Cecilia Bartoli | |
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 Bartoli at theCentre for Fine Arts, Brussels in 2007 | |
| Born | (1966-06-04)4 June 1966 (age 59) Rome, Italy |
| Education | Conservatorio Santa Cecilia |
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| Years active | 1987–present |
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| Website | www |
Cecilia BartoliOMRI (Italian:[tʃeˈtʃiːljaˈbartoli]; born 4 June 1966) is an Italianmezzo-soprano, widely known for her renditions of the music ofBellini,Handel,Mozart,Rossini, andVivaldi, as well as lesser-known music of theBaroque andClassical periods. She has also sungsoprano andalto repertory.
Bartoli is considered a singer with an unusualtimbre. According to Nicholas Wroe in 2001, her voice was known for its "fully developed sumptuousness of the lower register, the vibrancy of the middle range...the top was limpid and powerful." She has been one of the most popular opera stars of recent years.[1]
Bartoli was born in Rome. Her parents, Silvana Bazzoni and Pietro Angelo Bartoli, were professional singers and her first music teachers. Cecilia first performed publicly at age nine as the shepherd boy inTosca.[2][1] She later studied at theConservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome.[3] At 19, she made her singing debut on the Italian TV variety showFantastico. She did not win the show's competition, but was asked to sing withParis Opera for a concert in homage toMaria Callas.[citation needed]
Bartoli made her professional opera debut in 1987 at theArena di Verona. The following year, she undertook the role of Rosina in Rossini'sThe Barber of Seville at theCologne Opera, theSchwetzingen Festival, and theZurich Opera, earning rave reviews.[3] Working with conductorsDaniel Barenboim andNikolaus Harnoncourt, Bartoli focused on Mozart roles, such as Zerlina inDon Giovanni and Dorabella inCosì fan tutte, and, from then on, her career developed internationally.[3]
In 1990, she made her debut at theOpéra Bastille as Cherubino inMozart'sThe Marriage of Figaro, and her debut at theHamburg State Opera as Idamantes in Mozart'sIdomeneo, followed, in 1991, by herLa Scala debut as Isolier inLe comte Ory a performance that solidified her reputation as one of the world's leadingRossini singers.[3]
In 1996, Bartoli debuted at theMetropolitan Opera as Despina inCosì fan tutte and returned in 1997 to sing the title role ofLa Cenerentola and, in 1998, as Susanna inThe Marriage of Figaro. In 2000, she sang in another Mozart soprano role, Donna Elvira inDon Giovanni, at theDeutsche Oper Berlin. In 2001, she made her long-awaitedRoyal Opera House debut, in the roles of Euridice and the Genio in the London stage premiere ofHaydn'sL'anima del filosofo.[3]
She is foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Music.[4]
| External videos | |
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 "Agitata da due venti", aria fromGriselda by Antonio Vivaldi onYouTube |
In addition to her focus on Mozart and Rossini, Bartoli has also spent much of her career performing and recording Baroque and early Classical era music by such composers asGluck,Vivaldi,Haydn, andSalieri. In early 2005, she sang Cleopatra inHandel'sGiulio Cesare. She often performs with the Baroque ensembleIl Giardino Armonico.[a]
In 2012, Bartoli producedMission, which premiered the works ofAgostino Steffani, a lesser-known Baroque composer. She also produced a CD of his works, as well as an extended performance video that portrays her as the priest-composer Agostino in the Palace of Versailles. The video is known for its historic and visual accuracy of the Baroque period, conveyed through her performance, as well as the setting, wardrobe, and cinematography."[5]
She performed theOlympic Hymn at the2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, held inMilan'sSan Siro stadium.
In 2007/08, Bartoli studied and recorded the early 19th-century repertoire–the era of Italian Romanticism andbel canto. She especially focused on the work of the legendary singerMaria Malibran, the 200th anniversary of whose birth was celebrated in March 2008. The albumMaria was released in September 2007. In May 2008, Bartoli sang the title role, written for Malibran, in a revival ofFromental Halévy's 1828 operaClari at the Zurich Opera.[6] In June 2010, she sang the title role of Bellini'sNorma for the first time with conductorThomas Hengelbrock in a concert at theKonzerthaus Dortmund.[7] In March 2011, she toured five Australian cities with two programs drawn fromSacrificium andMaria.[8]
In 2012, Bartoli became the artistic director of theSalzburg Whitsun Festival, an extension of the traditionalSalzburg Festival, which produces performances duringWhitsun (Pentecost) weekend. Forgoing the academic programming of her predecessors, she reformulated the festival's programming—returning to "the old recipe of organizing beautiful programs and inviting great artists"—resulting in record ticket sales and placing the festival on the international opera calendar. In 2012, she sang Cleopatra in Handel'sGiulio Cesare, in 2013 the title role inVincenzo Bellini'sNorma, and in 2014 Rossini'sLa Cenerentola.[9]
In December 2019, it was announced that Bartoli would succeedJean-Louis Grinda as the director of theOpéra de Monte-Carlo, effective on 1 January 2023.[10][11] She became the first woman to hold the position.[12]
Bartoli lives with her husband, the Swissbass-baritoneOliver Widmer, inZollikon on the north shore ofLake Zurich, Switzerland, and in Rome part of the year. The couple married in 2011 after twelve years together.[13] Bartoli lived inMonaco in the early 2010s.[14]
Bartoli was appointed Chevalier of the FrenchOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (1995), and Commander of Monaco'sOrder of Cultural Merit (November 1999).[15]
In 2003, she received theBrit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at theClassic Brit Awards.
In 2010, she was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music fromUniversity College Dublin.[16]
In 2011, she won a fifthGrammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance forSacrificium.[17] In 2012, she was voted into the magazine'sGramophone's Hall of Fame.[18] She is the 2012 recipient of theHerbert von Karajan Music Prize.
Bartoli is not only selling more CDs than ever before, she is doing so with a repertoire that would have been thought arcane even at the height of the classical boom
