Barbara Frittoli
Born (1967-04-19) 19 April 1967 (age 56)
Milan, Italy
Alma materMilan Conservatory
OccupationOperatic soprano
Years active1990–present
TitleKammersängerin

Barbara Frittoli (born 19 April 1967) is an Italian operatic soprano, specializing in operas by Verdi and Mozart.[1] She has sung leading roles in opera houses throughout Europe and in the United States, such as La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her signature roles include Mimì in La bohème, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Desdemona in Otello.

Life

Frittoli was born in Milan. At the age of 9, she started piano studies at the Milan Conservatory, intending to become a pianist. When she was singing in the Conservatory choir at 12 years old, she was noticed by Giulio Bertola and Bruno Casoni. Under their recommendation, she switched to singing, in alto, which resulted in vocal troubles. She only recovered her voice after studying with Giovanna Canetti, under whose instruction she developed into a soprano.[2][3][4]

She made her professional debut in 1990 as Ines in Il trovatore conducted by Zubin Mehta with Luciano Pavarotti as the main role at the Teatro Comunale, Florence.[citation needed]

In 1992, she debuted in the U.S. at the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Micaëla in Carmen.[5] Three years later, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1995 as Micaëla in Carmen and has gone on to sing in over 80 performances there including Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Angelica in Suor Angelica, Desdemona in Otello, the title role in Luisa Miller, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, and Alicia Ford in Falstaff. She performed in two editions of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, in Graham Vick's new productions of Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi, 1998) and Don Giovanni (Donna Anna, 2000).[6]

In June 1998, she was featured in the role of Liù in Turandot at the Forbidden City, an outdoor production of the Puccini opera.[7]

In December 1999, she sang Alice Ford in Vick's new Falstaff, which opened the first season after Royal Opera House's refurbishment.[8]

In December 2004, she added Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo to her repertoire, alternating the role with Adrianne Pieczonka at the Teatro Comunale, Florence.[9]

In December 2008, she starred in a new production of Massenet's Thaïs, inaugurating Teatro Regio di Torino's new season.[10] In 2012, she debuted in the title role in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Liceu.[11]

Personal life

Frittoli was married to baritone Natale de Carolis, with whom she had a daughter, Arianna.[12][4] She had been in a relationship with Ildar Abdrazakov.[13]

Awards

Frittoli won the Female Singer of the Year (Sängerin des Jahres) in the 2001 Echo Klassik.[14]

In 2012, she was invested as Austrian Kammersängerin.[15]

Recordings

Full works on CD

Full works on video

Recitals and others

Opera roles

References

  1. ^ Gurewitsch, Matthew (18 March 2003). "A Soprano Finds Truth And Poetry in Verdi". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ Cummings (2003) pg. 258
  3. ^ Paolucci (March 2005)
  4. ^ a b "Barbara Frittoli". OperaClick (Interview) (in Italian). Interviewed by Giuseppina Mascari. 19 February 2006.
  5. ^ McLellan, Joseph (13 November 1992). "Opera". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Barbara Frittoli - Person". Glyndebourne. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  7. ^ Eckholm, Erik (10 July 1998). "'Turandot' to Be Staged in Beijing's Forbidden City". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Andrew Clement (7 December 1999). "Falstaff, Royal Opera House". The Guardian.
  9. ^ Torselli, Elisabetta (6 December 2004). "Don Carlo ricordando Visconti". Il giornale della musica. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  10. ^ Loomis, George (29 December 2008). "Thaïs, Teatro Regio, Turin". Financial Times.
  11. ^ Herrscher, Roberto (August 2012). "Adriana Lecouvreur". Opera News. Vol. 77, no. 2. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  12. ^ Paloscia, Fulvio (12 June 2003). "'L'Otello di Dodin? Non si sa cosa sia'". la Repubblica.
  13. ^ Steiman, Harvey (1 October 2013). "An Opera Star with a Taste for Powerful Wines". Wine Spectator.
  14. ^ "ZDF-Intendant Stolte erhält Klassik-Auszeichnung "Mediamann des Jahres" Preisträger "Echo Klassik 2001" bekannt gegeben" (Press release). ZDF. 28 June 2001 – via presseportal.de.
  15. ^ "Barbara Frittoli ist "Österreichische Kammersängerin"". Der Standard. APA. 20 December 2012.

Sources

External links

Authority control databases
Categories