Rosa Feola (born 21 May 1986) is an Italian

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Early life and training

Feola was born and grew up in

San Nicola la Strada San Nicola la Strada (Campanian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about south of Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in ...

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

(Italy), in a music-loving family. At about 5, she had her first piano lesson with a cousin, and at around 6, she began to sing in coro dell'Accademia musicale di San Nicola and later the church choir. Having studied with Mara Naddei, in 2008 she graduated in singing with a first-class honors degree from

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

's . She continued her studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia's Opera Studio attending master classes by Renata Scotto, Anna Vandi, and Cesare Scarton."Notes", ''I due Figaro'', ℗© 2012 Ducale, DUC 045-47

Career

Feola made her operatic debut in the role of Corinna ('' Il viaggio a Reims'') under Kent Nagano at the Santa Cecilia Academy at age 23. She came to international attention winning Second Prize, the Zarzuela Prize and the Rolex Audience Prize at

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Operalia Plácido Domingo's Operalia, The World Opera Competition is an annual international competition for opera singers. Founded in 1993 by Plácido Domingo, the competition's varied prizes have been given to known artists such as Joseph Calleja, Rola ...

2010. In the following year, she made her role debuts / house debuts as Adina (''

L'elisir d'amore ''L'elisir d'amore'' (''The Elixir of Love'', ) is a ' (opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's ' (1831). The opera premiere ...

'') at

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

, Susanna ('' Le nozze di Figaro'') at

Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...

, and Micaëla (''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'') at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Most significant was singing the role of Inez in the modern premiere of Mercadante's '' I due Figaro'' under Riccardo Muti with whom she has maintained a longtime collaboration since then. The performances at

Ravenna Festival The Ravenna Festival is a summer festival of opera and classical music (as well as dance, jazz, ethnic, musical theater, ballett, sacred music, electronic music, drama, film, plus conventions and exhibitions) held in the city of Ravenna, Italy and t ...

were recorded live and later released on the Ducale label. In 2012, she made her US debut with

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center near ...

singing the soprano part of '' Carmina Burana'' under Muti, and later made her

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

debut in its season-opening concert with CSO and Muti with the same program. In the same year, at Ravenna Festival, in a production directed by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, Feola made her role debut of Gilda ('' Rigoletto''), a signature role of hers, which has served as the vehicle for her house debuts at Opernhaus Zürich (2013), Bayerische Staatsoper (2015), Lyric Opera of Chicago (2017, her US stage opera debut), and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

(2019). In 2014, she made her Wigmore Hall debut in the Rosenblatt Recital Series with pianist

Iain Burnside Iain Burnside is a Scottish classical pianist and accompanist, and a former presenter on BBC Radio 3. Following study at Merton College, Oxford, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy, in Warsaw he became a freelance pianist, special ...

. 2015 and 2016 were her breakthrough years. Her appearance as Elvira in

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

's new production '' I puritani'' won her rave reviews—she was honored as "Best Female in an Opera Production" at the Wales Theatre Awards and cited for outstanding achievement in Great Britain's What's On Stage Opera Poll 2016. The year of 2015 also saw the release of her first solo album, ''Musica e Poesia'', on the Opus Arte label, with selections by such composers as

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...

, Giuseppe Martucci,

Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro (now Paderno Ponchiell ...

Ciro Pinsuti Ciro Pinsuti (9 May 1829 – 10 March 1888) was an Anglo- Italian composer. Educated in music for a career as a pianist, he studied composition under Rossini. From 1848 he made his home in England, where he became a teacher of singing, and in ...

, and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. The recording was selected as an editor's choice in the March issue of ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' and shortlisted for the Solo Vocal category of 2016

Gramophone Classical Music Awards The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

. She was shortlisted as the best female singer of the

International Opera Awards The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world. Origins The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...

2016, alongside

Anna Bonitatibus Anna Bonitatibus (born in Potenza in the Basilicata region) is an Italian mezzo-soprano. Career Bonitatibus debuted at La Scala in 1999. She has appeared in many bel canto operas and recordings. She has recorded several times under the directio ...

