Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s 21 year-old protégé, Julia Lezhneva, has made her debut recital recording, for Naïve.

The Russian soprano, who is currently studying in London, was introduced to the British public when Te Kanawa presented her at the 2010 Classical Brit Awards.

Lezhneva had been professionally performing since the age of 16, and won the Elena Obraztsova International Competition for young singers in 2007. She opened the Rossini Opera Festival alongside Juan Diego Flórez in 2008 and has given solo concerts at the Salzburg Festival.

The new recording features Rossini arias. The Sinfonia Varsovia is conducted by Marc Minkowski, who also conducts Lezhneva in staged performances of Cosi fan tutte this year.

She had previously featured on two releases for Naïve – Bach's B Minor Mass with Minkowski and Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa.