Gabriella Costa

A soprano, she studied singing in the Netherlands, France and Italy. Winner of the “Cilea” International Competition and the “Città di Conegliano Veneto” National Competition, she made her début in opera in the role of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. This was followed by numerous performances in operas by Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini, Paisiello, Cimarosa and Cherubini, in theatres including La Fenice in Venice, the Opera in Rome, the Verdi in Trieste, the Regio in Parma, the Massimo in Palermo, etc., with conductors such as: J. Tate, G. Gelmetti, G. Ferro, A. Fischer, Lü Ja, V. Yurovsky, L. Hager, I. Karabtchevsky, F. Welser-Möst, K. Weise, K.L. Wilson, H. Soudant, L. Guschlbauer, C. Desderi, S.A. Reck and directors that have included Andò, Barberio Corsetti, Gregoretti, Krief, Miller, Puggelli, Pressburger and Scaparro.
Her vast repertoire includes numerous lieder pieces and twentieth century music. She has played leading roles in numerous recitals in Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the Czech Republic.
She has often participated in German productions: including, Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Mozart at the Zurich Opera and in Palermo, Der Freischütz by Weber (Annchen) at La Fenice in Venice, Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms in Nantes with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Moses und Aron (Das junge Mädchen) by Schoenberg, also in Palermo, and French operas including Werther by Massenet at the Massimo Bellini in Catania, Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher by Honegger and La damnation de Faust by Berlioz at La Fenice in Venice.
She has made numerous concert tours: in Shanghai, China with the Zurich Opera House; with the Massimo in Palermo for Orff’s Carmina Burana and in Germany (Berlin-Expo), directed by Scapparo; with La Fenice in Orvieto for Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor (broadcast worldwide by RAI); in Brazil with the Orquesta de Estado de Brasilia; and with the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra in Russia and various European countries.
She starred in Paisiello’s The Passion of Jesus Christ, conducted by Diego Fasolis, at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; in the Stabat Mater by Boccherini (on whom she is considered an undisputed expert) in Montecarlo, with the Orchestra of Tuscany, for the inauguration of the restorations in San Marco in Florence; she opened the 2008 Bellini Celebrations in Catania with a recital of arias from I Puritani and I Capuleti e i Montecchiwith the Massimo Bellini Orchestra, where she also inaugurated the 2008-09 concert season with Fauré’s Requiem, conducted by Marc Soustrot.
In the field of early music, she collaborates continually with the Academia Montis Regalis in productions in which she has played a leading role in France and in Italy (including L’Orfeo by Monteverdi (Euridice and Musica) in Savona and in Turin under the direction of A. De Marchi) and also with Accademia Bizantina (cond. O. Dantone), I Solisti Veneti (C. Scimone) and Auser Musici (C. Ipata).
Her commercial recordings include: Musiche di Malipiero (Nuova Fonit Cetra), Vespro per lo Stellario della Beata Vergine by Rubino (K617), Mass in C Minor by Mozart, Missa Cellensis by Haydn, Italian rhythmic versions, Vedrai Vedrai… A Tribute to Italian Singer-Songwriters from Tenco to Battisti, Il Matrimonio Segreto by Cimarosa (Naxos).
With Les Eléments (Comp. P. Cartosio) she recorded Alessandro Scarlatti’s Serenata Venere, Amore e Ragione for the La Bottega Discantica label.
Gabriella Costa has a diploma in Piano and graduated in Musicology and Foreign Languages and Literature.