Tosca

The Italian soprano Maria Agresta graduated with distinction from the Conservatorio "Giuseppe Martucci" in Salerno and continued her training with Raina Kabaivanska at the Istituto Vecchi-Tonelli in Modena. She achieved her international breakthrough in 2011 as Elena in "I vespri siciliani" at the Teatro Regio di Torino under Gianandrea Noseda. Since then, she has been a regular guest at leading opera houses such as Teatro alla Scala, the San Francisco Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro La Fenice, the Royal Opera House, as well as the state operas in Berlin and Vienna. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2016 as Mimì in "La bohème"; there she has since also been seen as Micaëla in "Carmen" and Liù in "Turandot". At the Salzburg Festival, she sang Nedda in "Pagliacci" in 2015 and made her role debut as Marguerite in Gounod’s "Faust" in 2016. Her awards include the Premio della Critica Musicale Italiana "Franco Abbiati", the Luigi Illica Prize, and the honorary title "Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana". Other central roles in her repertoire include Desdemona in "Otello", Cio-Cio-San in "Madama Butterfly", Violetta in "La traviata", as well as the title roles in "Adriana Lecouvreur" and "Tosca". Most recently, she sang Desdemona at the Teatro Real Madrid as well as Nedda and Leonora in "Il trovatore" at the Vienna State Opera.

The soprano Sonya Yoncheva comes from Bulgaria. She studied piano and singing in her hometown Plovdiv as well as in Geneva and is a graduate of the academy Le Jardin des Voix. In 2010 she won the first prize of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition, in 2015 the ECHO Klassik as “Young Artist of the Year” and in 2021 the Opus Klassik as “Singer of the Year”. Her wide-ranging repertoire includes works from the Baroque period as well as roles such as Gilda (“Rigoletto”), Mimì (“La bohème”), Violetta (“La traviata”), Desdemona (“Otello”), Marguerite (“Faust”), Imogene (“Il pirata”) and the title roles in “Norma”, “Tosca” and “Luisa Miller”. She appears regularly on the world’s most important stages, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the State Operas in Berlin, Munich and Vienna, as well as the Opéra National de Paris and the Teatro Real in Madrid. At the Salzburg Festival she appeared as Poppea (“L’incoronazione di Poppea”) and in 2020 gave a concert evening at La Scala in Milan. Recent engagements include Lisa (“The Queen of Spades”) at the Metropolitan Opera, her Japan debut as Floria Tosca in Yokohama and Tokyo, as well as recitals and concert evenings in São Paulo, at the State Operas of Berlin and Vienna, at the Salzburg Mozart Week, in the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and in the Philharmonie de Paris. Since 2020 she has also been active as a producer. Under her label SY11 Productions, her solo album “The Courtesan” (2023) and her book “Fifteen Reflections” have been released, as well as a concert series in Sofia. Sonya Yoncheva is an ambassador for UNICEF Bulgaria.

The American tenor Charles Castronovo studied classical singing at California State University. His career began as a member of the ensemble at the Los Angeles Opera before he was accepted into the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut in 1999 as Beppe in "Pagliacci". Since then, he has appeared at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, the Berlin State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Teatro Real Madrid. His repertoire ranges from major Mozart roles to Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor", Alfredo in "La traviata", Nemorino in "L’elisir d’amore", and Rodolfo in "La bohème", as well as Faust, Roméo, and Don José in "Carmen". He sang the title role in the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s "Il Postino" at the Los Angeles Opera alongside Plácido Domingo. His recent role debuts include Riccardo in "Un ballo in maschera" and Mario Cavaradossi in "Tosca". In the 2024/25 season, he appeared as Riccardo at the Bavarian State Opera and the Zurich Opera House, as Don Carlos at the Opéra national de Paris, and as Don José at the Royal Opera House. His discography includes, among others, "Noble Renegades: Verdi Scenes & Arias" and "Puccini / I canti" from 2024.

