She Returns for the 2015 Opera Festival As Abigaille in Verdi S Nabucco
Martina Serafin
Soprano
Born in Vienna into a family of musicians,Martina Serafin quickly established herself as one of the new sopranos on the international scene, beginning to sing for the main opera houses of the world, with a repertoire from Mozart to Wagner, Richard Strauss and Puccini.
With critical and audience acclaim, she's interpreter of roles such as TOSCA, directed by M°Pappano at Covent Garden Opera in London, in Rome with M° Gelmetti and other productions at the Wiener Staatsoper and Taormina, Manon Lescaut at Teatro La Fenice in Venice and Torre del Lago Festival, Turandot for the historic reopening of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari and in a concert version with La Scala conducted by M° Riccardo Chailly, in Torre del Lago and in Rome, Sieglinde in Die Walkure at the Wiener Staatsoper and in Berlin, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Zurich, Elsa in Die Lohengrin at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, in Bologna conducted by Daniele Gatti and in Dresden, as well as Elisabeth for Die Tannhauser in Rome and Amsterdam, as Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalierwith Donald Runnicles in Wien and San Francisco, Barcelona, Munich, Toulouse and Amsterdam, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte in Stuttgart, La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by M° Placido Domingo in Los Angeles, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Wiener Staatsoper, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Tokyo, Lisa in Tchaikovsky's Pikovaya Dama at the Wiener Staatsoper, in Bologna and in Barcelona, the title role of Genoveva in Palermo, Maddalena in Andrea Chenier directed by Giancarlo Del Monaco in Cagliari and Catania.
Guest in concert halls, she appeared in television and radio, the Musikverein in Vienna, Koncergebouw Amsterdam, Philarmonie in Berlin and Munich, S. Cecilia in Rome, with a repertoire from Wagner to Puccini, from Liederabend to Lehar and Johann Strauss.
Recent engagements include Strauss' Letzte Lieder conducted by M° Zubin Mehta at the Musikverein, Tosca in Paris, Barcelona and in Wien, Maddalena in Wien, Paris and Zurich, Sieglinde in Die Walkure with M° Levine at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris and Wien, Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera, Elisabetta in Don Carlo in Milan, Manon Lescaut in Hamburg, Tosca in Barcellona, Andrea Chenier in Zurich,Nabucco in Orange, Tosca in Vienna, Paris, Berlin.
She debuts at the Arena di Verona in 2012 singing in Tosca; in 2014she sings the title role in Turandot.
She returns for the 2015 Opera Festival as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco.
SUSANNA BRANCHINI
Soprano
Susanna Branchini, born in Rome to an Italian father and aCaribbean mother, she graduates with honors at the F. Morlacchi Music Conservatory in Perugia, and successfully participates in many international competitions: she’s a finalist in both Toulouse and As.Li.Co. and wins the Mattia Battistini contest. In 2002 she debuts at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome as Micaela in Carmen, soon followed by Liù in Turandot and Mimì in La Bohème.
Her svelt vocal evolution allows her to approach a more incisive repertoire very quickly, as Verdi’s heroines, going from Aida, Trovatore and Don Carlo to the soprano drammatico d’agilità roles such as Odabella in Attila and Lady in Macbeth (in which she just opened the Season 2012/13 at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona), characters that show her artistic temperament and her acting skills.
Susanna Branchini feels comfortable both in the psychological depth of Puccini’s lyricism inTosca, Madama Butterfly, Tabarro and Suor Angelica as well as the “verismo” repertoire where she can range from Pagliacci to Cavalleria Rusticana.
