Katerina Mina – Opera Soprano

Press Reviews

'African Sanctus' by David Fanshawe
with the Manama Singers in Bahrain

...The surprise of the evening was the soloist, Soprano Katerina Miná. She appeared on the stage like a little sparrow and proceeded to sing with aplomb and joy de vie [sic]. She added layers of depth and visualisation to the work that any singer coming after her will be hard put to replicate...

Christine Hasan - Gulf Weekly

...Katerina went on to sing superbly in 'African Sanctus', soaring over the choir with perfect empathy, in her rich, operatic tones. She was a joy to work with!...

Conductor, Alistair Auld - Bahrain

Mimi (La Bohème)
European Chamber Opera
Qanat al Qasbat

...The opulent-voiced Katerina Miná thoroughly inhabited Mimi in an emotionally convincing performance. She wowed audiences with both the beauty of her voice and the depth of her characterization...

GoDubai News

Elle - La Voix Humaine
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
Kypria International Music Festival 2009

... The most successful part of the evening was the "lyrique tragedy in one act" - La Voix Humaine... It is an extremely affecting and poignant work which is extremely taxing and demanding on the performer, both musically and dramatically. Miná gave an emotional reading of the call and ably moved through the heart rending panic, desolation and emotional turbulence of Elle. The interruptions of the crossed line were dramatic and her distraught feelings well portrayed.

Saskia Constantinou - Cyprus Mail

Nedda - I Pagliacci
(Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow)

...Cypriot soprano Katerina Mina as Canio’s young wife Nedda, impressed with her well pitched voice, her natural acting abilities and her ease on the stage....

Kypria International Festival Newspaper

Leicester Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Roland Melia

...The rich voices of soprano Katerina Miná and tenor James Edwards brought to life such delights as Dvorak's Song to the Moon and Puccini's Nessun Dorma.
The two voices were well matched as duettists in Puccini's O Soave Fanciulla and Lloyd Webber's All I Ask of You...

Peter Collett - Leicester Mercury

Roman River Festival
Recital with Pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips

...We presented our first ever full song recital by the stunning young soprano Katerina Mina in the candle-lit church, featuring Schumann's wonderful cycle Frauenliebe und -leben, set to poems by the great French poet Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamissot... The whole festival was brilliant from the marvellous film to the jazz. Katerina Mina was spellbinding - I am sure she will go far. We are so lucky to be able to hear and watch first class musicians in our rural setting... a wonderful feast...

Zelie Jopling

'For the Love of Life'
Charity Concert
with Anthony Legge and James Edwards

...Katerina Miná, who honours our country with her artistic and charity action, and accomplished British tenor James Edwards performed successfully 'O Soave Fanciulla'... The culmination of the programme was their duet 'Vogliatemi Bene' from Madama Butterfly... Katerina Miná deserved the audience's prolonged applause which prompted her to perform yet another piece, this time the non-operatic but, nonetheless, captivating song 'Hartino to Feggaraki' by Manos Hadjidakis, to receive yet another hearty acclamation from the audience...
...The British pianist and tenor were worthy of every commendation. Katerina Miná was, nevertheless. the performer who deservedly earned the audience's enthusiasm, who more than ever excelled herself with her beauty, imposing presence and technical training, her interpretation and resplendent voice. If she can successfully perform arias immortalised by the performances of great artists, such as Maria Callas, before the audience and evoke such enthusiasm, this could only mean that our Cypriot star is rising high the firmament of art'.

Donis Christofinis - Haravgi Newspaper

Recital with Pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips
(Roman River Festival)

Sublime recital left us sbellbound. Katerina Miná – a consummate musician

‘...This year's candlelit song recital certainly played its part in fulfilling the promise of a rich musical mix at this year's Roman River Festival. The programme began with a varied and interesting selection of fairly unfamiliar songs, giving soprano Katerina Miná and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips ample scope to display their consummate musicianship; Liszt's 'Oh! quand je dors' was sublimely lyrical and Bizet's 'Ouvre ton Coeur' with its unrelenting rhythmic urgency and folk song quality quite thrilling...
The performers excelled themselves after the interval with a heartfelt account of Schumann's bitter-sweet song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben. Ms Miná was entirely convincing as the protagonist and had the audience with her every step of the way as she grew from an excited lovesick young maiden, into a contended and devoted wife and mother. Her final song portraying total desolation on the death of her beloved was truly breathtaking...

Jackie Wallace – Colchester

Nedda - I Pagliacci
(Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow)

‘...Cypriot soprano Katerina Miná gave a good vocal rendition of Nedda as well as displaying her natural acting abilities; her ease and comfort on the stage visible and convincing, her high notes were all well pitched and nicely rounded...

