Lucia Cirillo began her career as an opera singer by winning several major competitions such as the ASLICO and the prestigious Concorso Internazionale Toti dal Monte. In addition to her substantial work in classical guitar, she studied singing with Adelisa Tabiadon and John Janssen. She continued her training with Bruno De Simone and Regina Resnik, refining her operatic repertoire, and with Conrad Richter and Dunja Vejzovic developing her sensibility for German Lieder.
Lucia made her operatic debut in Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze by Nino Rota. Shortly after, she sang the title role in La belle Hélène by Jacques Offenbach and Idamante in Idomeneo by Mozart for both the Circuito Lirico Lombardo and Toscano.
Her rich and unique voice took her to the most important theatres, festivals and concert venues throughout Europe, such as Salzburg Festival, La Scala in Milan, Opéra de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Glyndebourne Festival, La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Real in Madrid, Vlaamse Oper in Antwerp…
Lucia Cirillo’s wide repertoire ranges from the Baroque (Ariosti, Cavalli, Jommelli, Leo, Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Rameau, Vinci, Veracini, Vivaldi) – including Handel (Ariodante, Dardano, Piacere, Sesto) – through Mozart (Annio, Cherubino, Dorabella, Idamante, Sesto) to Rossini (Angelina, Isolier, Rosina) and Bellini (Adalgisa, Romeo). It also extends through composers like Mussorgsky (Feodor in Boris Godunov), Prokofiev (Sméraldine in L’Amour des trois oranges) and Strauss.
Beyond her versatility, Lucia is celebrated for the sensuality, dynamism and technical precision of her singing and acting.
She has worked with world-renowned conductors including Fabio Biondi, Sylvain Cambreling, Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Jurowski, Alexander Lazarev… and stage directors such as David Alden, Hugo de Ana, Robert Carsen, Sir Peter Hall, Fabio Ceresa and Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Lucia Cirillo regularly performs with the leading European Baroque orchestras, most notably Europa Galante, the Accademia Bizantina, Il Giardino Armonico and I Barocchisti. In addition, she has recorded significant audio and video projects for Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Opus Arte and Naïve (The Vivaldi Edition).
Among her past career highlights are Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice (title role) at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Monteverdi’s Incornazione di Poppea (Amore & Valletto) at Berlin Staatsoper, Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) at Lausanne Opera, Così fan tutte (Dorabella) under Christophe Rousset at Opéra de Wallonie-Liège, La finta giardiniera (Ramiro) at both La Scala and Shanghai Grand Theatre, Handel’s Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Piacere) at La Scala, Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina) in Lugano, Domenico Sarro’s Achille in Sciro (Teagene) at Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
For La Fenice and with the complicity of Diego Fasolis, Lucia has appeared in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso (Alcina), Dorilla in Tempe (Elmiro), Ottone in villa (Caio) and Farnace (Berenice).
Recent and future engagements include a Mozart concert series at Genoa Teatro Carlo Felice, Bellini’s Norma (Adalgisa) in a new Diego Fasolis/Stefano Poda production at Opéra de Lausanne and Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso at Venice La Fenice. Lucia sings Bach’s Christmas Oratorio for the Florence Teatro del Maggio Musicale.
