La cenerentola

Cecilia Bartoli has established herself as one of the world’s leading classical musicians with her magnificent stage career spanning more than 40 years. Born in Rome and trained by her mother, the voice teacher Silvana Bazzoni, she was discovered by Daniel Barenboim, Herbert von Karajan and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Milestones included, among others, the very first staging of Rossini’s “Cenerentola” at the New York Met in 1997; the legendary “Vivaldi Album,” which since 1999 has sold millions of copies; the 2008 Paris concert marathon marking Maria Malibran’s 200th birthday; her radically new approach to Bellini’s “Norma” in 2013, which also resulted in a scholarly edition of the reconstructed original score; and a triumphant Rossini Week at the Vienna State Opera in 2022. Since 2012, Cecilia Bartoli has been Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, where she has appeared in works by Handel, Gluck, Rossini, Bellini and Bernstein. Since 2023, she has also been the Director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the first woman in the history of the house to hold this position. Also in Monte-Carlo, the ensemble Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco was founded in 2016, with which Cecilia Bartoli performs both at its home base and on major tours throughout Europe. Bartoli’s CDs and DVDs have sold more than twelve million copies; she has received the Grammy Award five times. Among the many honours she has received are the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize and the Polar Music Prize. Since 2022 she has been President of Europa Nostra, was appointed Austrian Kammersängerin in 2023, and also runs the Cecilia Bartoli Music Foundation.

The tenor Levy Sekgapane was born in South Africa and studied voice at the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town. During his studies, he appeared in various opera productions in South Africa, including "La bohème," "The Rake’s Progress," and "Les Contes d’Hoffmann." In the 2015/16 season, he was a member of the Young Ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden. After winning the Operalia singing competition in 2017, guest engagements took him to the Hamburg State Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, and the Salzburg Festival. His signature roles include Count Almaviva ("Il barbiere di Siviglia"), which he has performed at the Glyndebourne Festival, the Opéra National de Paris, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, and the Vienna State Opera, as well as Don Ramiro ("La Cenerentola"), which he has sung at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, in Hamburg, Los Angeles, and Dresden, and alongside Cecilia Bartoli in Zurich. He has also appeared in the world premiere of Kris Defoort’s "The Time of Our Singing" at La Monnaie in Brussels and in "Idomeneo" at the Salzburg Festival, made his debut with Rossini’s "Otello" at the Frankfurt Opera and in "I puritani" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, returned to Cape Town as Nadir ("Les pêcheurs de perles"), and performed with Olga Peretyatko in a New Year’s Gala Concert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. In 2019, he released his solo debut album of Rossini arias with the Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti.

Nicola Alaimo, in Palermo geboren, war bereits an zahlreichen Opernhäusern und auf vielen Festivals zu hören, so zum Beispiel an der Met in New York, der Scala in Mailand, der Deutschen Oper Berlin, der Bayerischen Staatsoper, dem Teatro di San Carlo und dem Rossini Opera Festival. Als Pharaon (Moïse et Pharaon) ist er in Rom aufgetreten, als Guillaume Tell u. a. in der Dutch National Opera, an der Opéra Monte-Carlo sowie am Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, und als Falstaff an der Met, an der Scala in Mailand, am La Fenice in Venedig, in Marseille und Tokyo. Seit seinem Debüt als Dandini (La Cenerentola) beim Rossini Opera Festival ist er dem Festival eng verbunden und war dort u. a. auch als Bartolo, Guillaume Tell sowie in Matilde di Shabran, La gazzetta, Il turco in Italia und Torvaldo e Dorliska zu erleben. In den vergangenen Spielzeiten sang er u. a. Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola) am Teatro Real in Madrid, Michonnet (Adriana Lecouvreur) an der Wiener Staatsoper, Dandini in Bologna, Geronio (Il turco in Italia) in Monte Carlo, Taddeo (L’italiana in Algeri) und Dandini in Zürich, Figaro am Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florenz sowie Fra Melitone (La forza del destino) an der Opéra in Paris. Nach seinem Auftritt als Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia) bei den Salzburger Pfingstfestspielen war er ausserdem als Geronio und in einer Rossini Gala an der Wiener Staatsoper zu erleben.

