Sara Mingardo - Ottone

Premio Abbiati 2009, Sara MIngardo is one of the genuine contralto voices on the music scene today, Sara Mingardo collaborated with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Ivor Bolton, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Ottavio Dantone, Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Riccardo Muti, Trevor Pinnock, Christophe Rousset, Jordi Savall, Jeffrey Tate and Rinaldo Alessandrini. Her repertoire includes works by Gluck, Monteverdi, Handel, Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi, Cavalli, Mozart, Donizetti, Schumann and Berlioz. Particularly active in concert, she has a vast repertoire ranging from Pergolesi to Respighi, through Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak and Mahler.Future plans: Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder at the Amici della Musica in Florence and a Liederabend at Ferrara Musica with Enrico Pace; Cherubini’s Medea (Neris) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Messiah in Detroit and Mozart’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, both under Natalie Stutzmann in Detroit; Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at the Festival International d’Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence and in Lille; a revival of the Incoronazione di Poppea at the Teatro alla Scala; Mendelssohn's Elias in Copenhagen; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Turin with the Orchestra Nazionale della Rai, in Rome at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana and in Istanbul; Dvorak’s Stabat Mater in Paris and a series of concerts in London and Lisbon.

Silvia Frigato - Amore

Winner of the “Francesco Provenzale” International Baroque singing competition in Naples (2007), she furthers her studies under the guidance of Sara Mingardo. She regularly performs at numerous prestigious concert venues and festivals, including: Monteverdi Festival in Cremona, Musica e Poesia a San Maurizio in Milan, Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de’ Turchini in Naples, Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Misteria Paschalia in Krakow, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hannover, Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, to name only a few. Ms. Frigato regularly collaborates with such artists as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Fabio Biondi, Gianluca Capuano, Claudio Cavina, Ottavio Dantone, Antonio Florio, John Eliot Gardiner, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald Kuijken and such ensembles as The Monteverdi Choir, Collegium Vocale Gent, Accademia Bizantina, Europa Galente, La Divina Armonia, La Venexiana, I Turchini, Gambe di Legno Consort, Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca. Silvia Frigato has recorded for Naïve, Tactus, Brilliant and Glossa and her recordings have been broadcast by RAI Radio 3, Radio France, ORF and many others. Future plans: Caldara’s Morte e Sepoltura di Cristo with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Biondi on tour in Spain; Jommelli’s L’Isola Disabitata at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples under Rinaldo Alessandrini; Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Vespro della Beata Vergine with the Monteverdi Choir and John Eliot Gardiner on tour; Pelléas et Mélisande (Yniold) at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Daniele Gatti; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Rome at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana with Sara Mingardo under Rinaldo Alessandrini; a revival of the Incoronazione di Poppea at the Teatro alla Scala.

Adriana Di Paola - Arnalta

Winner of Santa Chiara Contest in Naples, she made her debut at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Il viaggio a Reims) and at the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto (Amelia al Ballo). At the Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia she performed Le nozze di Figaro, Ariadne auf Naxos and Rigoletto. Ms. Di Paola sang in I Vespri Siciliani at the Festival Verdi in Parma, where she also performed in La Forza del Destino under the baton of Gianluigi Gelmetti. On the concert side she sang Die Schöpfung by Haydn at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek; Der Krönungsmesse with Omer Meir Wellber again in Valencia; Brahms’ Alto Raphsody and the Debussy’s Demoiselle élue in Cagliari; Rossini’s Stabat Mater in San Sebastian; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Ravenna, Jerusalem and with the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento. She took part in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival, where she sang in Die Zauberflöte, Carmen and Giulio Cesare. Ms. Di Paola starred as Zita in Gianni Schicchi with the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, where she returned to sing Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle led from the piano by Antonio Pappano, who chose her also for a special event around Brahms. Adriana Di Paola made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos, Vladimir Jurowski conducting. Among he most recent engagements: Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Cornelia) in Klagenfurt; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Monte-Carlo and in Saarbrücken (in a staged version); Verdi’s I vespri siciliani at the Teatro Real in Madrid; Mozart’s Requiem at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari. She also took part in the first edition of the Accademia Monteverdiana under John Eliot Gardiner. Future plans: Dido and Aeneas (Sorceress) at the Opera di Firenze under Stefano Montanari; Rota’s Mysterium in Bari; Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano.

Luigi De Donato - Mercurio, Littore, Terzo familiare, Secondo tribuno

Awarded "The Best Bass Voice" prize at the F. P. Tosti International Competition, he regularly collaborates with the leading exponents of Baroque repertoire. One of the most sought-after basses for the 17^th century opera, he also interpreted some important pieces of the 20^th century. He recently sang Serse (Ariodate) in Versailles with Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Agrippina (Claudio) in Beaune with Federico Maria Sardelli; Agrippina (Claudio) in Madrid, Brussels, Paris (TCE) with Eduardo Lopez-Banzo; Serse (Ariodate) in Dortmund with Jean-Christophe Spinosi. He made his debut as Zoroastro in Handel’s Orlando with Jean-Christophe Spinosi on tour in France and sang Provenzale’s La Stellidaura vendicante at the Theater an der Wien under Alessandro De Marchi. Among his future projects, a revival of the Incoronazione di Poppea at the Teatro alla Scala.