After studying piano at the Belgrade Academy of Music, she studied singing at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. She is the winner of several international awards, including First Prize at the National Competition for Young Singers in the Netherlands and the Prix Jeunesse at the International Opera Competition of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Her international breakthrough came at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2000 as Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria under William Christie with his ensemble, Les Arts Florissants.
In the summer of 2004, Mijanovic celebrated her successful début at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, singing Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda under Emmanuelle Haim. At the Nederlandse Opera and at the Opéra National de Paris, Mijanovic gave guest performances in the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto under Marc Minkowski and also interpreted this role on an extended European tour with the Musiciens du Louvre. In 2007, she was heard in the same role under the conductorship of René Jacobs at both the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, and the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels.
Marijana Mijanovic has also celebrated important successes in Handel roles at Zurich Opera House, where she débuted as Disinganno in Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno under Marc Minkowski, a production that was also staged at Madrid’s Teatro Real in 2008. This was followed by title roles in Radamisto and Orlando, conducted by William Christie, and Ottone in Agrippina under Marc Minkowski.
Marijana Mijanovic has been a sought-after soloist at the world’s major opera houses and concert halls, as well as prestigious festivals. She works with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, William Christie, Alan Curtis, Hartmut Haenchen, James Conlon, Emmanuelle Haïm, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Paul McCreesh, Andrea Marcon, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
Marijana Mijanovic’s interpretations are documented on numerous complete recordings, such as Handel’s Giulio Cesare under Marc Minkowski; Vivaldi’s Bajazet under Fabio Biondi; Conti’s David, Handel’s Rodelinda and Floridante, as well as Vivaldi’s Motezuma under Alan Curtis; Vivaldi’s Tito Manlio under Ottavio Dantone.
Besides her interpretation of Handel’s Orlando with William Christie, Marijana Mijanovic can also be seen on DVD as Giuditta in Mozart’s La betulia liberate at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Christoph Poppen and as Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria under William Christie. Affetti barocchi, Marijana Mijanovic’s solo album, featuring Handel arias, was issued by Sony/BMG in 2007.
Since 2011, Marijana Mijanovic Marijana Mijanović is also very devoted to teaching. She has been regularily invited as a guest teacher at the High School of Music in Zürich, Belgrade Academy of Music, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Schola Cantorum Basel. She is the co-founder and the artistic co-director of the Belgrade Baroque Academy and co-founder and artistic adviser of the New Belgrade Opera.
DISCOGRAPHY
Georg Friedrich Händel, Orlando (Orlando). William Christie/La Scintilla/Opernhaus Zürich. ARTHAUS 2008 (DVD)
Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, David (David). Alan Curtis/Il Complesso Barocco. Virgin/EMI 2007 (CD).
Georg Friedrich Händel, Affetti barocchi. Sergio Comei/Kammerorchester Basel. Sony BMG 2007 (CD).
Georg Friedrich Händel, Floridante (Floridante). Alan Curtis/Il Complesso Barocco. Archiv/Universal 2007 (CD).
Antonio Vivaldi, Motezuma (Mitrena). Alan Curtis/Il Complesso Barocco. Archiv/Universal 2006 (CD).
Antonio Vivaldi, Tito Manlio (Vitellia). Ottavio Dantone/Accademia Bizantina. Naïve 2006 (CD).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, La Betulia liberata (Giuditta). Christoph Poppen/Münchener Kammerorchester. Deutsche Grammophon 2006 (DVD).
Antonio Vivaldi, Bajazet (Asteria). Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante. Virgin/Emi/ 2005 (CD).
Georg Friedrich Händel, Rodelinda (Bertarido). Alan Curtis/Il Complesso Barocco. Archiv/Universal 2005 (CD).
Claudio Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (Penelope). William Christie/Les Arts Florissants. EMI 2004 (DVD).
Georg Friedrich Händel, Giulio Cesare (Giulio Cesare). Marc Minkowski/Les Musiciens du Louvre. Archiv/Universal 2003 (CD).
Georg Friedrich Händel, La Resurrezione (Cleofe). Jan Willem de Vriend/Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. Challenge 2002 (CD); 2006 (DVD).
Georg Friedrich Händel, Arcadian Duets. Emmanuelle Haïm/Le concert d’Astrée. Virgin/EMI 2002.
VIDEO GALLERY