(b. Messina 1966 - )

 

Lucia Aliberti by a statue of Bellini

 

The Life

Lucia Aliberti was born in Messina, Sicily, on 19 January 1966 and graduated with top marks from the Conservatory while still very young. She completed her studies in Rome with Maestro Luigi Ricci and continued studying with the celebrated tenor Alfredo Kraus. Musician and composer, while studying singing, she was also studying the piano and other musical instruments such as guitar, accordion, violin and mandolin. She has composed many pieces for piano, clarinet and flute.

After winning the Spoleto and Enal competitions, she began her artistic career in Spoleto at the "Festival dei Due Mondi", under the direction of Giancarlo Menotti and Raffaello de Banfield. She has sung in the world's major theatres: Metropolitan Opera in New York, Covent Garden in London, Deutsche Oper of Berlin, La Scala in Milan, Opera Theatre of Rome, San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Théâtre Champs Elisèe in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Hamburg Staatsoper, Statstheater Stuttgart, Vienna State Opera, Opera House Zurich, Bolshoi in Moscow, Royal Opera Stockholm, Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Concertgebow Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Seoul Arts Centre.

 

 

Elisabetta (Roberto Devereux)

Amina (La Sonnambula)

 

"She remains one of the last Prima donnas. She manages with her incredible soprano voice and her deep knowledge about the line itself, to define cadenzas in musical space and to project within a short aria a well-contoured character. Her piano is a real piano. Here we are not dealing with belcanto simply as beautiful singing, but with he subtle art as a mirror of the state of the soul. What she gives us in terms of concentration and security in the high tessituras, as well as regarding plasticity of line and inner dramaturgy, is highpower singing. With this elegance of phrasing and dynamic nuance." (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 2007)

Her operatic repertoire is imposing, including the belcanto works by Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, the French works by Gounod, Delibes, Massenet, Meyerbeer, Thomas, the youthful works by Verdi and La Bohème by Puccini. Of Bellini's operas she sings Beatrice (Beatrice di Tenda), Norma, Amina, Imogene (Il Pirata), Elvira (I Puritani), Alaide (La Straniera), Giulietta and Zaira (Zaira). In Donizetti's operas she is Lucia, Linda, Maria (La figlia del reggimento), Adina, Anna, Maria (Maria Stuarda), Paolina (Poliuto), Lucrezia, Maria (Maria De Rohan), Elisabetta (Roberto Devereux) and Norina, to name the most well known Donizettian heroines.

What do we know about Lucia Aliberti's character and free time pursuits? She is a self-critical artist, a resolute perfectionist constantly refining her roles and on rare occasions she really is satisfied with herself. She likes window shopping a lot, roves through antique shops, designs her own evening gowns, selects the fabrics for them, spends hours in the kitchen and dreams of chocolate and icecreams. Away from the hurly burly of the theatre stage and halls, she loves home to rest herself and her voice, watches westerns especially featuring Gary Cooper and Gregory Peck.

 

The Voice

The voice of Lucia Aliberti may be classified as that of a soprano drammatico d'agilità. It is associated with great roles in the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi, from Armida to Abigaille and from Norma to Lucrezia Borgia. It is a hybrid expression because the dramatic soprano got rid of agility, yet the darkest and most powerful voice in the classic-romantic tradition could not do without agility.

Maria Callas was that genial diva we all know, who restored the Bellinian virtuosity, gave renaissance to Rossini, revisited Donizetti and rediscovered Verdi. The secret of her success in many roles, her approach and insistence to sing classical, romantic and melodramatic composers may be found in her renowned triple voice. Lucia Aliberti has followed in Callas' footsteps. The reason is also her triple voice. Three voices, leggera, lirica and drammatica, one superimposed on the other two depending on the role. Her voice in the aria “Una voce poco fa” from Barbiere is frivolously leggera, in “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi is sensually lirica and in “Pace, pace mio Dio” from Forza is emotionally drammatica.

Lucia Aliberti's natural vocal talents are enhanced by a technique which allows her to sustain even the most difficult parts in the belcanto repertoire. International critics have also underlined her particular stage presence and dramatic capabilities. She is considered a specialist in the operas of Vincenzo Bellini (she has also dedicated intense study to some of his manuscripts).

 

Audio file

 

1. G. Puccini - Gianni Schicchi 

O mio babbino caro  

Gianni Schicchi ...............................2:20

(03/11/07)

 

(j.f.)

 

 

 

 

Opera is a spectacular art form combining music, action and words, where the comedy or drama is enhanced by the words, sung in the original or other language. Instrumental works draw great attention and delight from the sound of music alone but opera has a triple edge advantage: Music, action and words sung by the human voice, the supreme instrument.