Desirée Rancatore
Encyclopedia
Desirée Rancatore is an Italian coloratura soprano
of the opera
tic stage.
. She returned to the Festival with Die Entfhürung aus dem Serail, Don Carlo (conducted by Lorin Maazel
), Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher (Honegger
), Piramo e Tisbe (conducted by Fabio Biondi
), and concerts in the Salzburg Mozarteum
She sung for the first time in Italy in 1997 at the opening of the season at the Teatro Regio in Parma
L’Arlesiana de Francesco Cilèa
). At the age of 21 she debuted in the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier) and sang her first Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann (Catania
). She has performed the role also at the Opéra National in Paris
, at the Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden in London
, at the Zurich Ópera, at the Massimo in Palermo, at the Opera in Rome
, the Regio Theatre in Turin
and Parma
, the Toulouse
Théâtre du Capitole, the Teatro Real in Madrid
, la Scala in Milan
, the Sferisterio in Macerata
, the Orange Opera Festival and the Vienna Staatsoper.
Another of the roles she is known for is Gilda from Rigoletto, which she has performed in Melbourne
, San Francisco, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
, Tokyo
, Venice
, Mexico
, Vienna, Verona
, Parma, Beijing
, Florence
and Zurich.
She debuted in the lead role in Lucia di Lammermoor in the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo
in the 2005-06 season, later doing a tour of Japan in this role, which included Tokyo. She sang the role again in the Oviedo
Opera, in the Zurich Opera, the Comunale in Bologna
, the Cilèa in Reggio Calabria
and in the Comunale in Ferrara
.
Another of her roles is Adina from L’elisir d’amore, which she debuted in Laurent Pelly
’s production at the Bastille Opera in Paris and which she performed again in the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari
and in La Fenice in Venice. She debuted the lead role in Delibes
’ Lakmé, which she has sung in Palermo, the Campoamor in Oviedo and in the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo. In December 2004, at the reopening of La Scala
in Milan, she sang the role of Sémele in Salieri
’s L’Europa riconosciuta, conducted by Riccardo Muti
. She was invited to open the 2005-6 season at the Bologna Comunale in a new production of Ascanio in Alba and in October 2008 she made her debut as Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani in Palermo. In 2010 she debuted the role of Amina from La Sonnambula in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
In concert she has also performed as a soloist in the Petite Messe Solennelle in Paris and in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor in Salzburg, in Mozart’s Requiem (Massimo, Palermo), Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (Paris, Radio France National Orchestra, conducted by Muti). She also participated in the opening concert of the 2003-04 season at La Scala and has sung with the Turin RAI Symphonic Orchestra and, in a gala alongside Bryn Terfel
and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, as well as a Spanish tour with the Catania Massimo Bellini Philharmonic. In 2011 she sung the New Year’s Concert at La Fenice.
Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...
of the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic stage.
Biography
Desirée Rancatore studied violin and piano before beginning, at the age of 16, to extend her study of singing with her mother and, in Rome, with Margaret Baker Genovesi. At the age of 19 she debuted as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro in Salzburg FestivalSalzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
. She returned to the Festival with Die Entfhürung aus dem Serail, Don Carlo (conducted by Lorin Maazel
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...
), Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher (Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
), Piramo e Tisbe (conducted by Fabio Biondi
Fabio Biondi
Fabio Biondi is an Italian violinist and conductor.Born in Palermo, Sicily, Biondi began his international career at the age of 12 playing a concerto with the RAI Symphony Orchestra. When he was 16, he performed Bach's violin concertos at the Musikverein in Vienna...
), and concerts in the Salzburg Mozarteum
She sung for the first time in Italy in 1997 at the opening of the season at the Teatro Regio in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
L’Arlesiana de Francesco Cilèa
Francesco Cilea
Francesco Cilea was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur.-Biography:...
