Cecilia Gasdia (; born 14 August 1960,

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

) is an Italian operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Biography

Gasdia studied music and piano at the Conservatorio di Verona, graduating in 1980. That same year she won the first prize in the "''New Voices for Opera''" competition dedicated to

Maria Callas Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...

. In 1981 she made her operatic debut in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

as Giulietta in Bellini's ''

I Capuleti e i Montecchi ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...

'' and rose to prominence following her successful debut at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in 1982 when at very short notice she replaced

Montserrat Caballé María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch or Folc (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), also known as Montserrat Caballé (i Folch), was a Spanish operatic soprano from Catalonia. Widely considered to be one of the best sopranos ...

in the title role of

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...

's '' Anna Bolena''. Following her debut at the

Rossini Opera Festival The Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) is an international music festival held in August of each year in Pesaro, Italy, the birthplace of the opera composer Gioachino Rossini. Its aim, in addition to studying the musical heritage of the composer, is to re ...

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

in 1983 she became a well-known singer in

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

's operas during the 1980s, with 14 different Rossinian roles in her repertoire. She made her American debut on 5 October 1985 as Gilda in a concert performance of ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'' in Philadelphia conducted by

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

(repeated on 8 October at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

). In the same year she made her

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

debut as Giulietta in ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi''. John Von Rhein of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' wrote of her performance:

"With her pale features and petite, high-waisted figure, Gasdia looked as if she had stepped out of a painting by Raphael. She sang with a sweetness, purity and fluency of tone that was rich in soft shadings and consistent in quality from the top to bottom of her range."

Her

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

debut in 1986 as another 'Juliette', this time in

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's '' Roméo et Juliette''. By the late 1990s Gasdia increasingly devoted herself to recitals and concerts, including a 2001 US concert tour with

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

. Throughout the course of her career, she has worked with Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti both on the concert stage and in the recording studio. In 2018 she became General Manager and Artistic Director of the opera at the Arena di Verona Festival.Arena di Verona homepage, accessed 2018-05-04
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References

Sources

*Bagnoli, Giorgio, ''The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera: A Complete Reference Guide'' (translated by Graham Fawcett), Simon & Schuster, 1993, p. 150; *Blum, Ronald

''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'', 21 March 2001. Accessed via subscription 14 December 2008. *Cummings, David (ed
''International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003''
Routledge, 2003, p. 268. *Henahan, Donal

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 9 October 1985; accessed 14 December 2008. *Metropolitan Opera Archive
Gasdia, Cecilia (Soprano)
accessed 14 December 2008. *Von Rhein, John
"The Great Unknown"
''Chicago Tribune'', 2 March 2008; accessed 14 December 2008.

External links

*
Official site

by Bruce Duffie, December 2, 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gasdia, Cecilia 1960 births Living people Musicians from Verona Italian operatic sopranos 20th-century Italian women opera singers 21st-century Italian women opera singers