Marco Lazzara
Encyclopedia
Marco Lazzara is an Italian countertenor
who sings a wide-ranging repertoire from baroque
composers to those of the 20th century and has performed in a number of notable premieres and revivals of rarely performed opera
s. He has recorded widely on the Bongiovanni, Ricordi
, Nuova Era, Forlane, Opera Rara
and Dynamic
labels.
in Siena, and made his professional debut in 1989. In the field of baroque music, Lazzara has sung as a leading soloist with the Alessandro Stradella Consort in a series of performances and world premiere recordings, including, Stradella
's Il barcheggio, Moro per amore, and Esule dalle sfere and Nicola Porpora
's Dorindo dormi ancor? on the Bongiovanni label. He also appears in the world premiere recording of Niccolò Piccinni
's Salve Regina
and Dixit Dominus on Bongiovanni. Lazzara was the first countertenor to sing the role of Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
in Italy with a series of 1996 performances in Mantua
, Pisa
and Ravenna
. In 2001, he sang the title role of Antonio Cesti
's Il Tito in its first modern revival since 1983. The production at the Opéra National du Rhin
in Strasbourg
with William Christie
and Les Arts Florissants
premiered a newly edited score by music scholar Alan Curtis
.
In the bel canto
repertoire, Lazzara sang the role of Lurcanio in Simone Mayr's Ginevra di Scozia in a series of performances (and world premiere recording) in April 2001 at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste
to mark the bicentenary of the opera's premiere and its first performance in modern times. Lazzara has also recorded an album of arias and duets by Rossini with Annick Massis
(Duo d'amore) on the Forlane label, and a solo album of arias and songs by Bellini
on the Dynamic label. The latter contains the first recording of Francesco Florimo's "Tu che al pianger" based on a theme from Bellini's La straniera
.
Lazzara's performances in 20th century works include the role of Edgar in the Italian premiere of Aribert Reimann
's Lear
at the Teatro Regio di Torino in October 2001; Manichino di Donna in the world premiere of Azio Corghi
's Il Dissoluto Assolto at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
, Lisbon
in March 2006 (reprised for its Italian premiere at La Scala
the following September); Il delegato in the world premiere of Bruno de Franceschi's Il paradiso degli esuli (Pisa, 27 October 1994); and Sesto Simbolo in the world premiere of Adriano Guarnieri's Pietra di diaspro at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
on 10 June 2007 (reprised for the Ravenna Festival
later that year). Lazzara has also performed as a soloist in Giacomo Manzoni
's Trame d'Ombre (Webs of Shadows) at Carnegie Hall
(April 2000) and in the first Italian performance of Alfred Schnittke
's cantata based on the Faust
legend, Seid nüchtern und wachet. The latter performance was broadcast live by RAI
Radio 3 on 22 April 2007.
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
who sings a wide-ranging repertoire from baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
composers to those of the 20th century and has performed in a number of notable premieres and revivals of rarely performed opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s. He has recorded widely on the Bongiovanni, Ricordi
Casa Ricordi
Casa Ricordi is a classical music publishing company founded in 1808 as G. Ricordi & Co. by violinist Giovanni Ricordi in Milan, Italy...
, Nuova Era, Forlane, Opera Rara
Opera Rara
Opera Rara is a British record label, founded in the early 1970s by Americans Patric Schmid and Don White to promote concerts of rare and/or forgotten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Donizetti and such other "bel canto" composers as Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, and Federico Ricci.The...
and Dynamic
Dynamic (record label)
Dynamic is an Italian independent record label located in Genoa. Founded in 1978, it specialises in classical music and opera, especially rarely performed works and has produced several world premiere recordings...
labels.
Career
Lazzara received diplomas in piano, organ, harpsichord and singing, followed by studies at the Accademia Musicale ChigianaAccademia Musicale Chigiana
The Accademia Musicale Chigiana is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Classes in the major musical instruments as well as singing, conducting and composition...
in Siena, and made his professional debut in 1989. In the field of baroque music, Lazzara has sung as a leading soloist with the Alessandro Stradella Consort in a series of performances and world premiere recordings, including, Stradella
Alessandro Stradella
Alessandro Stradella was an Italian composer of the middle baroque. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.-Life:Not much is known about his early life, but he...