Alessandro Corbelli wurde in Turin geboren und studierte bei Giuseppe Valdengo und Claude Thiolas. Er gab sein Bühnendebüt im Alter von 22 Jahren als Marcello (La bohème) in Bergamo und machte sich rasch als Interpret der Baritonrollen des Belcanto- und Mozartrepertoires einen Namen. Seither gastierte er an allen bedeutenden internationalen Opernhäusern in Städten wie Mailand, London, Paris, Wien, Neapel, New York, San Francisco und Los Angeles sowie bei den Festivals von Salzburg, Pesaro, Verona, Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne und Edinburgh. Sein umfangreiches Repertoire umfasst Rollen wie Ford (Falstaff), Michonnet (Adriana Lecouvreur), Belcore und Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore), Leporello (Don Giovanni), Dandini und Don Magnifico (La cenerentola), Taddeo (L’italiana in Algeri) sowie die Titelpartien in Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi und Don Pasquale. In der Saison 2021/22 sang er Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) beim Glyndebourne Festival, Don Magnifico am New National Theatre Tokyo und an der LA Opera, Michonnet (Adriana Lecouvreur) an der Scala in Mailand, Don Bartolo (Il barbiere de Siviglia) bei den Salzburger Festspielen sowie in einer Rossini-Gala an der Wiener Staatsoper. Alessandro Corbelli wurde mit vielen Preisen ausgezeichnet, darunter dem Premio Abbiati für seinen Leporello (Don Giovanni) an der Scala und dem Rossini d’Oro für seinen Geronio (Il turco in Italia) in Pesaro.

Liliana Nikiteanu studied at the Conservatory in Bucharest. Her first permanent engagement was in 1986 at the Music Theatre in Galați. She has won numerous awards, and in 2000, Opernwelt named her “Best Young Singer of the Year.” Her repertoire includes over 80 roles, which she has performed in Zurich—where she has been an ensemble member since 1991—as well as at other opera houses. These include Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) at the Opéra Bastille, the Vienna State Opera, and the Hamburg State Opera; Ježibaba (Rusalka) in Montreal; Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) in Dresden; Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) in Vienna and Munich; Dorabella (Così fan tutte) in Dresden, Munich, Salzburg, and Aix-en-Provence; Fyodor (Boris Godunov) in Salzburg; Marguerite (La damnation de Faust) in Brussels; and Dulcinée (Don Quichotte) at the Theater an der Wien. In Zurich, she has performed all the Mozart roles of her voice type, as well as parts such as Lyubasha (The Tsar’s Bride), the Nurse in Dukas’s Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, and Fricka (Das Rheingold).

As a concert singer, her repertoire ranges from Bach to Berio. She has performed Haydn’s Berenice in Bamberg under Adam Fischer, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été in Paris under Heinz Holliger, Verdi’s Requiem in Copenhagen, and Bruckner’s Te Deum in Tel Aviv and Haifa under Zubin Mehta. Influential conductors in her career include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Franz Welser-Möst, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, and Philippe Jordan. Most recently in Zurich, she has been heard as Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Frau Waas / Frau Mahlzahn (Jim Knopf), Praskowia (Die lustige Witwe), Mama (Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig), and Sir Pumpkin (Around the World in 80 Days).

