Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Carlo Vistoli began his vocal training with William Matteuzzi and Sonia Prina in 2007 and made  his stage debut with Dido & Aeneas in 2012. He received several awards in international singing competitions like the «Farinelli Prize» at the 2012 Città di Bologna Singing Competition or the First Prize at the 2013 «Renata Tebaldi» (Baroque Section) in San Marino. Chosen for the 2015 edition of “Le Jardin de Voix”, led by William Christie, with whom he collaborates since then, highlights of his career include Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Handel in Shanghai, Dafne by Caldara in Venice, Agrippina by Handel in Brisbane (for which he receives a Helpmann Award), Erismena by Cavalli in Aix-en-Provence with Leonardo García Alarcón. In 2017, he took part to John Eliot Gardiner's project Monteverdi450, that toured internationally. More recently, he was involved in productions like Vivaldi's Orlando furioso at La Fenice in Venice, Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival, Artaserse by Hasse in Sydney, La Finta pazza by Sacrati in Dijon with Alarcón, Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck at the Rome Opera with Robert Carsen's staging, Semele by Handel with Gardiner in Paris, London, Milan (Teatro alla Scala). In 2021 he sang in Rinaldo by Handel in Losanna, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, debuting the title role, in Basel and Madrid, with Andrea Marcon, and he took part to La Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo by Cavalieri at Theater an der Wien (with Antonini and Carsen). Moreover, he sang Pergolesi's Stabat Mater on tour with Cecilia Bartoli and Gianluca Capuano and he made its debut at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow singing Polinesso in Handel's Ariodante in David Alden's production. Highlights of the 2021/22 season are two new productions by Damiano Michieletto, Orfeo ed Euridice at Komische Oper Berlin and Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Thêatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris as Tolomeo, conducted by Philippe Jaroussky, in addition to Xerse by Cavalli at Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, Ruggiero in Alcina by Handel alongside Cecilia Bartoli in Florence (with Capuano and Michieletto) and, for the first time, Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea at Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, with whom he also sang the title role of Vivaldi's Orlando furioso in concert at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in 2023. In the same year, he was at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in Handel's Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Emmanuelle Haïm, in Alsace in the theater circuit of the Opéra du Rhin singing in L'incoronazione di Poppea, and he came back to Komische Oper Berlin in Semele. In 2023/2024 season he returned to the Staatsoper Berlin to sing Farnace in Mozart's Mitridate, he was again Orfeo in Carsen's production in Valencia; he also sang the two title roles of Rinaldo and Giulio Cesare, the latter alongside Cecilia Bartoli, on European tour and at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and he made his debut at San Francisco Opera interpreting Arsace in Händel's Partenope. Furthermore, he made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in Giulio Cesare in Egitto and in the season of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, singing Alidoro for the first time in Cesti's Orontea, and at the Verdi Festival in Parma in Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. In 2025 he is back at the Rome Opera, in a new production of Handel’s Alcina directed by Pierre Audi and conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini, and at the Teatro alla Scala - in the new opera Il nome della rosa written by Francesco Filidei, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher with the direction of Michieletto - and he will make his debut at the London Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Handel’s Semele as Athamas (a show that also sees him involved at the TCE in Paris). He will also sing for the first time at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival.

Carlo Vistoli was awarded the Premio “Franco Abbiati” from the Italian music critics (43rd edition) as best singer of 2023. He also won the 2024 “Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Competition” of the San Francisco Opera.

He recorded for Alpha, Brilliant, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Ricercar, Soli Deo Gloria and other labels, and his three first solo recitals have been published by Arcana. His last solo CD, “Sacro furore”, is dedicated to sacred works by Vivaldi, and marks his new collaboration with the label Harmonia Mundi.

Cecilia Bartoli has established herself over the course of a magnificent stage career spanning more than 30 years as one of the world’s leading classical musicians. Born in Rome and trained by her mother, the vocal coach Silvana Bazzoni, Cecilia Bartoli was discovered by Daniel Barenboim, Herbert von Karajan, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She soon began performing with other leading conductors and major orchestras in all the great opera houses and concert halls of North America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia, as well as at renowned festivals. Her artistic signature has become innovative projects dedicated to neglected music, which have resulted in extensive concert tours, best-selling recordings, spectacular stage productions, groundbreaking film formats, and multimedia events. Since 2012, Cecilia Bartoli has been Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival; as of early 2023, she also serves as Director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo – the first woman in the history of the house to hold this position. Also in Monte-Carlo, Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco was founded in 2016 under the patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II and H.R.H. Princess Caroline of Hanover: with this orchestra, which performs on historical instruments, Cecilia Bartoli appears both in Monte-Carlo and on major tours throughout Europe. Milestones in her career include the very first staging of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1997, the legendary Vivaldi album released in 1999, which has sold millions of copies, the Paris concert marathon in 2008 marking the 200th anniversary of Maria Malibran’s birth, her radically new interpretation of Bellini’s Norma in 2013 – which also resulted in a scholarly edition of the reconstructed original score – as well as a celebrated Rossini Week at the Vienna State Opera in 2022. The Cecilia Bartoli – Music Foundation was established as part of her philanthropic work. Among other projects, the foundation created a new label in collaboration with Decca, mentored by Bartoli. Thanks to this initiative, artists such as Javier Camarena and Varduhi Abrahamyan were given the opportunity to record a studio album for the first time. Numerous orders of merit and honorary doctorates, five Grammy Awards, over a dozen ECHO Klassik and BRIT Awards, the Polar Music Prize, the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize, and many other honors underscore Cecilia Bartoli’s significance in the world of culture and music. In this context, Europa Nostra appointed Cecilia Bartoli as its president, a role she assumed in 2022 for an initial five-year term.