's Il barcheggio, Moro per amore, and Esule dalle sfere and Nicola Porpora
Nicola Porpora
Nicola Porpora was an Italian composer of Baroque operas and teacher of singing, whose most famous singing student was the castrato Farinelli. One of his other students was composer Matteo Capranica.-Biography:Porpora was born in Naples...
's Dorindo dormi ancor? on the Bongiovanni label. He also appears in the world premiere recording of Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
's Salve Regina
Salve Regina
The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...
and Dixit Dominus on Bongiovanni. Lazzara was the first countertenor to sing the role of Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
in Italy with a series of 1996 performances in Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
and Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
. In 2001, he sang the title role of Antonio Cesti
Antonio Cesti
Antonio Cesti , known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, he was also a singer , and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".- Biography :...
's Il Tito in its first modern revival since 1983. The production at the Opéra National du Rhin
Opéra national du Rhin
LOpéra national du Rhin is an opera company which performs in Alsace, eastern France, and which includes the Opéra in Strasbourg, the company's ballet in Mulhouse , and the "Opéra Studio" , a training centre for young singers, in Colmar...
in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
with William Christie
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
and Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)
Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
premiered a newly edited score by music scholar Alan Curtis
Alan Curtis (harpsichordist)
Alan Curtis is a noted American harpsichordist, musicologist, and conductor of baroque opera. After graduate studies at the University of Illinois , where he wrote his dissertation on the keyboard music of Sweelinck, he studied in Amsterdam with Gustav Leonhardt, with whom he subsequently recorded...
.
In the bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
repertoire, Lazzara sang the role of Lurcanio in Simone Mayr's Ginevra di Scozia in a series of performances (and world premiere recording) in April 2001 at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
to mark the bicentenary of the opera's premiere and its first performance in modern times. Lazzara has also recorded an album of arias and duets by Rossini with Annick Massis
Annick Massis
- Biography :She worked as a school teacher before going to study at the Conservatoire Francis Poulenc in Paris. Her stage career began in Toulouse in the early 1990s, where she performed in operas by Mozart as well as playing the role of Leila in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.In 1999, she took the...
(Duo d'amore) on the Forlane label, and a solo album of arias and songs by Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
on the Dynamic label. The latter contains the first recording of Francesco Florimo's "Tu che al pianger" based on a theme from Bellini's La straniera
La straniera
La straniera is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, based on L'étrangère by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt...
.
Lazzara's performances in 20th century works include the role of Edgar in the Italian premiere of Aribert Reimann
Aribert Reimann
Aribert Reimann is a German opera composer, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of King Lear was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who sang the title role....
's Lear
Lear (opera)
Lear is an opera in two acts with music by the German composer Aribert Reimann, and a libretto by Claus H. Henneberg, based on Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear.-Background and performance history:...
at the Teatro Regio di Torino in October 2001; Manichino di Donna in the world premiere of Azio Corghi
Azio Corghi
Azio Corghi is an Italian opera composer, also a teacher and musicologist. He was born at Cirié, in the Province of Turin, studied at the Turin and Milan conservatories and was a pupil of Bruno Bettinelli...
's Il Dissoluto Assolto at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on July 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake...
, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
in March 2006 (reprised for its Italian premiere at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
the following September); Il delegato in the world premiere of Bruno de Franceschi's Il paradiso degli esuli (Pisa, 27 October 1994); and Sesto Simbolo in the world premiere of Adriano Guarnieri's Pietra di diaspro at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
on 10 June 2007 (reprised for the Ravenna Festival
Ravenna Festival
The Ravenna Festival is a summer festival of opera and classical music held in the city of Ravenna, Italy and the surrounding area each July and August....
later that year). Lazzara has also performed as a soloist in Giacomo Manzoni
Giacomo Manzoni
Giacomo Manzoni is an Italian composer. He studied composition from 1948 in Messina with Gino Contilli, and continued his studies from 1950 to 1956 at the Conservatoire of Milan. In 1955 he obtained a doctorate in foreign languages from the Bocconi University in Milan.He wrote the music for the...