Mariella Devia Mariella Devia (born 12 April 1948) is an Italian operatic soprano. After beginning her career as a lyric coloratura soprano, in the finale part of it she also enjoyed considerable success with some of the most dramatic roles in the bel canto ...

Christine Goerke Christine Goerke (born 1969) is an American dramatic soprano. Early life and education The daughter of Richard Goerke and Marguerite Goerke, Goerke was born in 1969 in New York State. She grew up in Medford, New York, where she attended Tremont ...

Evelyn Herlitzius Evelyn Herlitzius (born 27 April 1963) is a German opera singer, a dramatic soprano. She is known for performing major roles in works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, such as Brünnhilde, Isolde and Elektra, at the Semperoper, the Bayreut ...

, and

Anna Netrebko Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born 18 September 1971) is an Austrian operatic soprano with an active international career and performed prominently at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna ...

. In 2016, she also sang the role of Nannetta (''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'') in concert performances of Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Muti as part of the citywide Shakespeare 400 Celebration, made her US recital debut in San Francisco, made

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

debut singing concert arias by

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, made her

Wiener Staatsoper The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

debut in the role of Susanna (''Le nozze di Figaro''), and toured with Wiener Staatsoper to Japan with the same role under Muti in the classical production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Feola appeared in the 2017 New Year's Concert of La Fenice singing music by

Bellini Bellini is an Italian name, Italian surname, formed as a patronymic or plural form of Bellino (surname), Bellino. People *Family of Italian painters: **Jacopo Bellini (c. 1396–c. 1470), father of Gentile and Giovanni **Gentile Bellini (c. 1429� ...

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, and

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

under

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Biog ...

. The concert was broadcast by RAI and streamed by ARTE worldwide. She made her

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

debut in 2017 as well, in her role debut of Ninetta for the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the premiere of '' La gazza ladra'' at La Scala (1817) under

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions ...

. The performance was broadcast by RAI Radio and TV and was shown in cinemas worldwide as part of the "All'Opera" 16/17 Season. On 21 June 2020, Feola joined Riccardo Muti and

Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...

for a concert inaugurating Ravenna Festival of the year, singing music of Mozart. The open-air concert taking place at , with all regulations of social distancing, was one of the first live concerts in Italy after almost four months of lockdown due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The performance was live broadcast by RAI Radio 3 (audio) and streamed online (video). On 16 October 2020, Feola made her anticipated role debut of Violetta (''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'') at in Savona. The production was created by Renata Scotto who made her career debut exactly in the same role at this theater in 1952. Other roles Feola has sung include Serafina (''

Il campanello ''Il campanello'' or ''Il campanello di notte'' (''The Night Bell'') is a dramma giocoso, or opera, in one act by Gaetano Donizetti. The composer wrote the Italian libretto after Mathieu-Barthélemy Troin Brunswick and Victor Lhérie's Frenc ...

''), Zerlina (''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

''), Servilia ('' La clemenza di Tito''), Musetta ('' La bohème''), Lauretta (''

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...

''), Carolina ('' Il matrimonio segreto''), Norina ('' Don Pasquale''), Sandrina (''

La finta giardiniera ' ("The Pretend Garden-Girl"), K. 196, is an Italian-language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on 13 January at the in Munich. There is deb ...

''), Ilia ('' Idomeneo''), Leïla (''

Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...

''), Amina ('' La sonnambula''), Lucia ('' Lucia di Lammermoor''), Dircé (''

Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille in 1635. Summary The heroine of the play is the sorceress Médée. After Médée gives Jason twin boys, Jason leaves her for Creusa. Médée exa ...

''), Fiorilla (''

Il turco in Italia ''Il turco in Italia'' (English: ''The Turk in Italy'') is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani. It was a re-working of a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà set as an opera (w ...

'').

Personal life

Feola got married on 9 December 2015. Her husband,

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

Sergio Vitale, is also from Caserta. Rosa Feola has two younger brothers: Carlo, a

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

, and Gianluca, a violinist.

References

External links

Rosa Feola
o
Askonas Holt

Rosa Feola
on Operabase {{DEFAULTSORT:Feola, Rosa Italian operatic sopranos 1986 births Living people People from the Province of Caserta 21st-century Italian women opera singers Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni