Cecilia Bartoli

The Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli (born 4 June 1966) is a popular opera singer and recitalist. She is best-known for her Mozart and Rossini roles as well as for her performances of lesser-known baroque music. Bartoli doesn't have a large voice but she has a highly individual timbre which she uses to great vocal and dramatic effect.

Related Topics:
Italian - Mezzo-soprano - 4 June - 1966 - Opera - Mozart - Rossini

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In contrast to most opera singers, Bartoli came to prominence at a very young age -- in her early twenties.

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Bartoli was born in Rome. Her parents were both professional singers and gave her her first music lessons. Her first public performance was at age nine as a shepherd boy in Tosca. Bartoli later studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia.

Related Topics:
Rome - Tosca - Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia

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In 1985, at age 19, Bartoli appeared in a talent show on Italian television; the conductor Riccardo Muti saw her performance and invited her to audition at La Scala. Several years later, Herbert von Karajan invited her to sing at the 1990 Salzburg Easter Festival (however his untimely death prevented this from taking place). At this time, she also came to Daniel Barenboim's attention when he saw her performing on a French television tribute to Maria Callas.

Related Topics:
Riccardo Muti - La Scala - Herbert von Karajan - Daniel Barenboim - Maria Callas

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Working with the conductors Barenboim and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bartoli focused on Mozart roles, and from then on her career developed internationally. In 1988, she recorded Rosina in The Barber of Seville. In 1990, she worked with von Karajan on Bach's Mass in B Minor. From then on her career developed rapidly.

Related Topics:
Nikolaus Harnoncourt - The Barber of Seville - Bach

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In 1996, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Despina in Così fan tutte and returned the following year to sing the title role of La Cenerentola.

Related Topics:
Metropolitan Opera - Così fan tutte - La Cenerentola

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The cavernous Met is the largest opera house in the world and there was much speculation that she had been secretly miked to boost her volume, but such rumours were steadfastly denied by the Met management.

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Bartoli has developed repertoire suited to her voice. In addition to Mozart and Rossini, she has been turning her attention to baroque and early classical era music of such composers as Vivaldi, Haydn and Salieri. In early 2005, she sang Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, a coloratura soprano role.

Related Topics:
Vivaldi - Haydn - Salieri - Handel - Giulio Cesare

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One of the top-selling classical musicians of recent years, Bartoli is much liked by the concert-going public for her lively, vivacious onstage persona

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I think in more recent years, her voice has been maturing and arguably a "larger" voice than in years past.

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