Born in Tirana, Enkelejda Shkoza studied at the Conservatory of her
hometown. She made her debut in Strasbourg in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.
After moving to Italy, she graduated in singing from the G. Verdi
Conservatory in Milan and won first prize at the Leyla Gencer
International Competition in Istanbul the same year. She later debuted in
major Italian and European theaters: Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro,
Teatro Regio in Turin, Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo, Comunale in Bologna,
and Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Invited to London’s Covent Garden for Rigoletto and Così fan
tutte, she returned in later seasons with Madama Butterfly,
The Queen of Spades, Matilde di Shabran, and Madama
Butterfly. Important debuts followed at the Opéra Bastille in Paris
(including the new production of Les contes d'Hoffmann), Théâtre
du Châtelet, Opéra Garnier, Théâtre de la Monnaie, La Scala in Milan (with
Petite Messe Solennelle), Semperoper Dresden, Vienna State Opera
(including a new production of Roberto Devereux).
She regularly collaborates with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis,
Riccardo Chailly, Bruno Campanella, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Daniel
Oren, Antonio Pappano, Fabio Luisi, Daniele Gatti, Evelino Pidò, Fabio
Biondi, Donato Renzetti, Carlo Rizzi, Daniele Rustioni, Vladimir Jurowski.
Her past performances include: La Damnation de Faust in
Amsterdam, Lisbon, Madrid, and Leipzig State Opera; La Cenerentola,
Gianni Schicchi, and Suor Angelica in Amsterdam; Carmen
at the Monte Carlo Opera and Munich; La Cenerentola at La Monnaie
in Brussels; Rigoletto, La Damnation de Faust, Madama
Butterfly at the Royal Theatre in Madrid; Maometto II in
Strasbourg and Bilbao; Madama Butterfly, Falstaff, La
Forza del Destino at the Liceu in Barcelona; La Straniera at
London’s Royal Festival Hall; Guillaume Tell in London, Bologna,
Palermo, and Lyon; Maria Stuarda at the Rome Opera; Roberto
Devereux at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris; Les Contes
d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; La Fille du
régiment at London’s Royal Opera House; Aida and Un
ballo in maschera in Toulon; Il Trovatore in Parma,
Macerata, Cagliari, Frankfurt, Toulon, Tenerife, and Tel Aviv; L’Italiana
in Algeri in Treviso and Ferrara; Falstaff at Teatro San
Carlo in Naples and Palma de Mallorca; La Forza del Destino in Tel
Aviv; the diptych Suor Angelica and Turandot by Busoni at
Teatro Lirico di Cagliari; Nabucco in Turin and Lyon; Pelléas
et Mélisande in Parma; Aida in Nancy and Russia; Lakmé
and the diptych Damoiselle élue / Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher at the
Royal Theatre in Madrid; Zazà by Leoncavallo in Vienna; Falstaff
in Bari; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve in Frankfurt.
She has performed Verdi’s Requiem many times in cities such as
Paris, Dublin, Lisbon, Tenerife, and Tel Aviv, and sang Rossini’s Stabat
Mater at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. She took part in the
world premiere of Menotti’s Missa Solemnis pro Jubileo Domini Nostri
Tertio Millennio at the Colosseum in Rome.
Her discography includes the collection Il Salotto, Rossini’s Otello,
La Straniera (Isoletta) and Maria di Rohan for Opera Rara,
Thaïs and Cavalleria Rusticana (Decca), Moïse et
Pharaon (ROF) conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Béatrice et
Bénédict and La Damnation de Faust (London Symphony
Orchestra) conducted by Sir Colin Davis, Madama Butterfly (EMI)
conducted by Antonio Pappano.
Among her recent engagements: Il Tabarro at the Rome Opera;
Puccini’s Trittico (Frugola, Suor Zelatrice, Zita) at the Salzburg
Festival and Paris National Opera; Il Trovatore at the Verdi
Festival in Parma; Un ballo in maschera in Tenerife and Marseille;
Pelléas et Mélisande in Modena and Piacenza; Falstaff in
Athens; Otello (concert version) at Aix-en-Provence on tour with
Teatro San Carlo Naples; Rusalka (Jezibaba) at Palau de les Arts
in Valencia; Madama Butterfly at London’s Royal Opera House Covent
Garden; Gianni Schicchi (Zita) with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano
and Trento; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve (Solocha) in
Frankfurt; and Aida (Amneris) at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari.
Notable in the 2025-26 season: Verdi’s Otello at Teatro Real in
Madrid.
August 2025