teatro Regio in Italy under the baton of mythical Arturo Toscanini in 1896; a year later it premiered in Covent Garden, in 1897. Since the London inauguration, “La Bohème” has been one of the most beloved operas of London audiences, and the most performed opera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

The current production was the revival of the 2017 version directed by Richard Jones, with three sopranos performing the title role on different dates: Romanian diva Angela Georghiu, Chilean soprano Yarotza Veliz and Ruzan Mantashyan. Nonetheless, the Armenian soprano, performing on opening night, immediately caught the attention of the British critics, while spectators greeted her performances with fervor and excitement.

The British press did not delay praising Mantashyan’s début with a rare enthusiasm. Thus, The Express (25.01.2024) reviewer stated, “a glorious Covent Garden début for Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan.” Meanwhile Stephen Pritchard advised his readers: “choose a night when the Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan is singing Mimi. You won’t be disappointed – she’s a star. On opening night, making her Royal Opera House début, Mantashyan swept all before her in a delightfully controlled, touching performance, enhanced by a voice that would melt the stoniest of hearts” (https://bachtrack.com/review-boheme-mantashyan-pirgu-timoshenko-fagan-royal-opera-london-january-2024).