MARIA AGRESTA

Maria Agresta’s international recognition came with her acclaimed performance in I vespri siciliani at the Teatro Regio di Torino, which received excellent reviews from both press and public. Since then, she has been a regular guest at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Berlin Staatsoper, Royal Opera House in London, Vienna Staatsoper and Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Her repertoire spans the great works of bel canto and verismo. She has sung Puccini (La bohème, Suor Angelica, Tosca, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, Il tabarro), Verdi (Oberto, Il trovatore, La traviata, Simon Boccanegra, Otello, Don Carlo, I masnadieri, I due Foscari, Attila), Bellini (Norma, I puritani), Donizetti (Gemma di Vergy, Anna Bolena), Leoncavallo (Pagliacci), Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur), Cherubini (Medea), Spontini (La vestale), Boito (Mefistofele) and Giordano (Andrea Chénier).

She has worked with eminent conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Myung-Whun Chung, Gianandrea Noseda, Christian Thielemann and Nicola Luisotti, and with stage directors including Robert Carsen, Franco Zeffirelli, Robert Wilson, Mario Martone, Calixto Bieito, Paco Azorín, Rafael Villalobos and Davide Livermore.

Her awards include the prestigious Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Soprano (2014), the Luigi Illica International Prize, and the title of Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

EN ABAO BILBAO OPERA

• Adriana Lecouvreur