Maria Agresta

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Maria Agresta
Maria Agresta with tenor Giorgio Berrugi and her manager Gianluca Macheda (2016)
Born
Maria Giovanna Agresta

(1978-07-16) 16 July 1978 (age 46)
OccupationOperatic soprano
Years active2006–present
Websitewww.mariaagresta.com

Maria Giovanna Agresta (born 16 July 1978) is an Italian operatic soprano.

Life

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Born in Vallo della Lucania, Agresta obtained her diploma at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Martucci [it] in Salerno with top marks and then completed her studies with Raina Kabaivanska in Modena. In 2006 she made her debut in Spoleto as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and then appeared as Selene in Baldassare Galuppi's Didone abbandonata. She made her role debut as Micaëla in Carmen in 2007 in Messina and sang Desdemona in Otello in various venues.

Further roles from the Italian repertoire followed; including her role debut as Elena in I vespri siciliani at the Teatro Regio di Torino in 2011, which brought her wide recognition.[1] Since then she has also sung at La Scala in Milan and other important opera houses such as the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, La Fenice in Venice, the Bayerischen Staatsoper München, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Royal Opera House London and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía Valencia. In 2015 she appeared for the first time at the Salzburg Easter Festivals with Jonas Kaufmann in the role of Nedda in Pagliacci.[2] She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera (New York) in January 2016 in the role of Mimi in La Bohème.[3] At the Salzburg Festival in August 2016 she made an acclaimed role debut in the French repertoire as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust.[4] In 2017 there followed further engagements at the Metropolitan Opera as Micaëla in Carmen in January[5] and as Liù in Turandot in October.[6] In 2014 Agresta was awarded the XXXIII Premio della Critica Musicale Italiana.[7]

Repertoire

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Roles include:

Operatic repertoire
Role Title Composer
Norma Norma Bellini
Elvira I puritani Bellini
Micaela Carmen Bizet
Gemma Gemma di Vergy Donizetti
Selene Didone abbandonata Galuppi
Marguerite Faust Gounod
Nedda Pagliacci Leoncavallo
Donna Elvira Don Giovanni Mozart
Mimì La bohème Puccini
Angelica Suor Angelica Puccini
Liù Turandot Puccini
Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia Rossini
Julia La Vestale Spontini
Leonora Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio Verdi
Lucrezia Contarini I due Foscari Verdi
Odabella Attila Verdi
Amalia I masnadieri Verdi
Leonora Il trovatore Verdi
Violetta Valery La traviata Verdi
Amelia Grimaldi Simon Boccanegra Verdi
Elena I vespri siciliani Verdi
Desdemona Otello Verdi

Her concert repertoire includes also Rossini's Stabat Mater and Verdi's Requiem.[8]

See also

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Discography

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Recordings

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  • Galuppi: Didone abbandonata – Piva/Grasso/Giansanti/Agresta/Carnevale/Carè, Welterstaufnahme 2006 Bongiovanni
  • Verdi: Sacred Verdi. Quattro pezzi sacri, Libera me, Ave Maria – Maria Agresta, Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia / Antonio Pappano. 2014 Warner Classics

Video recording on DVD or Blu-ray Disc

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References

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  1. ^ Kurzportrait von Maria Agresta, Salzburger Nachrichten vom 27. Juli 2015.
  2. ^ Rezension von kultur24.berlin zu Cavalleria Rusticana + Pagliacci bei den Salzburger Osterfestspielen 2015
  3. ^ "Review: In ‘Turandot’ and ‘La Bohème,’ a New Depth of Emotion", New York Times, 14 January 2016.
  4. ^ Rezension der Premiere von Gounds Faust bei den Salzburger Festspielen 2016, Süddeutsche Zeitung (11 August 2016).
  5. ^ Eric C. Simpson (20 January 2017). "Margaine makes sensational debut in Met's riveting "Carmen"". New York Classical Review. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  6. ^ Wilborn Hampton (18 October 2017). "Met Opera: A Stirring "Turandot" With Dyka, Antonenko, and an Homage to James Morris". Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  7. ^ "XXXIII Premio della Critica Musicale Italiana a Maria Agresta". Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  8. ^ Konzertkritik Berliner Morgenpost, 2 April 2013.
  9. ^ Euroarts
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