Cecilia Bartoli regularly sings in the most important concert halls in Europe, the United States and Japan. Her stage appearances include prestigious opera houses and festivals such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, La Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Salzburg Festival and the Zürich Opera House, where she has presented many of her operatic roles for the first time.
Most recently, her roles have included Rossini's Fiorilla in "Il Turco in Italia" at Covent Garden and two Handelian heroines, Cleopatra (in "Giulio Cesare" with Marc Minkowski) and Semele (with William Christie) in Zurich – the latter in a Robert Carsen-production which was successfully released on DVD. Cecilia Bartoli’s debut as Bellini’s Norma is planned for June 2010 in Dortmund (Germany) in concert performances with the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock.
Recently, Cecilia Bartoli devoted her time to the early 19th century - the era of Italian Romanticism and Belcanto - and especially the legendary singer Maria Malibran. Her 200th birthday on 24th March 2008 was marked by a historical day in Malibran’s birthplace Paris: Cecilia Bartoli sang 3 concerts in one day as the centre-piece of a Malibran-Marathon at Salle Pleyel – collaborating with Lang Lang, Vadim Repin, Adam Fischer and Myung-Whun Chung – while the City of Paris showed her Barcelona Concert on a big screen outside the Hôtel de Ville, where Cecilia Bartoli’s mobile Malibran Museum was stationed to honour that special day. Further bicentenary events were the CD “Maria”, the DVD “The Barcelona Concert/Malibran Rediscovered”, extensive concert tours as well as operatic appearances as Cenerentola, Sonnambula and Halevy’s Clari – in a Malibran-opera which had not been performed since 1829. The first complete recording of “La Sonnambula” with period instruments and a mezzosoprano in the title role (with Juan Diego Florez as Elvino) rounded off this great homage to Maria Malibran.
In 2009/10, Cecilia Bartoli returns to the Baroque repertoire and embarks on a breathtaking voyage to 18th century Naples and its castrato stars. Apart from the release of her new solo album, “Sacrificium”, concerts with so far unknown castrato repertoire will take place in all major European capitals. A further highlight will be the concert performances of Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” conducted by William Christie at the Salle Pleyel (Paris) in February 2010.
Cecilia Bartoli has been endowed with the Italian Knighthood and is an "Accademico effettivo" of Santa Cecilia, Rome, a French "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" and “Officier dans l’Ordre du Mérit”, an "Honorary Member" of the Royal Academy of Music, London. Most recently she was given the prestigious Italian prize “Bellini d’Oro”, a “Medalla de oro al merito en las bellas artes”, one of the highest awards of the Spanish Ministry of Culture. On the occasion of the Handel Jubilee Year, Cecilia Bartoli was made Honorary Member of the advisory board of the Handel House Halle Foundation. In June 2010, in Copenhagen, she will be awarded the renowned Danish Léonie Sonning Music Prize.
September 2009/mw
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