Born in Genoa, Italy, soprano Daniela Dessì pursued her musical studies
in piano and voice at the Parma Conservatory and at the Accademia
Chigiana of Siena. Soon after graduation she won first prize at
the international "RAI Auditorium" competition in 1980 and her first
professional engagements quickly followed, including performances of
Rossini's Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn’s The
Creation, and the Verdi Requiem, a work which she has
subsequently sung in all the world's music capitals. Since making
her operatic debut with the Opera Giocosa in Savona in Pergolesi's La
Serva Padrona, Daniela Dessì has built up a repertory of some 60 operas
ranging from Monteverdi to Prokofiev. She has appeared on the
world’s major opera stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric
Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, La Scala, Milan, The Vienna
State Opera, The Liceu in Barcelona, the Rome Opera, Royal Opera in
London, Zürich Opera, Washington Opera and the opera theatres of
Florence, Bologna, Genoa, Naples and at the Arena di Verona. She has
sung in opera concerts in the United States with the Philadelphia
Orchestra and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Daniela Dessì has been particularly acclaimed for her interpretation
of the great Mozart , bel canto and Verdi heroines which she has
performed with the world's most distinguished singers and
conductors. In Mozart's Da Ponte Trilogy, Ms Dessì has appeared
as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and as Fiordiligi in Così fan
tutte, both conducted by Riccardo Muti at La Scala and as Donna Elvira
in Don Giovanni with Zubin Mehta at Florence's Teatro Comunale.
Ms. Dessì will sing her first performances as Donna Anna for her
debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during their 2000
season. Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito was the vehicle for her
debut at the 1992 Salzburg Festival. She has appeared as Mathilde
in Rossini’s Guillame Tell at the Pesaro Festival and in the title
roles of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples
and Maria Stuarda at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu as well as in
his Poliuto. Within the Verdi repertory, Daniela Dessì has
frequently sung Desdemona opposite Plácido Domingo as Otello as well as
Amelia in Simon Boccanegra and Elisabetta in Don Carlo. Daniela
Dessì is also noted for her other Verdi heroines in Aida, La traviata,
Il trovatore, Les Vêpres Siciliennes, Luisa Miller, Ernani, Simon
Boccanegra and as Alice Ford in Falstaff. Daniela Dessì has performed
the Verdi Requiem with such noted conductors as Riccardo Muti, Zubin
Mehta, Alain Lombard, and Rafael Frübeck De Burgos. Other notable
operas she has sung include Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Mimi
in La bohème, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, Nedda in Pagliacci,
Margarita in Mefistofele, Iris, Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann
and new productions at the Zürich Opera of such rarities as Sly
and La cena delle beffe.
The 2000-2001 season began with an appearance as Nedda in Florence,
followed by her Teatro Colón debut as Donna Anna. She returned to
the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Tosca, performed the Verdi Requiem in
Dresden with Giuseppe Sinopoli, and returned to Genoa for Andrea
Chénier. Other engagements during the season included Aida in
Berlin, Athens, Bologna and Verona as well as the Verdi Requiem in Tel
Aviv and concerts in Monaco.
Daniela Dessì began her 2001-2002 season in Bologna as Alice Ford,
followed by Il trittico at the Rome Opera, in which she sang all three
soprano parts, Tosca in Munich and her return to the Met for Madama
Butterfly, which she will also sing in Madrid and at La Scala.
Other engagements during this season include Falstaff in Munich and
Desdemona in Zurich.
Ms. Dessì's discography includes Mimì in La Bohème (EMI); a disc
of Verdi and Puccini arias on the Forlane label; Monteverdi's
L'Incoronazione di Poppea and Verdi's Ernani, both on the Nuova Era
label; and a number of projects with Riccardo Muti, including Nedda in
Pagliacci with the Philadelphia Orchestra (Philips), Elisabetta in Don
Carlo (EMI), Gilda in Rigoletto (EMI), and Alice Ford in Falstaff
(SONY), the final three all with the chorus and orchestra of La Scala,
Milan. She can also be heard on a Decca recording of Rossini's
Petite Messe Solennelle led by Riccardo Chailly. Forlane Records has
released “Daniela Dessi à Bordeaux,” a recital of Verdi and Puccini
arias conducted by Alain Lombard. Awaiting future release are
recordings of Guillame Tell from the Pesaro Festival and Iris. She can
also be seen in a 1985 video of Rossini’s Elisabetta, Regina
d’Inghilterra, recorded at the Teatro Regio di Torino.