's Trame d'Ombre (Webs of Shadows) at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
(April 2000) and in the first Italian performance of Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...
's cantata based on the Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
legend, Seid nüchtern und wachet. The latter performance was broadcast live by RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
Radio 3 on 22 April 2007.
Discography
- BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
: Arias – Marco Lazzara (countertenor), Angela Castellarin (piano). Label: Dynamic 271 - VivaldiAntonio VivaldiAntonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
: Cantatas – Marco Lazzara (countertenor), Orchestra da Camera di Genova, Antonio Plotino (conductor). Label: Dynamic 222 - Mayr: Ginevra di Scozia – Elisabeth Vidal (soprano); Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano); Antonio Siragusa (tenor); Luca Grassi (baritone); Giuseppina Piunti (soprano); Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Orchestra del Teatro Verdi di trieste; Tiziano Severini (conductor). Label: Opera Rara ORC23
- ScarlattiAlessandro ScarlattiAlessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
: Abramo, il tuo sembiante (Christmas cantata) – Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Giovanni Dagnino (bass); Silvia Piccollo (soprano); The Stradella Consort; Esteban Velardi (conductor). Label: Nuova Era 7117 - Duo d'amore (arias and duets by Rossini) – Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Annick MassisAnnick Massis- Biography :She worked as a school teacher before going to study at the Conservatoire Francis Poulenc in Paris. Her stage career began in Toulouse in the early 1990s, where she performed in operas by Mozart as well as playing the role of Leila in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.In 1999, she took the...
(soprano); Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana; Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Label: Forlane 16807 - StradellaAlessandro StradellaAlessandro Stradella was an Italian composer of the middle baroque. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.-Life:Not much is known about his early life, but he...
: Il barcheggio – Valentina Valente (soprano); Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Giovanni Dagnino (bass); Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor) Label: Bongiovanni GB 2102 - Stradella: Moro per amore – Mark Beasley (tenor); Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Roberta InvernizziRoberta InvernizziRoberta Invernizzi is an Italian soprano. She originally studied piano and double bass before turning to singing. She specialises in early music from the baroque and classical period of music....
(soprano); Riccardo Ristori (bass); Silvia Piccollo (soprano); Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni GB 2153 - Stradella: Esule dalle sfere – Roberta Invernizzi (soprano); Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Riccardo Ristori (bass); Mario Nuvoli (tenor); Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni GB 2165
- PorporaNicola PorporaNicola Porpora was an Italian composer of Baroque operas and teacher of singing, whose most famous singing student was the castrato Farinelli. One of his other students was composer Matteo Capranica.-Biography:Porpora was born in Naples...
: Dorindo dormi ancor? – Rosita Frisani (soprano); Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Roberta Invernizzi (soprano); Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni GB 2181 - PiccinniNiccolò PiccinniNiccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
: Salve ReginaSalve ReginaThe "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...
and Dixit Dominus – Maria Luigia BorsiMaria Luigia BorsiMaria Luigia Borsi is an Italian opera singer. A lyric soprano, she is especially known for interpreting operas by Giacomo Puccini andGiuseppe Verdi...
(soprano); Marco Lazzara (countertenor); Elena Cecchi Fedi (soprano); Gregory Bonfatti (tenor); Cappella S. Cecilia della Cattedrale di Lucca; Orchestra Città Lirica; Gianfranco Cosmi (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni GB 2338 - Fabio VacchiFabio VacchiFabio Vacchi is an Italian composer born in 1949 in Bologna.-Training and debut:Fabio Vacchi studied at the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Bologna with Giacomo Manzoni and Tito Gotti. In 1974 he participated in the courses of the Tanglewood Festival in the USA, where he was awarded the Koussevitzky...
: Luoghi immaginari – Marco Lazzara (countertenor); EnsembleMusica20; Guido Guida, Mauro Bonifacio (conductors). Label: Ricordi/BMGCasa RicordiCasa Ricordi is a classical music publishing company founded in 1808 as G. Ricordi & Co. by violinist Giovanni Ricordi in Milan, Italy...
CRMCD 1043
External links
- Official web site of Marco Lazzara. Accessed 23 April 2009.