). At the age of 21 she debuted in the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier) and sang her first Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann (Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
). She has performed the role also at the Opéra National in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, at the Zurich Ópera, at the Massimo in Palermo, at the Opera in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, the Regio Theatre in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
and Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, the Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
Théâtre du Capitole, the Teatro Real in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, la Scala in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, the Sferisterio in Macerata
Macerata
Macerata is a city and comune in central Italy, the capital of the province of Macerata in the Marche region.The historical city center is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. It consisted of the Picenes city named Ricina, then, after the romanization, Recina and Helvia Recina...
, the Orange Opera Festival and the Vienna Staatsoper.
Another of the roles she is known for is Gilda from Rigoletto, which she has performed in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, San Francisco, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Vienna, Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, Parma, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Zurich.
She debuted in the lead role in Lucia di Lammermoor in the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
in the 2005-06 season, later doing a tour of Japan in this role, which included Tokyo. She sang the role again in the Oviedo
Oviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
Opera, in the Zurich Opera, the Comunale in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, the Cilèa in Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
and in the Comunale in Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
.
Another of her roles is Adina from L’elisir d’amore, which she debuted in Laurent Pelly
Laurent Pelly
Laurent Pelly is a French opera and theatre director. At the age of 18, he founded the Compagnie Théâtrale du Pélican which, since 1982, has been co-directed by Agathe Mélinand...
’s production at the Bastille Opera in Paris and which she performed again in the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
and in La Fenice in Venice. She debuted the lead role in Delibes
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
’ Lakmé, which she has sung in Palermo, the Campoamor in Oviedo and in the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo. In December 2004, at the reopening of La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in Milan, she sang the role of Sémele in Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
’s L’Europa riconosciuta, conducted by Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
. She was invited to open the 2005-6 season at the Bologna Comunale in a new production of Ascanio in Alba and in October 2008 she made her debut as Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani in Palermo. In 2010 she debuted the role of Amina from La Sonnambula in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
In concert she has also performed as a soloist in the Petite Messe Solennelle in Paris and in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor in Salzburg, in Mozart’s Requiem (Massimo, Palermo), Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (Paris, Radio France National Orchestra, conducted by Muti). She also participated in the opening concert of the 2003-04 season at La Scala and has sung with the Turin RAI Symphonic Orchestra and, in a gala alongside Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, as well as a Spanish tour with the Catania Massimo Bellini Philharmonic. In 2011 she sung the New Year’s Concert at La Fenice.
Discography
- Falstaff, Giuseppe Verdi. DVD, Opus Arte 1999
- Der Rosenkavalier, Richard Strauss. DVD, Brilliant Classic 2000
- Die Entfhürung aus dem Serail, Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart. CD, Telarc 2001
- Die Zauberflöte, Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart. DVD, TDK 2001
- Les Huguenots, Giacomo Meyerbeer. CD, Dynamic 2001
- La cambiale di matrimonio, Gioacchino Rossini. CD, Dynamic 2002
- Mozart in Turkey. DVD, BBC 2003
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Jacques Offenbach. DVD, TDK 2004
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Jacques Offenbach. DVD, Dynamic 2005
- Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti. DVD, Dynamic 2007
- Ascanio in Alba, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. DVD, Bongiovanni 2008
- La cambiale di matrimonio, Gioacchino Rossini. DVD, Naxos 2008
- Die Vögel, Walter Braunfels. DVD, Arthaus Musik 2009
- Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti. CD, Naxos 2010
- New Years Concert La Fenice. DVD, Hardy 2011
Honours and awards
- 1995: Ibla de Ragusa Award
- 1995: Vincenzo Bellini de Caltanissetta Prize
- 1996: Maria Caniglia de Sulmona Award
- 2004: Medaglia d'Oro Città di Milano Award
- 2008: Mimosa d'Oro Award
- 2008: Kaleidos Award
- 2008: Ester Mazzoleni Special Prize
- 2009: Zenatello Award
- 2010: Oscar della lirica, Verona