Vivica Genaux (; born July 10, 1969) is an American

coloratura mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below midd ...

. She was born in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

. She has sung in major

operas 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 libret ...

such as ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was ba ...

'' at 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 opera ...

, ''

L'italiana in Algeri ''L'italiana in Algeri'' (; ''The Italian Girl in Algiers'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. It premiered at the Teatro San ...

'' at Opéra National de Paris, and ''

La Cenerentola ' ('' Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillon'' ...

'' with

Dallas Opera The Dallas Opera is an American opera company located in Dallas, Texas. The company performs at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, one venue of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. History The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civi ...

and the

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

Education and singing career

Vivica Genaux was born on July 10, 1969, in

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

. Her father was a biochemistry professor at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

and her Mexico-born mother was a language teacher. She began her vocal studies as a young girl with American dramatic soprano

Dorothy Dow Dorothy Dow (8 October 1920 – 26 February 2005) was an American classical dramatic soprano who had an active international career in concerts, operas, and recitals during the 1940s through the 1960s. After retiring from the stage in 1968, she e ...

. Ms. Genaux then studied with the late

Nicola Rossi-Lemeni Nicola Rossi-LemeniHis father's last name was Rossi, but his mother wanted her family name added, "Rossi Lemeni" (without a hyphen). However, many publications and recordings hyphenate the name. (November 6, 1920 – March 12, 1991), was a ...

and

Virginia Zeani Virginia Zeani (born Virginia Zehan; 21 October 1925), Commendatore OMRI is a Romanian-born opera singer who sang leading soprano roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America. As a singer, she was known for her dramatic intensity and ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest c ...

and for many years with

Claudia Pinza Bozzolla Claudia Pinza Bozzolla (July 27, 1925 in Buenos Aires, Argentina – August 3, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was an Argentine-American operatic soprano, vocal coach, and voice teacher of Italian origin. As a singer she performed in operas thr ...

(daughter of bass Ezio Pinza) in Pittsburgh. She began her professional career specializing in charming portrayals of

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

comic heroines (Rosina in ''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...

'', Isabella in ''

'', Angelina in ''

''). She has performed these roles more than two hundred times with many of the major U.S. opera companies (including the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota Operas), as well as in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dresden, Munich, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Verona, Santiago and Perth. Her official debut took place in Florence in October 1994 as Isabella in ''

''. Her role as the hero in Handel's ''

Arminio ''Arminio'' ( HWV 36) is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is based on a libretto of the same name by Antonio Salvi, which had been set to music by Alessandro Scarlatti. It is a fictionalisation of events surrounding the ...

'' was her first baroque role, and she continues to expand her repertoire, which currently includes 28 roles, 20 of which are pants roles (a woman—often a mezzo-soprano—playing a male character), and some of which were originally written for the

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due t ...

voice.

Highlights

Prior career highlights have included: Brussels (La Monnaie) and Paris (Champs-Elysées) for Hasse's ''Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra'', led by long-time mentor, conductor

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

; the recently rediscovered

Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...

oratorio ''La Santissima Trinità'' in Paris, Palermo and Lyon, which marked her first collaboration with Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante; Gluck's ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning a ...

'' at the

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leader ...

; a Weill Hall recital at New York's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

; Rosinas at the

Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great fro ...

Vienna State Opera 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 ...

and the

; the Opéra National de Paris (''Barbiere'' and ''Alcina''); a concert at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin with René Jacobs and the Akademie für Alte Musik performing music from their "Arias for

Farinelli Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinell ...

" CD; Mendelssohn's ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream'' in Paris and Hong Kong with

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus O ...

and the

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre national de France (ONF; literal translation, ''National Orchestra of France'') is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France sinc ...

; ''Rinaldo'' in Montpellier and Innsbruck; Minnesota Opera for ''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Gover ...

'', '' I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' and ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fe ...

''; Urbain in '' Les Huguenots'' for the opening of the new opera house in Bilbao; Hassem in Donizetti's ''Alahor in Granata'' in Seville; Selimo in Hasse's ''Solimano'' at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin; Juno/Ino in Handel's ''Semele'' at

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

; and seven appearances at the Caramoor Festival.

Recordings

; L'Atenaide (Teodosio) – Vivaldi * with Modo Antiquo & Federico Sardelli, conductor * NAÏVE OP30438 3 CD * U.S. Release August 22, 2007 ;Handel & Hasse Arias & Cantatas (solo) * with Les Violins du Roy, Bernard Labadie, Conductor * VIRGIN CLASSICS (1 CD) 7243 5 45737 2 9 * U.S. Release September 2006 ; Bajazet (Irene) – Vivaldi * Grammy Nominated * with Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Conductor * VIRGIN VERITAS 45676-2 * U.S. Release May 2005 ;La Santissima Trinità (Teologia) – Scarlatti * with Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Conductor * VIRGIN VERITAS 5456662 (1 CD) * Released May 2004 ;Bel Canto Arias (solo) – Donizetti/Rossini * with Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, John Nelson, Conductor * VIRGIN CLASSICS 7243 5 45615 2 8 * Released September 2003 ; Rinaldo (Title Role) – Handel * René Jacobs, Conductor * HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 901796.98 * Released May 2003 ;Arias for

(solo) – Various Artists * Grammy Nominated * with Akademie für Alte Musik, René Jacobs, Conductor * HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 901778 * Released 2002 ;

(Title Role) – Handel * with Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis, Conductor * VIRGIN Veritas 5 45461 2 * Released August 2001 ;An Evening of Arias and Songs (solo) – Various Artists * EPCASO 93515 04012 * Released June 1999 ; Alahor in Granata - Donizetti * with Orquestra Ciudad de Granada, Josep Pons, Conductor * Almaviva ASIN B00003Z9UQ * Released Dec 2006

Personal life

Vivica is a distant relative of

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

player Régis Genaux. Her interest in European Baroque music led her to settle in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. She is the subject of 2004 documentary ''A Voice Out of the Cold''.

References

External links

Official website

Fanfare Webzine
The Original Vivica Genaux site
Extensive interview with Vivica Genaux on Opera Lively
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genaux, Vivica 1969 births Living people American operatic mezzo-sopranos American musicians of Mexican descent American people of Walloon descent Handel Prize winners Hispanic and Latino American musicians Indiana University Bloomington alumni Singers from Alaska People from Fairbanks, Alaska American performers of early music Women performers of early music 20th-century American women opera singers 21st-century American women opera singers Hispanic and Latino American women singers