Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

The Brazilian-born sopranist Bruno de Sá is regarded as one of the most exciting young artists of our time. He made his operatic debut in 2015 as Sesto (“La clemenza di Tito”) at the Teatro São Pedro in São Paulo, later returning there as Gherardino (“Gianni Schicchi”), Cherubino (“Le nozze di Figaro”), and First Lady (“Die Zauberflöte”), among others. At the Festival Amazonas de Ópera, he appeared as the Shepherd (“Tannhäuser”) and performed in a concert honoring the singer Farinelli. He made his European debut in 2019 as Aci in Bononcini’s “Polifemo” in Potsdam and Bayreuth. From 2019 to 2020, he was a member of the Opera Studio at Theater Basel, where he sang roles such as the Little Mermaid (“Andersens Erzählungen”) and Barbarina (“Le nozze di Figaro”). Further appearances include Sesto (“Giulio Cesare”) at Oper Halle, Isacio in Hasse’s “Irene” with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Abel in Scarlatti’s “Il primo omicidio” in Metz, Versailles, Montpellier, and Salzburg, as well as Nerone (“Agrippina”) at Drottningholm Palace Theatre. He made his role debut as Orfeo at the Gluck Festival, performed the baroque pasticcio “Sehnsucht” at Oper Dortmund, sang Aminta at the Göttingen Handel Festival, Pergolesi’s Stabat mater at the Verbier Festival, Stéphano (“Roméo et Juliette”) at the Opéra de Rouen, and Don Elviro (“Don Giovanni”) at the Komische Oper Berlin. He has toured across Europe with ensembles such as Il pomo d’oro, Les Accents, nuovo barocco, and 1700. In 2020 he received the OPER! Award, in 2022 the ForumOpéra Trophy, and in 2024 the Austrian Music Theatre Prize for his portrayal of Aminta in Vivaldi’s “L’Olimpiade.” As an exclusive artist with Erato/Warner Classics, he released his second solo album, Mille Affetti, in 2024.

The American mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong regularly appears on major opera and concert stages across the United States and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera New York, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, English National Opera, the Bavarian and Vienna State Operas, as well as the festivals in Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence. Her repertoire includes roles such as Angelina ("La Cenerentola"), Calbo ("Maometto II"), Arsace ("Semiramide"), Rosina ("Il barbiere di Siviglia"), Hermia ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream"), Hänsel ("Hänsel und Gretel"), Maffio Orsini ("Lucrezia Borgia"), Fenena ("Nabucco"), Suzuki ("Madama Butterfly"), Fricka ("Das Rheingold"), Dorabella ("Così fan tutte"), as well as the dresser, the schoolboy and the page in Alban Berg’s "Lulu". In 2010 she was honored with the Artist of the Year Award by the Washington National Opera for her portrayal of the Composer in Strauss’s "Ariadne auf Naxos". In the concert field she has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Houston Symphony and The English Concert, among others. Her recording of Handel’s "Messiah" with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was released on Chandos and was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2018. Most recently, she has sung Azucena ("Il trovatore") at the Stuttgart State Opera, Medoro ("Orlando") at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Octavia in John Adams’s "Antony and Cleopatra" at the Metropolitan Opera, a concert performance of Beethoven’s "Missa solemnis" at La Scala in Milan, and Ulrica ("Un ballo in maschera") at Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

The French bass Nicolas Brooymans is among the most sought-after interpreters of 17th- and 18th-century repertoire. He maintains a close collaboration with the Ensemble Correspondances and Sébastien Daucé, with whom he has recorded works ranging from Étienne Moulinié to Marc-Antoine Charpentier. He also works regularly with ensembles such as Pygmalion under Raphaël Pichon, Collegium 1704, Les Arts Florissants, Ensemble Jupiter, and Le Banquet Céleste. In 2019, he released the album "Come Sorrow," featuring music from the Elizabethan era with the ensemble Près de votre oreille. Nicolas Brooymans has performed bass parts in works such as Mozart’s "Requiem," Bach’s Passions, Haydn’s "The Creation," Puccini’s "Messa di Gloria," Verdi’s "Requiem," and Rossini’s "Stabat Mater." On the opera stage, he has appeared in the revival of "Combattimento, la théorie du cygne noir" from Aix-en-Provence at the Théâtre de Caen, in "The Magic Flute" at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, in Rossini’s "La Cenerentola" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra de Bordeaux, and the Opéra de Rouen, as Zuniga in Bizet’s "Carmen" at the Opéra de Toulon, and in Monteverdi’s "L’incoronazione di Poppea" in Metz, Geneva, and Paris. With the ensemble I Gemelli, he toured extensively across Europe with Monteverdi’s "Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria" and Francesca Caccini’s "La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina." His recent and upcoming engagements include a tour as Melisso ("Alcina") under Philippe Jaroussky in Paris, Barcelona, and Montpellier, Il Re di Scozia ("Ariodante") at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Polifemo ("Aci, Galatea e Polifemo") at the Zurich Opera House, and Lesbo ("Agrippina") in Rouen.