Cecilia Bartoli OMRI (Italian: [tʃeˈtʃiːlja ˈbartoli]; born June 4, 1966) is an Italian mezzo-soprano, known for performing music by composers such as Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, and Vivaldi. She also performs music from the Baroque and Classical periods, including works that are less well known. In addition to mezzo-soprano roles, she has sung parts typically performed by soprano and alto singers.

Bartoli is recognized for having a unique voice quality. According to Nicholas Wroe in 2001, her voice was noted for its "rich lower range, strong middle range, and clear, powerful high range." She has been one of the most well-known opera singers in recent years.

Early life

Bartoli was born in Rome. Her parents, Silvana Bazzoni and Pietro Angelo Bartoli, were professional singers and also her first music teachers. Cecilia first performed publicly at the age of nine as the shepherd boy in Tosca. She later studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. At 19, she made her debut on the Italian TV variety show Fantastico. She did not win the show's competition, but she was invited to sing with the Paris Opera for a concert to honor Maria Callas.

Performing career

Bartoli made her professional opera debut in 1987 at the Arena di Verona. The next year, she played the role of Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Cologne Opera, the Schwetzingen Festival, and the Zurich Opera, receiving very good reviews. She worked with conductors Daniel Barenboim and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, focusing on roles from Mozart, such as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. From then on, her career grew internationally.

In 1990, she made her debut at the Opéra Bastille as Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and her debut at the Hamburg State Opera as Idamantes in Mozart's Idomeneo. In 1991, she performed as Isolier in Le comte Ory at La Scala, a performance that helped establish her reputation as one of the world's leading Rossini singers.

In 1996, Bartoli debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Despina in Così fan tutte and returned in 1997 to sing the title role of La Cenerentola. In 1998, she performed as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. In 2000, she sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2001, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House, performing the roles of Euridice and the Genio in the London stage premiere of Haydn's L'anima del filosofo.

She is a member from another country of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

In addition to her focus on Mozart and Rossini, Bartoli has performed and recorded music from the Baroque and early Classical periods by composers such as Gluck, Vivaldi, Haydn, and Salieri. In early 2005, she sang Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare. She often performs with the Baroque ensemble Il Giardino Armonico.

In 2012, Bartoli produced Mission, which premiered the works of Agostino Steffani, a lesser-known Baroque composer. She also released a CD of his works and created an extended performance video that shows her as the priest-composer Agostino in the Palace of Versailles. The video is known for its accurate portrayal of the Baroque period through her performance, setting, clothing, and filming style.

She performed the Olympic Hymn at the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, held in Milan's San Siro stadium.

In 2007/08, Bartoli studied and recorded music from the early 19th-century era, known as Italian Romanticism and bel canto. She focused on the work of the legendary singer Maria Malibran, whose 200th birthday was celebrated in March 2008. The album Maria was released in September 2007. In May 2008, Bartoli performed the title role, originally written for Malibran, in a revival of Fromental Halévy's 1828 opera Clari at the Zurich Opera. In June 2010, she performed the title role of Bellini's Norma for the first time with conductor Thomas Hengelbrock in a concert at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. In March 2011, she toured five Australian cities with two programs from Sacrificium and Maria.

Administration career

In 2012, Bartoli became the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, a part of the traditional Salzburg Festival that produces performances during Whitsun (Pentecost) weekend. Instead of focusing on academic topics, she changed the festival's programming by returning to organizing beautiful programs and inviting great artists. This change led to record ticket sales and helped the festival gain recognition around the world. In 2012, she performed the role of Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, in 2013 the title role in Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, and in 2014 the role of Cinderella in Rossini's La Cenerentola.

In December 2019, it was announced that Bartoli would take over from Jean-Louis Grinda as the director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, starting on 1 January 2023. She became the first woman to hold this position.

Personal life

Bartoli lives with her husband, the Swiss bass-baritone Oliver Widmer, in Zollikon on the north shore of Lake Zurich, Switzerland, and in Rome for part of the year. The couple married in 2011 after being together for twelve years. Bartoli lived in Monaco during the early 2010s.

Awards and honours

Bartoli was named Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995, and made a Commander of Monaco's Order of Cultural Merit in November 1999.

In 2003, she received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the Classic Brit Awards.

In 2010, she was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from University College Dublin.

In 2011, she won her fifth Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for Sacrificium. In 2012, she was voted into Gramophone magazine's Hall of Fame. She is the 2012 recipient of the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize.

Discography

• Rossini Recital (1990)
• If You Love Me – "Se tu m'ami": Eighteenth-century Italian Songs (1992)
• The Impatient Lover – Italian Songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Haydn (1993)
• Chant D'Amour (1996)
• An Italian Songbook (1997)
• Live in Italy (1998)

• Dolce Duello: Cecilia & Sol – with Sol Gabetta (Decca Classics), released on November 11, 2017

• Rossini: Stabat Mater (1990)
• Mozart: Requiem (1992)
• Scarlatti: Salve Regina, Pergolesi: Stabat Mater, Salve Regina (1993)
• Rossini: Stabat Mater (1996)

• Rossini Cantatas, Volume 2

• A Portrait (1995)
• The Art of Cecilia Bartoli (2002)
• Sospiri (2010)