Vivica Genaux
Encyclopedia
Vivica Genaux is an American coloratura mezzo-soprano. Her father, an American of Belgian-Welsh
descent, was a biochemistry professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
and her mother, Mexican
-born of Swiss-German extraction, was a language teacher. She has sung in major operas such as The Barber of Seville
at the Metropolitan Opera
, L'italiana in Algeri
at Opéra National de Paris, and La Cenerentola
with Dallas Opera
and the Bayerische Staatsoper.
and Virginia Zeani
at Indiana University Bloomington
and currently studies with Claudia Pinza (daughter of bass Ezio Pinza
). She began her professional career specializing in charming portrayals of Rossini comic heroines (Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri
, Angelina in La Cenerentola
). She has performed these roles more than two hundred times with many of the major U.S. opera companies (including the Metropolitan Opera
, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, and Pittsburgh Operas), as well as in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dresden, Munich, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Verona, Santiago and Perth.
Her role as the hero in Handel
's "Arminio
" was her first baroque role, and she continues to expand her repertoire, which currently includes 28 roles, 20 of which are pants roles
(a woman—often a mezzo-soprano—playing a male character).
oratorio La Santissima Trinità in Paris, Palermo and Lyon, which marked her first collaboration with Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante; Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice
at the Los Angeles Opera; a Weill Hall recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall
; Rosinas at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera
; the Opéra National de Paris (Barbiere and Alcina); a concert at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin with René Jacobs and the Akademie für Alte Musik performing music from their “Arias for Farinelli
” CD; Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Paris and Hong Kong with Kurt Masur
and the Orchestre National de France
; Rinaldo in Montpellier and Innsbruck; Minnesota Opera for Lucrezia Borgia
, I Capuleti ed i Montecchi and Semiramide
; Urbain in Les Huguenots
for the opening of the new opera house in Bilbao; Hassem in Donizetti’s Alahor in Granata in Seville; Selimo in Hasse’s Solimano at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin; Juno/Ino in Handel's Semele at New York City Opera
; and seven appearances at the Caramoor Festival.
L'Atenaide (Teodosio) - Vivaldi
with Modo Antiquo & Federico Sardelli, conductor
NAÏVE OP30438 3 CD
U.S. Release 22 August 2007
Handel & Hasse Arias & Cantatas (solo)
with Les Violins du Roy, Bernard Labadie, Conductor
VIRGIN CLASSICS (1 CD) 7243 5 45737 2 9
U.S. Release September 2006
Bajazet
(Irene) - Vivaldi
Grammy Nominated
with Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Conductor
VIRGIN VERITAS 45676-2
U.S. Release May 2005
La Santissima Trinità (Teologia) - Scarlatti
with Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Conductor
VIRGIN VERITAS 5456662 (1 CD)
Released May 2004
Bel Canto Arias (solo) – Donizetti/Rossini
with Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, John Nelson, Conductor
VIRGIN CLASSICS 7243 5 45615 2 8
Released September 2003
Rinaldo
(Title Role) - Handel
René Jacobs, Conductor
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 901796.98
Released May 2003
Arias for Farinelli
(solo) - Various Artists
Grammy Nominated
with Akademie für Alte Musik, René Jacobs, Conductor
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 901778
Released 2002
Arminio
(Title Role) - Handel
with Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis, Conductor
VIRGIN Veritas 5 45461 2
Released August 2001
An Evening of Arias and Songs(solo) - Various Artists
EPCASO 93515 04012
Released June 1999
football player Régis Genaux
. Her interest in European Baroque music led her to settle in Venice
.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
descent, was a biochemistry professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as Alaska or UAF....
and her mother, Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-born of Swiss-German extraction, was a language teacher. She has sung in major operas such as The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
at Opéra National de Paris, and La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
with Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
and the Bayerische Staatsoper.
Education and singing career
Ms. Genaux studied with the late Nicola Rossi-LemeniNicola Rossi-Lemeni
Nicola Rossi Lemeni, , was a basso opera singer of mixed Italian-Russian parentage.Rossi Lemeni was born in Istanbul, Turkey, the son of an Italian colonel and a Russian mother. In his prime he was one of the most respected bassos in Italy...
and Virginia Zeani
Virginia Zeani
Virginia Zeani is a Romanian soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially the role of in "La traviata".-Early life:Zeani was born Virginia Zehan, in Solovăstru, Romania...
at Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
and currently studies with Claudia Pinza (daughter of bass Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
). She began her professional career specializing in charming portrayals of Rossini comic heroines (Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
, Angelina in La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
). She has performed these roles more than two hundred times with many of the major U.S. opera companies (including the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, and Pittsburgh Operas), as well as in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dresden, Munich, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Verona, Santiago and Perth.