Ms. Branchini performs on numerous prestigious stages, including Teatro dell'Opera in Rome; Arena di Verona; Teatro Regio in Parma; Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Opera de Nice; Vlaamse Oper in Antwerpen; Oper Leipzig; Savonlinna Festival; Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv; Hong Kong Opera and Bunkamura Teatre in Tokyo. She collaborates with such conductors as Maurizio Arena, Maurizio Barbacini, Niksa Baresza, Andrea Battistoni, Maurizio Benini, Giampaolo Bisanti, Massimo De Bernardt, Gabriele Gelmetti, Marco Guidarini, Julian Kovatchev, Vladimir Jurowski, Günther Neuhold, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Oren, Stefano Ranzani, Donato Renzetti, Omer Wellber and directors as Giancarlo Del Monaco, Renzo Giacchieri, Peter Konwitschny, Pierfrancesco Maestrini, Lorenzo Mariani, Francesco Micheli, Franco Ripa di Meana, Ivan Stefanutti and Franco Zeffirelli.
Among her recent and future engagements: Leonora in Il Trovatore at the Arena Sferisterio in Macerata, Tosca in Antwerpen, Leonora in Il Trovatore in the season opening production at Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo, Tosca at La Fenice in Venice and at Arena Sferisterio in Macerata, Aida at Arena di Verona, Lady Macbeth at Theatre de Champs-Elysees under the baton of Daniele Gatti, Aida and the debut as Abigaille in Nabucco at the Arena di Verona.
She debuts at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona in the role of Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, the inaugural opera of the Opera Season 2012-2013.
She debuts at the Arena di Verona in 2008 in Carmen; in 2013she takes part in theGala Domingo-Harding; in 2014 she sings in Aida.
She returns for the 2015 Festival as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco and in the title role for Aida.
ANNA PIROZZI
Soprano
Anna Pirozziwas born in Naples and began her vocal studies at the Musical Institute of Valle d'Aosta. She graduated at the Conservatory "G. Verdi" with soprano Silvana Moyso and attended masterclasses with Daniela Dessi, Mirella Freni, Luciana D'Intino, Rockwell Blake and Sylvie Valayre. First prize winner of the «Mattia Battistini»contest in Rieti (Italy).
Her career started in 2007 when was selected by As.Li.Co. for a concert of Verdi's .She debuted the role of Abigail in NABUCCO for the Trentino Opera Festival at the Teatro Cantero Chiavari under the baton of of Stephen Giaroli, at Teatro Girolamo Magnani in Fidenza, at the Teatro Comunale di Carpi, the Opera Theatre of Ljubljana and, recently, at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari under the baton of M° Donato Renzetti.
She also debuted in the role of Amelia in Un Ballo in maschera at the Teatro Regio in Turin with the direction of M° Renato Palumbo.
She debuted the role of Tosca in the theaters of Asti, Biella, Stresa, Aosta and Sanremo with the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, she sang Leonora in Il Trovatore at Derby Theatre in Milan and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro at Theatre Superga and Theatre Giuseppe Giacosa in Aosta with the Symphonic Orchestra of Valle d'Aosta, conducted by M° Emmanuel Siffert; she is Desdemona in Verdi's Otello in Aosta, Biella, Asti and Sanremo, and Aida at the Teatro Cantero in Chiavari and the Teatro Comunale in Carpi.
A versatile artist also successfully addresses to the modern repertoire, playing the role of Butterfly in the new opera by Bruno Oddenino Mister Pinkerton, with libretto by Chicca Morone and the Cerretum orchestra conducted by M° Aldo Salvagno, premiered at the Cathedral of Cirié. She also performed in the title role of G. Bertolani's Angelica at the Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia and recently in Saffo, Una Donna fuori dal tempo by Sergio Merletti at the "G. Verdi" Conservatory in Turin.
Intense also her concert activity: invited by the Chinese delegation in collaboration with the Conservatory "G. Verdi" in Turin she was conducted by M° Liu Ming in a concert with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra at the Shenzhen Concert Hall, China. She made her debut at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto with a recital of arias by Verdi alongside Ambrogio Maestri.
Recently she sang Lady Macbeth at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Abigaille in Tel Aviv and Valencia. Among the upcoming engagements includeCavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at Sferisterio in Macerata, Aida in Turin.
She debuts at the Arena di Verona for the 2015 Festival as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco.