Artist of Week: Carmela Remigio
Italian Soprano To Bring Another Rare Donizetti Heroine To Life
By Francisco SalazarKnown as “Madame Mozart” and a passionate Bel Canto singer, Carmela Remigio has forged her career as one of the leading Italian sopranos of her generation. Not only has she sung a number of Mozart roles, but she has also taken on the challenges in the works of Verdi, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky.
As a Bel Canto singer, she is one of the few singers today to have sung all three Tudor queens in Donizetti’s trilogy, performed both the title role of “Norma” and Adalgisa, and has sung a number of Rossini operas including “L’Inganno Felice,” “Maometto Secondo,” “Il Viaggio a Reims,” and “Mosè in Egitto.”
This week, she adds another rarity to her collection of roles performing Amelia in Donizetti’s “Il Castello di Kenilworth.” As she noted in a recent interview with OperaWire the role suits her voice very well and it is another chance for audiences to see her virtuosic powers in the Bel Canto repertoire.
For Remigio it is another supporting role, but as she has done over the past season with “Maria Stuarda” and “Norma,” Remigio has been able to stand out as both Queen Elizabeth and Adalgisa.
And if you are not in Bergamo for the Donizetti Festival, Remigio returns to the Bel Canto repertoire in “Anna Bolena” as Giovanna Seymour at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. She also takes on Mozart, Puccini, and Verdi at the Opera de Oviedo, Teatro La Fenice, and Teatro Massimo.
Recordings
For audiences not familiar with Remigio, the soprano has a DVD recording of “Maria Stuarda” alongside Sonia Ganassi and a CD of her Adalgisa alongside Fiorenza Cedolin’s “Norma.” She is also featured on a “Don Giovanni” DVD from Macerata.
And here is a look at her interpretations of the title role in “Anna Bolena,” Elisabetta in “Roberto Devereux” and Elisabetta in “Maria Stuarda.”