Francesca Aspromonte - Dafne

Born in 1991, Francesca Aspromonte is rapidly establishing herself as one of the most interesting young sopranos for the baroque and classical repertoire. After her studies in piano and harpsichord, she entered the singing class of Maria Pia Piscitelli. She attended several master classes with Barbara Bonney, Luciana Serra, Victor Torrez, Gloria Banditelli and she has just completed her studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under the guidance of Boris Bakow. Since 2012 she is a student of Renata Scotto’s Opera Studio at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Recently she sang the modern premiere of Cavalli’s L’Eritrea in Venice conducted by Stefano Montanari and directed by Olivier Lexa (Teatro La Fenice production); “Amore Siciliano” at the Musikfest Bremen and at the Festival d’Ambronay with Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo García Alarcón; Mozart’s La Betulia Liberata (Amital) in Merano and Brixen with Daniel Bayer and the Streicherakademie Bozen; concerts at the Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de’ Turchini with Stefano Demicheli; Scarlatti’s La Giuditta (title role) at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana and Pasquini’s La Gloria di Primavera at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, both with Concerto Romano and Alessandro Quarta; L’isola disabitata by David Perez in Lisbon with Divino Sospiro. She participated in the first edition of the Accademia Monteverdiana directed by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted her also in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Musica, Speranza and Messaggiera) and Vespro della Beata Vergine with the Monteverdi Choir on tour in the United States (New York-Carnegie Hall, San Francisco, Washington, Costa Mesa, Chapel Hill).

Plans  include:  a new production of Rossi’s L’Orfeo (Euridice) with Raphaël Pichon at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy and on tour in France; “Amore Siciliano” with Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo García Alarcón in Brugge; Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Vespro della Beata Vergine with the Monteverdi Choir and John Eliot Gardiner in London (BBC Proms) and Versailles; Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine with Collegium 1704 in Dresden and Prague; Haydn’s La Canterina with Capella Augustina and Andreas Spering for the Opening concert of the Brühler Schlosskonzerte; concerts and recording of a Haydn program with Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini; Cavalli’s Oristeo at the Théâtre National de la Criée in Marseille; concerts with the Geneva Camerata and David Greilsammer in Venice and Geneva; Scarlatti’s Santa Editta with Mare Nostrum (concert and recording for Outhere).

Stefano Montanari - conductor

Stefano Montanari is now much in demand as a conductor with both modern and period orchestras, being also active as one of the best baroque violin virtuosos of his generation. M° Montanari recently made his theatre debut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow conducting Così Fan Tutte. In Venice, where he regularly appears both in opera and concert, he recently conducted Cavalli’s Eritrea (first performance in modern times), L’Inganno Felice and Don Giovanni. He also made his debut with the Rome Opera conducting Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Terme di Caracalla, an opera he also conducted at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. Always active as a virtuoso violinist, Stefano Montanari has just played the whole series of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas at the Opéra de Lyon. After a successful concert with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, he has been reinvited to conduct Dido & Aeneas at the Opera in Florence, Bach’s B minor mass and other symphonic concerts; he also recently returned to I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan conducting a symphonic concert and and the jazz project La Montagna Incantata by and with Gianluigi Trovesi. M° Montanari did his debut at the Arena in Verona conducting Don Giovanni. Stefano Montanari obtained a huge success conducting Il Viaggio a Reims (new production by Damiano Michieletto) in Amsterdam. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his recording of Purcell’s O Solitude with Andreas Scholl for Decca.

Future plans:  Agrippina in Antwerp; Le Nozze di Figaro for OperaLombardia (Como, Cremona, Brescia, Pavia, Bergamo); L’Elisir d’Amore and symphonic concerts at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice; La Clemenza di Tito and Così fan Tutte at the Bolshoi in Moscow; concerts in Florence with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in Turin with the Filarmonica del Teatro Regio di Torino and at the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe. M° Montanari will play all the sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Bach at the Stresa Festival. He will also play in several concerts with his own ensemble L’Estravagante in Italy and Europe, with the Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montréal and will return to the Opéra de Lyon involved in several new projects, among which Die Entführung aus dem Serail and a baroque concert.