Her role as the hero in Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's "Arminio
Arminio
Arminio is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel.- Performance History :Together with Giustino and Berenice, Arminio is one of three operas Handel wrote within a period of half a year in 1736. He began with the composition of Giustino on 14 August 1736, followed by that of Arminio on 15...
" was her first baroque role, and she continues to expand her repertoire, which currently includes 28 roles, 20 of which are pants roles
Breeches role
A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing .In opera it also refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer...
(a woman—often a mezzo-soprano—playing a male character).
Highlights
Prior career highlights have included: Brussels (La Monnaie) and Paris (Champs-Elysées) for Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra, led by long-time mentor, conductor René Jacobs; the recently rediscovered Alessandro ScarlattiAlessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro 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...
oratorio La Santissima Trinità in Paris, Palermo and Lyon, which marked her first collaboration with Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante; 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...
at the Los Angeles Opera; a Weill Hall recital at New York’s 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....
; Rosinas at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
; the Opéra National de Paris (Barbiere and Alcina); a concert at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin with René Jacobs and the Akademie für Alte Musik performing music from their “Arias for Farinelli
Farinelli
Farinelli , was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.- Early years :...
” CD; Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Paris and Hong Kong with Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur is a German conductor, particularly noted for his interpretation of German Romantic music.- Biography :Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony. Masur has been married three times...
and the Orchestre National de France
Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre national de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française and Orchestre national de l'Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française .Since 1944, the orchestra has been based in the Théâtre...
; Rinaldo in Montpellier and Innsbruck; Minnesota Opera for Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia [luˈkrɛtsia ˈbɔrʤa] was the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei. Her brothers included Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia...
, I Capuleti ed i Montecchi and Semiramide
Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
; Urbain in Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
for the opening of the new opera house in Bilbao; Hassem in Donizetti’s Alahor in Granata in Seville; Selimo in Hasse’s Solimano at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin; Juno/Ino in Handel's Semele at New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
; and seven appearances at the Caramoor Festival.
Recordings
Ms. Genaux's discography:L'Atenaide (Teodosio) - Vivaldi
with Modo Antiquo & Federico Sardelli, conductor
NAÏVE OP30438 3 CD
U.S. Release 22 August 2007
Handel & Hasse Arias & Cantatas (solo)
with Les Violins du Roy, Bernard Labadie, Conductor
VIRGIN CLASSICS (1 CD) 7243 5 45737 2 9
U.S. Release September 2006
Bajazet
Bajazet (opera)
Bajazet is an Italian opera composed by Antonio Vivaldi in 1735. Its libretto was written by Agostino Piovene. It was premiered in Verona, during the Carnival season of that year. This opera is presented in 3 acts, with a three-movement sinfonia as an introduction...
(Irene) - Vivaldi
Grammy Nominated
with Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Conductor
VIRGIN VERITAS 45676-2
U.S. Release May 2005
La Santissima Trinità (Teologia) - Scarlatti
with Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Conductor
VIRGIN VERITAS 5456662 (1 CD)
Released May 2004
Bel Canto Arias (solo) – Donizetti/Rossini
with Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, John Nelson, Conductor
VIRGIN CLASSICS 7243 5 45615 2 8
Released September 2003
Rinaldo
Rinaldo (opera)
Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
(Title Role) - Handel
René Jacobs, Conductor
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 901796.98
Released May 2003
Arias for Farinelli
Farinelli
Farinelli , was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.- Early years :...
(solo) - Various Artists
Grammy Nominated
with Akademie für Alte Musik, René Jacobs, Conductor
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 901778
Released 2002
Arminio
Arminio
Arminio is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel.- Performance History :Together with Giustino and Berenice, Arminio is one of three operas Handel wrote within a period of half a year in 1736. He began with the composition of Giustino on 14 August 1736, followed by that of Arminio on 15...
(Title Role) - Handel
with Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis, Conductor
VIRGIN Veritas 5 45461 2
Released August 2001
An Evening of Arias and Songs(solo) - Various Artists
EPCASO 93515 04012
Released June 1999
Personal
Vivica is a distant relative of BelgianBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
football player Régis Genaux
Régis Genaux
Régis Hervé Genaux was a Belgian footballer who played as a right defender, and later a coach.During his career, he represented three teams in three countries, namely Standard Liège and Udinese Calcio; he died at only 35 in November 2008.-Club career:After having started playing football with R...
. Her interest in European Baroque music led her to settle in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
.