Born in Altamura, Italy, Loriana Castellano graduated with honours in Vocal Studies from the Conservatoire in Lecce. She then furthered her studies with Claudio Desderi, Edward Smith, Sara Mingardo, Raul Gimenez and Alberto Zedda. She has been the recipient of prizes at several international competitions and represented Italy at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition 2013. After winning the 64th “Spoleto” Competition, she made her debut in Il matrimonio segreto as Fidalma, a role that she also sang in Treviso, Ferrara, Rovigo, Ravenna and Lucca following her victory at the 2012 “Toti Dal Monte” Competition.
Among her earliest engagements, it is worth mentioning: Le Nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) in Rome; Handel’s Alcina (Bradamante) with Le Parlement de Musique and Martin Gester; the modern premiere of Myslivecek’s Medonte (Zelinda) with L’Arte del Mondo and Werner Ehrhardt (recorded for DHM); Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans with Modo Antiquo and Federico Maria Sardelli in Braunschweig and at the Festival de Beaune; Pavesi’s Ser Marcantonio (Bettina) in Bad Wildbad, recorded for Naxos; Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica (Emilia) with Modo Antiquo and Federico Maria Sardelli at the Theater an der Wien and in Krakow; Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra under Thierry Fischer in Utrecht; Così fan tutte (Dorabella) in Matera; La Cenerentola (title role) in Sao Paulo; Vivaldi’s Farnace 1738 (Selinda) in Florence with Federico Maria Sardelli (DVD); La Cambiale di matrimonio in Ingolstadt; Mozart’s La Betulia liberata in Wroclaw; Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina) in Trento and Seoul; Kraus’ Begräbnis Kantate with L’arte del mondo and Werner Ehrhardt, recorded for DHM; Battistelli’s Il medico dei pazzi in Nancy and Venice; Don Giovanni (Zerlina) at the Opera de Monte-Carlo; L’Italiana in Algeri (Isabella) at the Lucca Opera Festival; Il turco in Italia (Zaida) in Piacenza, Ravenna and Modena; Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas (The Witch) at Teatro Regio di Torino with Federico Maria Sardelli; Il matrimonio segreto (Fidalma) at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik with Alessandro De Marchi (recorded for CPO); La gazza ladra (Lucia) at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari with George Petrou; Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso (Bradamante) with Diego Fasolis at Festival della Valle d’Itria and at the Teatro La Fenice (Dynamic DVD); Adriana Lecouvreur at Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
Loriana Castellano’s concert repertoire includes: Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Salve Regina, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Magnificat and Juditha Triumphans, Handel’s Messiah, Schubert’s Mass No. 5 in A flat major, Porpora’s Salve Regina, Mozart’s La Betulia Liberata and Bach’s Matthäus-Passion. Her discography also includes the duet album “Se con stille frequenti”, recorded with Sara Mingardo.
Among her recent and future engagements: Handel/Leo’s Rinaldo (Almirena) at the Festival della Valle d’Itria with Fabio Luisi (Dynamic DVD); Carmen (Mercédès) at the Shaanxi Grand Opera House; the world premieres of Giorgio Battistelli’s operas 7 Minuti at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy and Le Baruffe at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice; La clemenza di Tito (Annio) at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Federico Maria Sardelli and Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica at Opera Barga; Donizetti’s Pietro il Grande (Caterina) under Rinaldo Alessandrini at the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo; Manon Lescaut (Musico) and La Traviata at Opéra de Montecarlo; Il Tabarro (Frugola) at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago; Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso (Bradamante) at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice with Diego Fasolis, then in Ferrara and Modena with Federico Maria Sardelli.
November 2023