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This Russian mezzo soprano, more correctly described as a mezzo contralto, worked for some time in the shadow of her younger colleague Olga Borodina; but since coming to international fame, she has made up for lost time. Her dark, immensely powerful voice, rising from timber-rattling chest tones to a focused penetrating top, makes so bold a sound as to arrest the attention of the most distracted audiences. Her fiery temperament in the big Russian and Italian dramatic roles is evident everywhere, but never allowed to spill over into self-indulgence. She is both a vivid and credible personage on-stage, and she has achieved equal success as a concert singer, winning the support of major conductors.

Although there is some question about her exact date of birth, most sources agree on 1955 as the year. After studies at the Leningrad Conservatory, she was engaged by the Kirov Opera in 1978 and made slow but steady progress through the ranks and into leading roles. In 1984, Diadkova was a winner in the Glinka competition, but found the international recognition was somewhat at arms length owing to the stunning presence of the somewhat more glamorous Borodina. Still, once the Soviet Union crumbled and Leningrad became St. Petersburg once more, the increase in touring by the Kirov obliged the company to put forth all of their most qualified artists. In addition, many Kirov singers, so carefully groomed by music director Valery Gergiev, chose to pursue more lucrative careers in the West, making greater opportunities for others on the roster.

Diadkova not only sang more important engagements, but was also offered more opportunities to record her core repertory. She filled highest expectations as both Pauline and the Countess in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, also achieving high marks for her Duenna in Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery, Lyubov in Mazeppa, Nezhata in Sadko, Marfa in Khovanshchina, Konchakovna in Prince Igor, Ratmir in Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla, Kashcheyevna in Kashchey the Immortal, and Olga in Yevgeny Onegin. Moreover, she was increasingly heard in Verdi roles for which her huge, flame-like voice was perfectly suited. When Gergiev discussed his forthcoming 2001 Aida in a tour of Great Britain, he boasted of Diadkova, saying "she is tremendous," noting further that she was a part of the first cast, while Borodina was to sing with the second cast.

When Diadkova sang in the San Francisco Opera's Betrothal in a Monastery in 1998, one reviewer maintained that he heard in her voice and style "a sure-fire Azucena." She has since sung that role with great success at the Metropolitan Opera in 1999 and has proven herself an exemplary Ulrica at both Verona and Dallas. In addition to London, her Amneris has been heard at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and in Houston. In April 2001, she sang Mistress Quickly with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival (a role she also recorded with the same forces). Critic Richard Fairman of the London Financial Times found her characterization that of "a well-meaning auntie," but noted that her "rasping chest tones" clearly equipped her for other grander Verdi mezzo roles.

In 1999, Diadkova's performance of the Shostakovich edition of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death with Mstislav Rostropovich and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra transfixed a conference of music critics, causing some to wonder if she was being amplified (she wasn't).

The artistic director and chief conductor at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev is arguably the 21st century's foremost interpreter of Russian operatic repertory. He is also noted as a symphonic conductor and has served as chief conductor of Germany's Munich Philharmonic Orchestra since 2015.

Gergiev was born May 2, 1953, in Moscow. He is of Ossetian background, and during Russia's 2008 war with Georgia over the disputed territory of South Ossetia, he spoke out in support of Russian government actions. He led a 2003 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Mariinsky that included many Ossetian cultural elements in its conception. Gergiev showed musical talent from early childhood, and by his teens he had settled on a career as a conductor. He studied with the famed pedagogue Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) Conservatory and won the Soviet Union's All-Union Conductors' Competition in 1975 while still a student. He followed that up with a win at the Herbert von Karajan Conductors' Competition in Berlin the following year. Those victories led to Gergiev's 1977 appointment as assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera under Yuri Temirkanov and impressed observers with performances of such difficult works as Prokofiev's War and Peace. Gergiev's orchestral conducting career began in the 1980s with his leadership of the Armenian State Orchestra. He assumed the chief conductorship of the Kirov Opera upon Temirkanov's retirement in 1988; after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kirov Opera and Kirov Theatre reverted to their original Mariinsky names. In addition to conducting operatic productions and symphonic concerts, Gergiev has been general director of the entire Mariinsky theater complex, for which he has overseen extensive renovations.

Gergiev's fame rests above all on his leadership role at the Mariinsky. He has taken companies on tour to many countries, including France (at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris) and the U.S. (a production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at the Metropolitan Opera in New York). He formed the in-house Mariinsky label in 2009 for the marketing of the company's recordings. In 2019, the company issued his recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ("Pathétique"), which received a five-star rating from Allmusic.com. He has also recorded for Philips and for the LSO Live label of the London Symphony Orchestra, for which he served as chief conductor beginning in 2005. From 1995 to 2008, Gergiev was chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and in 2015 he took up the baton for the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, making several symphonic recordings for that orchestra's in-house label as well.

Gergiev, a strong supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has at times faced criticism for political stances. He characterized members of the Russian dissident rock band Pussy Riot as publicity seekers and backed Putin's increasing repression of LGBT rights in Russia. Members of gay activist groups in New York have interrupted his performances there. On assuming his position in Munich, however, Gergiev affirmed his support for the city's anti-discrimination ordinance. ~ James Manheim