“At the tender age of 26, and less than two years out of her schooling, Lucia Cesaroni looked and sounded just like Anne Trulove as Stravinsky and his librettists W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman must have conceived her – sweet, loyal, lyrical, and totally grounded in her sincerity and seriousness.”
Italian-Canadian soprano Lucia Cesaroni has been attracting the attention of discerning audiences and critics from Vancouver to la bell’Italia in recital, concert and opera. She was in Sulmona for Adina in L’elisir d’amore; at the Snape Maltings for an Aldeburgh Alumni Recital with Steuart Bedford; in Bayfield, Ontario in recital; and was a fellow at the 2011 Ravinia Art Song Institute. She debuted earlier in the season with Vancouver Opera as Maria in West Side Story and will play Norina in Saskatoon Opera`s Don Pasquale this spring. In December she was heard with the Montreal Symphony and Victoria Symphony in Messiah and looks forward to Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Hamilton Philharmonic and an appearance with the Aldeburgh Connection. In 2012-2013, she will be heard with Symphony Nova Scotia in Die Schöpfung by Haydn and in recital for the Muskoka Opera Festival.
Ms. Cesaroni’s 2010-2011 season opened with her Opera Hamilton debut as Barbarina in Le Nozze de Figaro and she appeared as Adele in Die Fledermaus for Toronto Operetta Theatre over the holidays and into 2011. Other highlights included recitals for the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and the Off Centre Salon concert series.
The role of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with Orchestra London brought her 2009-2010 season to a very successful close. In November 2009, she made her role debut as Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with Pacific Opera Victoria, where “At the tender age of 26, Lucia Cesaroni sounded just like Anne: sweet, loyal, lyrical, and totally grounded in her sincerity”. During her year in Germany studying with Edith Wiens, she sang as soprano soloist in a fully staged European tour of Carmina Burana: Monumental Opera with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Symphoniker. Directly preceding her move to Germany, she traveled to Tel Aviv with the International Vocal Arts Institute, where she sang Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. At the invitation of the program’s director, Joan Dornemann from the Metropolitan Opera, Lucia has also participated in IVAI’s concerts and master classes in New York, Montreal and Virginia.
Born in Toronto and holding a Masters Degree in Opera from the University of Toronto, Lucia appeared as Adina in the opera school’s production of L’elisir d’amore and Ginevra in Händel’s Ariodante in 2008. After starring as Susanna in Opera York Toronto’s Le Nozze di Figaro, she reprised the role in Israel with the International Vocal Arts Institute. Past credits include master classes with Hakan Hagegaard, Adrianne Pieczonka and Russell Braun as well as being a featured soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, Symphony No.2 and in Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum. In addition, Lucia sang the role of Lucia in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia in Toronto.
Other highlights include her debut with The Aldeburgh Connection recital series in Toronto: A City of Villages, the Britten-Pears Festival and Young Artists programme at the Aldeburgh Festival, where she appeared in performances of Mozart’s Da Ponte operas and concerts of Wolf and Strauss Lieder with Roger Vignoles, having received the Canadian Aldeburgh Foundation’s Sutton Scholarship.
Aldeburgh Connection Aldeburgh Music Festival (England) Aspen Summer Music Festival Bayfield Festival Chautauqua Summer Music Montreal Symphony Off Centre Music Opera Hamilton Opera de Montreal (Atelier Lyrique) Orchestra London Opera Hamilton Pacific Opera Victoria Ravinia Festival Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Saskatoon Opera Symphony Nova Scotia Toronto Philharmonia Vancouver Opera Victoria Symphony
“Cesaroni, who has a rich, sonorous voice, has an exuberance that is infectious.” Victoria Time Colonist – Jessica Werb [Vancouver Opera, West Side Story, 2011]
“Their voices soar beautifully in "One Hand One Heart" and individually in "Maria" (Ainsworth) and "I Feel Pretty" (Cesaroni).” Vancouver Courier – Jo Ledingham [Vancouver Opera, West Side Story, 2011]
“Lucia Cesaroni sang with passionate confidence, a lovely and true voice for Ann Trulove.” Review Vancouver – Elizabeth Paterson
“At the tender age of 26, and less than two years out of her schooling, Lucia Cesaroni looked and sounded just like Anne Trulove as Stravinsky and his librettists W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman must have conceived her – sweet, loyal, lyrical and totally grounded in her sincerity and seriousness.” Opera UK Magazine – Bernard Jacobson
“As the story unfolds, the richness of Cesaroni’s voice pays dramatic dividends, underscoring Anne’s depth and passion and growth as a person. The strength of Anne’s resolve is made palpable in a commanding account of her cabaletta in Chapter 3, which culminates in a hall-filling high C.” [Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress] The Victoria Times Colonist – Kevin Bazzana
“Lucia Cesaroni is a stunning Cleopatra. Her voice has just enough wildness to lift the impulsive nature of the youthful character to that intangible level that separates good from great.” Norules-nolights – Brian Hay
