Georgian bass Goderdzi Janelidze and Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Justina Gringytė, made their debuts at Opéra national de Paris in the first revival of Claus Guth’s production of Rigoletto at the Opéra Bastille. 

“Justina Gringytė plays a Maddalena with a round, supple and warm voice…” Lara Othman, Olyrix. 

Justina Gringyte kicks up a storm in all Preziosilla’s guises (Telegraph) in the most dramatically problematic of the mature operas conducted by Carlo Rizzi and directed by David Pountney.

“You can’t fault the soloists for dramatic intensity or vocal heft. The commitment is immense,” according to The TImes.

Mark Pullinger (Bachtrack) says, “Sometimes masked, sometimes in diamantine top hat and tails like a cabaret artiste, Justina Gringyte’s Preziosilla dominates the action. She made the greatest impact on opening night. Her granite-toned mezzo was in thrilling condition, especially when imperiously sitting astride a tank’s gun to deliver the rousing Rataplan chorus, a huge blast at the end scattering her victims. Preziosilla spins Pountney’s Force of Destiny.”

On 17th September 2016, Vilnius City Opera staged a brand new, innovative electronic production entitled “e-Carmen”, of which Justina was cast in the title role. This ambitious new production, which was composed by Marijus Adomaitis and inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, has been praised by local press, with Asta Andrikonyte (Lietuvos rytas Culture Magazine) writing:

“Many people have been waiting for the new Vilnius City Opera project “e-Carmen” with anxiety, not expecting that you can squeeze the emotions of Carmen into an electronic cage. However, they achieved the impossible – the electronic version of Carmen at Compensa Hall, conducted by Richard Šumila, was as charming as the original with ever-growing curiosity throughout.

Justina Gringyte made her debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in their production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Justina aslo made her role debut as Suzuki in a sold-out run stretching between 12th and 29th January.

Justina Gringytė is returning to the stage as Carmen sooner than expected as she steps in as a last minute replacement at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon, which commences on Thursday 6th October 2016.

Justina will reprise the role for another production of Bizet’s Carmen at the Teatro Palermo, which begins on 26thNovember 2016. Ms. Gringytė has also recently debuted an electronic adaptation of Carmen in Vilnius, Lithuania, entitled e-Carmen, to which she and the production received critical acclaim.