Kristīne Opolais

Kristīne Opolais (born 12 November 1979) is a Latvian operatic soprano.

Biography Opolais was born in Rēzekne, Latvia, and studied at the Latvian Academy of Music.

Opolais started her career as a member of the chorus with Latvian National Opera in 2001, and in 2003 became a soloist. It was there that she met her future husband, the conductor Andris Nelsons. In 2013, she made her debut at The Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall, singing arias by Verdi and Tchaikovsky, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The substitution was necessitated by the scheduled Anita Hartig being too ill to perform. Although Opolais had performed the role several times in the past, including at the Vienna State Opera, she was currently in the title role of another opera, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and had sung it there for the first time the previous evening. She had not fallen asleep until about 5am, but was woken by a 7:30am phone call asking her to sing again at the 1pm matinee, which was being broadcast around the world as part of the Met's Live in HD series. Opolais performed the part again at the Metropolitan Opera's 2014/15 season production.

Opolais performed the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut at Covent Garden in the 2013/14 season and also at the New York Met in February and March 2016.

In February and March 2017, she appeared as Rusalka in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Dvořák's opera.

Personal life Opolais married conductor Andris Nelsons, a fellow Latvian, in 2011 and they divorced in 2018. Their daughter was born in December 2011.