Irène Friedli grew up in Räuchlisberg, Switzerland, and graduated from the Basel Music Academy with a soloist diploma. The mezzo-soprano furthered her studies in Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s interpretation class in Berlin, attended masterclasses with Brigitte Fassbaender, and continued her training with Helen Keller. She has won numerous prizes at international lieder competitions. Since the 1994/95 season, she has been a member of the Zurich Opera House ensemble, where she has performed roles such as Second and Third Lady (“Die Zauberflöte”), Mercédès (“Carmen”), the title role in Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les sortilèges,” Elsbeth (“Schlafes Bruder”), Lily (“Harley”), Annina and Flora (“La traviata”), Flosshilde (“Das Rheingold,” “Götterdämmerung”), Marcellina (“Le nozze di Figaro”), Emilia (“Otello”), Lucia (“Cavalleria rusticana”), Olga in Peter Eötvös’ “Drei Schwestern,” Marthe in Gounod’s “Faust,” Margret (“Wozzeck”), Lovis in Jörn Arnecke’s “Ronja Räubertochter,” Flower Maiden and Voice from Above (“Parsifal”), Gertrud/Knusperhexe (“Hänsel und Gretel”), Clotilde (“Norma”), Mother/Other Mother (“Coraline”), Card Dealer (“Arabella”), and Nurse (“Boris Godunow”). In the world premiere of the family opera “Odyssee,” she played Eurykleia/Mother, and in “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” she performed Tanneke. In 2012, she appeared at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. Most recently in Zurich, she has sung roles such as the Queen of Hearts (“Alice in Wonderland”), Filipjewna (“Jewgeni Onegin”), Tisbe (“La Cenerentola”), Miss Bentson (“Lakmé”), Frau Waas/Frau Mahlzahn (“Jim Knopf”), Head Cook (“Amerika”), and Ninetta (“I vespri siciliani”).

Rebeca Olvera is from Mexico. She studied at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City and was a member of the IOS at the Opernhaus Zürich from 2005 to 2007. She then became a permanent ensemble member there and sang roles such as Adina ("L’elisir d’amore"), Norina ("Don Pasquale"), Berenice ("L’occasione fa il ladro"), Giulia ("La scala di seta"), Rosina (Paisiello’s "Il barbiere di Siviglia"), Blonde ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail"), Madame Herz ("Der Schauspieldirektor"), Dorinda ("Orlando"), Isolier ("Le comte Ory"), Adalgisa ("Norma"), and Zaida ("Il turco in Italia"). She has worked with conductors including Ralf Weikert, Vladimir Fedoseyev, William Christie, Marc Minkowski, Nello Santi, Adam Fischer, Fabio Luisi, Diego Fasolis, Franz Welser-Möst, Emmanuelle Haïm, and Alessandro De Marchi. She has performed concerts with José Carreras in South America and Europe (Carreras Gala 2007 on ARD) and with Plácido Domingo in Mexico. In 2016, she sang Adalgisa in "Norma" alongside Cecilia Bartoli at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. In Zurich, she has appeared as Despina, Musetta, Frasquita in "Carmen", Mi in "Das Land des Lächelns", Zaida in "Il turco in Italia", Komtesse Stasi in "Die Csárdásfürstin", Waldvöglein in "Siegfried", and Contessa di Folleville in "Il viaggio a Reims"—a role she also sang at the Royal Danish Opera. She performed Isolier at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Clorinda ("La Cenerentola") at the Vienna State Opera. She has also appeared as Berta ("Il barbiere di Siviglia") and in the gala concert Carmencita & Friends at the Salzburg Festival.

Stanislav Vorobyov is a native of Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been part of the ensemble at Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. In Zurich, he has appeared in roles such as Colline (“La bohème”), Alidoro (“La Cenerentola”), High Priest (“Nabucco”), Notary (“Der Rosenkavalier”), Reinmar von Zweter (“Tannhäuser”), Faust (“The Fiery Angel”), Zaretsky (“Eugene Onegin”), Cesare Angelotti (“Tosca”), Fifth Jew and First Nazarene (“Salome”), Lord Rochefort (“Anna Bolena”), Doctor Grenvil (“La traviata”), Crébillon (“La rondine”), and Zuniga (“Carmen”), as well as Roberto (“I vespri siciliani”), Roucher (“Andrea Chénier”), and the Police Commissioner (“Der Rosenkavalier”). He also sang Don Basilio (“Il barbiere di Siviglia”) at the Bregenz Festival, Nourabad (“Les Pêcheurs de perles”) at Opera Vlaanderen and in Luxembourg, and Ombra di Nino (“Semiramide”) at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. At the Bregenz Festival, he also appeared as Uncle Bonzo in “Madama Butterfly” and as Il capitano/L’ispettore in Umberto Giordano’s “Siberia.” In 2024, he was additionally heard as Colline (“La bohème”) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and ROHM Theatre Kyoto.