Yusif Eyvazov is a native of Azerbaijan and studied in his hometown of Baku and in Italy. He regularly appears at the world’s most prestigious opera houses and festivals, including the Royal Opera House in London, the state operas of Munich, Berlin, and Vienna, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Arena di Verona, and the Salzburg Festival. His repertoire includes roles such as Alfredo (“La traviata”), Manrico (“Il trovatore”), Riccardo (“Un ballo in maschera”), Duca di Mantova (“Rigoletto”), Don Alvaro (“La forza del destino”), Radamès (“Aida”), Don Carlo, Des Grieux (“Manon Lescaut”), Rodolfo (“La bohème”), Cavaradossi (“Tosca”), Dick Johnson (“La fanciulla del West”), Calaf (“Turandot”), Hermann (“The Queen of Spades”), Maurice (“Adriana Lecouvreur”), and the title role in “Andrea Chénier.” His discography includes a live recording of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” from the Salzburg Festival and the album “Romanza” with Anna Netrebko. In 2017, he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Azerbaijan. Most recently, he has appeared as Otello at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, as Cavaradossi at Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, as Alfredo at the Royal Opera House Muscat, as Manrico at the Berlin State Opera, as Hermann at the Vienna State Opera, as Don José and Radamès at the Arena di Verona, and in numerous concerts with Anna Netrebko in cities such as Sofia, Budapest, Paris, Vienna, and Istanbul.

The French baritone Ludovic Tézier studied with Claudine Duprat, at the Centre National de Formation des Artistes Lyriques, and at the École d’Art Lyrique of the Opéra de Paris. In 1998, he won second prize at the Operalia Competition. After early successes in Lucerne, Toulouse, and Lyon, he developed into one of the most renowned baritones of the present day and regularly appears at the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro alla Scala, the Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, the Royal Opera House London, the Bavarian State Opera, as well as at the Salzburg Festival and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. He is particularly acclaimed for his Verdi roles, including Macbeth, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Renato in "Un ballo in maschera", Giorgio Germont in "La traviata", Posa in "Don Carlos", and Amonasro in "Aida". His solo album of Verdi arias was awarded the Gramophone Award in 2021; in 2022 he released the duet album "Insieme" together with Jonas Kaufmann. His recent highlights include new productions of "Rigoletto" in Madrid, "Tosca" in Munich, and "Hamlet" and "Simon Boccanegra" at the Opéra national de Paris. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The Italian baritone Gabriele Viviani was born in Lucca and studied at the Conservatorio "Luigi Boccherini" with Marco Boccassini as well as with Graziano Polidori, with whom he continues to collaborate to this day. He won the Mozart Competition of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Mascagni Prize at the Cascina Lirica Competition, and a special prize at the Toti dal Monte Competition in Treviso. Since then, he has appeared at renowned opera houses such as Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, the Canadian Opera Company, the Royal Opera House, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, and in the Arena di Verona. He made his debut at the Royal Opera House in 2009 as Marcello in "La bohème". His repertoire includes, among others, Renato in "Un ballo in maschera", Simon Boccanegra, Giovanni lo Sciancato in "Francesca da Rimini", Tonio in "Pagliacci", Nabucco, Carlo Gérard in "Andrea Chénier", Rodrigo in "Don Carlo", as well as Scarpia in "Tosca". His recent highlights include Jack Rance in "La fanciulla del West" at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the title role in "Nabucco" at the Opéra de Lausanne and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Dulcamara in "L’elisir d’amore" at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, as well as Scarpia at the Royal Opera House, in Bilbao, and in Bologna.

Bass Valeriy Murga studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. He was a finalist at both the 41st International Singing Competition in Toulouse (1996) and the 7th Julian Gayarre Competition in Pamplona (1998). In 1997, he won second prize at the Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens and participated in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1999. From 1997 to 1999, he was a soloist at the Ukrainian National Opera in Kyiv, where he performed roles including Figaro (“Le nozze di Figaro”), Escamillo (“Carmen”), Schaunard (“La bohème”), and the title roles in “Eugene Onegin,” “Don Giovanni,” and “Prince Igor.” His repertoire also includes the roles of Marchese di Posa (“Don Carlo”) and Shaklovity (“Khovanshchina”). At the Zürich Opera House, Valeriy Murga was initially a member of the International Opera Studio and during this time performed, among others, Sciarrone and the Jailor (“Tosca”) as well as Monterone (“Rigoletto”). Since the 2000/01 season, he has been a permanent ensemble member at the Zürich Opera House, where he has performed roles such as Prince Yeletsky (“The Queen of Spades”), Moralès (“Carmen”), Second Soldier (“Salome”), Alessio (“La sonnambula”), Ali (“L’italiana in Algeri”), Wagner (“Faust”), Sacristan (“Tosca”), Butler (“La rondine”), and Bogdanovich (“The Merry Widow”), as well as in family operas including “The Canterville Ghost,” “Robin Hood,” “The Enchanted Pig,” “Jim Knopf,” and “Wir pfeiffen auf den Gurkenkönig” He has also appeared as a guest in Eugen d’Albert’s “Tiefland” at the Liceu in Barcelona and in “L’italiana in Algeri” at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin.