Cecilia Bartoli OMRI is a renowned Italian mezzo-soprano singer, widely recognized for her exceptional performances in the music of Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, and Vivaldi, as well as lesser-known Baroque and Classical period compositions. She has also showcased her versatility by singing soprano and alto repertory.
Bartoli's distinctive timbre has been praised by critics, with Nicholas Wroe describing her voice as having "fully developed sumptuousness of the lower register, the vibrancy of the middle range...the top was limpid and powerful." She is considered one of the most popular opera singers of recent years.
Born in Rome on June 4, 1966, Bartoli comes from a family of professional singers. Her parents, Silvana Bazzoni and Pietro Angelo Bartoli, gave her her first music lessons, and she made her public debut at the age of nine as the shepherd boy in Tosca. She later studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Bartoli made her professional opera debut in 1987 at the Arena di Verona, followed by her role as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Cologne Opera, the Schwetzingen Festival, and the Zurich Opera, earning rave reviews. She worked with renowned conductors Daniel Barenboim and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, focusing on Mozart roles such as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and her career developed 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. Her La Scala debut as Isolier in Le comte Ory in 1991 solidified her reputation as one of the world's leading Rossini singers.
Bartoli has also made notable appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, singing Despina in Così fan tutte in 1996, the title role of La Cenerentola in 1997, and the role of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro in 1998. In 2000, she sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and in 2001, she made her Royal Opera House debut, taking on the roles of Euridice and the Genio in the London stage premiere of Haydn's L'anima del filosofo.
In addition to Mozart and Rossini, Bartoli has dedicated much of her career to performing and recording Baroque and early Classical era music by composers such as Gluck, Vivaldi, Haydn, and Salieri. She often performs with the Baroque ensemble Il Giardino Armonico.
In 2012, Bartoli produced a project entitled Mission, which premiered the works of Agostino Steffani, a lesser-known Baroque composer. The project included a CD release and an extended music video that portrays her as the priest-composer Agostino in the palace of Versailles. The video is known for its historic and visual accuracy of the Baroque period, reflecting the music and aesthetic of Steffani's time through the setting, wardrobe, and cinematography.
