Concert of Opera with Maria Francesca Mazzara Soprano Italy, Stèfan Louw Tenor, Linette van der Merwe Mezzo Soprano, Phuti Matuba Baritone and Susan Swanepoel Pianist.
Maria Francesca Mazzara – Soprano
An appreciated opera singer with an international career, she boasts a solid academic background and a wide repertoire that ranges from dramatic roles to lighter ones. Her career has seen her as the protagonist on prestigious stages in Italy and abroad. Graduated with top marks in opera singing at the Conservatory of Music in Palermo, she studied classical dance and perfected her bel canto technique under the guidance of the famous soprano Luciana Serra. She has won numerous awards in prestigious International Opera Competitions: 1st place at the Artisti per la Vita Opera Competition, obtaining the role of Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s Traviata, Audience Award at the Grandi Voci International Competition in Salzburg (Austria), where she performed with great success during the Oper im Berg Festival; 2nd place at the V. Bellini Competition in Caltanissetta, 1st place at the A.Gi.Mus. Competition in Rome. She also won 2nd place at the Angelica Catalani International Competition in Ostra and the Palermo Capitale della Musica Competition, as well as the Cappuccilli-Patané-Respighi Competition in Grosseto. Her awards include the Nike Donna di Sicilia Prize, the Liolà National Prize for opera singing, and the Universo Donna Prize for musical art.
She also received the Kaleidos Una Voce per la Lirica Prize as an emerging lyric talent and the Prize for Young Promise in Opera under the Stars. Her career has taken her to international stages, where she has interpreted some of the most beloved roles in the lyric repertoire, Violetta, Gilda, Musetta, Rosina, Lucia di Lammermoor, Norina, obtaining wide acclaim from audiences and critics. In Italy, she sang Violetta Valéry at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, at the Luglio Musicale Trapanese, at the Teatro Politeama in Lecce and at the Teatro Antico in Taormina.
In Romania, she played Violetta Valéry at the Craiova Opera House. She also performed in the Romanian capital at one of the country’s main cultural institutions,
the Bucharest Opera House. She also brought her talent to Russia, where she sang Violetta Valéry at the Astrakhan Opera House. She was also Violetta Valéry in the reinterpretation of the opera by Teresa Mannino, in the show Teresa Valéry by the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, which was staged several times at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the Teatro Antico in Taormina and the Teatro di Verdura in
Palermo. The highly appreciated Lucia di Lammermoor played the role in the USA for the Duluth Summer Art and Festival, on a tour with the Teatro Verdi in Trieste in Japan. In Italy at the Teatro Martuccino in Chieti and the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. Also appreciated artist in the brilliant repertoire, she is Rosina in The Barber of Seville, in Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, in the Philharmonic Theatre of Rzeszów in Poland, in the production Figaro! In co-production between the Rome Opera and the Teatro Massimo of Palermo as well as during the Festival of Eagean in Greece.
She played the role of Norina in Don Pasquale by Donizetti at the Craiova Opera Theatre (Romania). She has covered leading roles in sought-after titles such as Arlesiana by Cilea in Milan and Zanetto by Mascagni at the Piacenza Conservatory. A versatile artist, she has also tackled the operetta repertoire, performing in great titles such as The Flesh and the Wind by Strauss (Adele) and The Merry Widow by Lehár (Hanna Glawari) on tour throughout Italy. She has participated in numerous international cultural exchanges, such as the Spring of Culture Festival in Bahrain, in collaboration with the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the BACA (Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities). She has also sung in Hong Kong with the Women’s Orchestra, with the support of the Italian Embassy.
Soprano soloist in concerts dedicated to Ennio Morricone, she has performed concerts in Italy (at the Teatro Antico in Taormina, Tindari and Siracusa), in Tunisia, where she sang at the Roman Theatre of El Jem, one of the historical wonders of the country. She also performed Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and for the Maggy Festival on the island of Elba. She has also dedicated herself with passion to contemporary repertoire, participating in world premieres. She was Giovanni in Babbelish by P. Corrado at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, she gave voice to the music of G. Cuticchio in the Sinfonia Borgesana on texts by A. Borgese. A refined interpreter of sacred productions, she sings Rossini’s Stabat Mater in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Ravenna. A significant moment in her career was the concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, where she performed Vivaldi’s Gloria and Mozart’s Coronation Mass, an event that saw her perform in one of the most iconic theaters in the world. She has worked under the direction of renowned conductors, such as Paolo Olmi, Roberto Abbado, Claudio Goldstein, Alessandro D’Agostini, Marcello Mottadelli and Gabriele Ferro.