Saskia Constantinou – Cyprus Mail

Recital of Schubert Lieder:

‘...On Thursday 6 March 2008 Nicosia's music lover public had a unique opportunity to enjoy an excellent recital...With her interpretative power, her serious approach towards the art, her expressive power and above all her beautiful voice, Katerina Mina succeeded in making it possible for most of us, who do not understand the german language, to participate in high art.
Using stage acting and phonetic plasticity, Katerina Miná successfully expressed the spiritual transitions and nuances of feelings from joy to sadness, nostalgia, melancholy, daydreaming and hope...
The recital was for Katerina another step in her successful course towards the top of the art. With her rich qualifications, her talent and her continuous serious and intensive practise, it is certain that her star will reach the highest point, for her own artistic consummation and for Cyprus’

Donis Christofinis – Haravgi Newspaper

Launching the Euro

‘...Soprano Katerina Miná not only looked beautiful, but sang beautifully too. Her voice had pathos and negotiated the high lyric writing skilfully, never losing the diction, so important in this work.
(Symphonic Poem Eleni for voice and orchestra by Christos Pittas)...
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra showed incredible teamwork under Baltas and together with Katerina Miná, tenor Nikos Stefanou, baritone Kyros Patsalides and troubadour Alkinoos Ioannidis gave a solid performance...
(world premiere of Rime d'Amore by Christos Pittas) ’

Saskia Constantinou – Cyprus Mail

Leighton House Concert

‘A capacity audience had turned up to fill the elegant recital studio at Leighton House and there was a buzz of excitement in the air as we waited to hear this attractive young soprano, in what proved to be a most enjoyable evenng's entertainment.
Katerina has one of those clear–as–a–bell soprano voices, displayed with great charm to the top of the register, and with generous volume. She was accompanied by the seasoned pianist Anthony Legge, playing with his usual panache.
....attention turned to the world of opera, with a selection of arias ranging from Mozart to Puccini. these are testing pieces for a young singer, especially when she has to tacklefive big arias in rapid succession, and I was impressed by the style and contrasting moods with which Katerina presented them.
I particularly enjoyed her extract from Adriana Lecouvreur and she exactly caught the wistful longing of Weber's heroine, Agathe,......I look forward to hearing her again.’

Serena Fenwick – Musical Pointers

LMS International Chamber Music Festival

‘...Greek-Cypriot soprano Katerina Miná sang Sibelius and Grieg in Swedish and Norwegian having received intensive training in both languages to reach this high performance level. She has a richly varied voice, and handled these fiendishly difficult songs ably... The highlight of the evening was Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben... Katerina, with her cultivated dramatic sense and her no-holds-barred passion made something special of this poignant cycle... These songs need a light, deft touch and her young soprano voice was suited to the young girl, bride, mother and widow of the cycle... Her delivery of the German words was very responsive, with her voice retaining its rich, warm, and luminous tone. The narrative line was sustained through the eight songs, with the anticipation leading from joy to ecstasy, to the final aching grief...’

Saskia Constantinou – Cyprus Mail

Fiordiligi, Cosi fan tutte

‘...Vocal standards matched up to the acting; I was particularly impressed by Katerina Miná, who produced one of the best Come scoglios I've heard from a singer of her age...’

Serena Fenwick – Musical Pointers

‘...The two sisters are lovingly portrayed by Katerina Miná and Claire Turner, who combine the heartbreaks of love with the heartbreaks of flirtation as they are seduced by their fiancées in disguise...’

Inga Vesper – London

Sibelius Concerts

‘...Katerina Miná is a pearl. Her mature voice has a given place in any Music Hall. I hope we listen to her often in Finland...’

Göran Stenius – Helsinki

Scena di Berenice

‘...The Georgian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Markus Poschner, in its last concert ‘The new Europe’, succeeded in approaching this attractive country in a musical way. Both the young talented pianist Irma Issakadze and the soprano Katerina Miná who was born in Cyprus played a role in this. The last dominated with the cantata, ‘Berenice che fai’ (a dramatic love song), composed by Haydn. The smooth and resplendent sound of her voice, as well as the sensual and comparably expressive performed sections interweaved with the dynamic, precisely harmonized sounds of the orchestra... ’

Johannes Seifert – Ingolstadt

Karolka, Jenufa

‘...Katerina Miná’s ghastly Karolka was a fine characterization...’

Barry Tone – Primi Divi, Wolverhampton

‘...his wife (Penny Ormerod) and daughter (Katerina Miná) look and sound related and are suitably patronizing of Jenufa...’

Catriona Graham – Perth

Leicester Symphony Orchestra

‘...The two soloists, Katerina Miná (soprano) and Dominic Natoli (tenor) were superb, both individually and as a duet...’

Leicester Mercury – Leicester

Concerts in Norwich

‘...But the height of them was undoubtedly the discovery of soprano Katerina Miná, with a dark, ravishingly beautiful soprano voice. Her first song drew a storm of applause and each song thereafter had the same breathing sense of theatre, of ancient yearning and tragedy...’

Eastern Daily Press – Norfolk and Norwich

Maria, West Side Story

‘...The first half of the program would have been enough to send us all home delighted, but there was much more to come: ‘West Side Story’ which brought with it yet another revelation in the person of 23 year old Katerina Miná. She is sensational and her faultless rendering of Bernstein’s classic songs ‘Somewhere’ and ‘I Feel Pretty’ almost brought the house down. Miná is obviously a major talent that we shall be hearing much more of...’

The Cyprus Weekly – Cyprus