Max Emanuel Cencic is one of the world’s most fascinating and versatile artists, dedicated to the rediscovery and performance of 18th-century music. As a countertenor and artistic director of his company Parnassus Arts Productions, he is the driving force behind revivals and productions such as Vinci’s Artaserse (2012), Catone in Utica (2015), and Hasse’s Siroe (2014). He has also produced several Handel operas, including Alessandro, Tamerlano, Faramondo, and Arminio, the latter for the 2016 Handel Festival in Karlsruhe. In addition, he produces his own solo CDs: following Rokoko, the album Arie Napoletane was released in autumn 2015 on Decca to great acclaim. Many of his recordings have received national and international awards, including the German Record Critics’ Award, multiple ECHO Klassik Awards in various categories, two Grammy nominations, and the Diapason d’Or. With Siroe, Max Emanuel Cencic also made his debut as an opera director. The production premiered in Athens and has since been seen at venues such as the Opéra Royal de Versailles and the Budapest Spring Festival in 2015. In 2016, Siroe was presented for the first time in Switzerland, in a semi-staged version at the Opéra de Lausanne. With Arminio at the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe, the multifaceted artist made his debut in a triple role as lead singer, co-producer, and director at a German state theater. Max Emanuel Cencic was a member and soloist of the Vienna Boys’ Choir before launching his solo career as a soprano in 1992, and since 2001 he has performed as a countertenor. He appears at leading opera houses and festivals around the world, including the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Wigmore and Barbican Halls in London, Semperoper Dresden, Carnegie Hall in New York, Frankfurt Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, Musikverein in Vienna, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Anne Sofie von Otter is considered one of the most important singers of her generation and is among the most sought-after artists of our time – by conductors, orchestras, opera houses, and record labels alike. Song recitals with her pianist Bengt Forsberg take her around the globe; in the past season, she also toured extensively through North America and Europe with Brad Mehldau. Anne Sofie von Otter’s equally successful concert career has brought her to the most prestigious concert halls in Europe and North America, where she regularly collaborates with renowned conductors. Over recent seasons, she has enjoyed major personal successes on Europe’s leading opera stages. Her most recent engagements include Cornelia (Giulio Cesare in Egitto) at the Salzburg Festival under Giovanni Antonini, Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande) at the Opéra national de Paris under Philippe Jordan, Clytemnestre (Iphigénie en Aulide) under Marc Minkowski at the Dutch National Opera, Countess Geschwitz (Lulu) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York under James Levine, Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) at the Salzburg Easter Festival, in Aix-en-Provence and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin under Sir Simon Rattle, the title role in Jacques Offenbach’s La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein in Basel and at the Theater an der Wien under Hervé Niquet, as well as Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress) at the Theater an der Wien under Nikolaus Harnoncourt and later Michael Boder. She has also sung the title role in Georges Bizet’s Carmen at the Glyndebourne and Santa Fe Festivals, Medée in Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Thesée and Ottavia in Claudio Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Clairon (Capriccio) at the Opéra Garnier, Didon (Les Troyens) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and Debussy’s Mélisande at the Metropolitan Opera. From 1985 to 2009, Anne Sofie von Otter had an exclusive collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon, resulting in a wide range of acclaimed recordings. Since last year, she has been signed with Naïve Paris, where a number of exciting projects are in development. Her first album with the label, released in October 2010, was Love Songs, recorded with the legendary jazz pianist Brad Mehldau.

Renato Dolcini, born in Milan, received his vocal training from Vincenzo Manno while simultaneously studying musicology at the University of Pavia. In 2009 and 2010, he had the opportunity to work with Cecilia Bartoli as part of the Gstaad Vocal Academy. In 2015, he was accepted into William Christie’s academy Le Jardin des Voix. The subsequent tour with Les Arts Florissants took him across Europe, the USA, Russia, Australia, Korea, China, and Japan. Since then, he has maintained a close collaboration with William Christie, under whom he made his Salzburg Festival debut in 2018 as Seneca (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and toured Europe performing Bach’s St John Passion. His recent engagements include Guglielmo at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Claudio (Agrippina) at Teatro Real in Madrid, Toante (Oreste) and Farasmane (Radamisto) on tour with Il Pomo d’Oro, Curio (Giulio Cesare) at La Scala in Milan, Bellone, Osman, and Adario (Les Indes galantes) under Leonardo García Alarcón at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the King of Scotland (Ariodante) at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In the 2022/23 season, he toured with L’Arpeggiata in the Monteverdi program Combattimento, appeared as Leporello at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, and performed the title role in L’Orfeo at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. He also sang Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas) in cities including Madrid and Versailles and made his debut at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival as Orfeo.