Trained as a pianist and as a singer in her native Bucharest, the Romanian mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose at first enjoyed a double career, with success in international competitions and concert engagements. She began her operatic career in 1991 at the Basle Theatre in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová, the latter a rôle in which she made her début in 1992 at the Vienna State Opera, with Rossini’s Tancredi in Salzburg in the same year. She enjoys a successful international career, in major opera houses in Europe and as far afield as Brazil, working with conductors and companies of the greatest distinction.