Born in Naples, Maria Grazia Schiavo studied with R. Passaro at the Conservatory in Naples, graduating with honours. She won the First Prize both at the Santa Cecilia Competition in Rome and at the International Singing Competition of Clermont-Ferrand. She made her debut on stage with Roberto De Simone, performing the leading role in La Gatta Cenerentola which toured in major theatres in Italy and abroad.
Her renditions of the following roles affirmed her as one of the most interesting sopranos of her generation in Bel Canto and Romantic repertoire: Violetta in La Traviata in Naples, Rome, Turin and Venice’s La Fenice under the baton of the late Nello Santi and in a Stefano Ranzani/Robert Carsen production; Gilda in Rigoletto at the Teatro Massimo Palermo and Valencia Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia; the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor in Turin, Naples and Rome; Adina in L’Elisir d’amore at the Bari Teatro Petruzzelli and Opéra de Wallonie-Liège; La Contessa di Folleville in Il Viaggio a Reims at the Rome Opera. She also appeared as Olympia in Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann at the Naples Teatro di San Carlo.
More recently, she has returned to Bel Canto, performing the title role in Rossini’s Semiramide under Corrado Rovaris for the Opéra de Lausanne, Lisetta in La Gazetta for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro with Carlo Rizzi conducting, Marie in Donizetti’s Fille du régiment in a Stefano Ranzani/Barbe & Doucet production for La Fenice and Adina in Donizetti’s Elisir d’amore in Rennes, Angers and Nantes.
In other repertoire, her performances include Asteria in Tamerlano at La Scala with Diego Fasolis, Almirena in Rinaldo under Ottavio Dantone at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Dalinda in Ariodante at the Theater an der Wien and Mozart’s Mass in C minor at the Salzburg Mozarteum, both with Christophe Rousset.
Under the guidance of Zubin Mehta, she performed as the soprano soloist in Hayden’s Paukenmesse at the Florence Opera and further appeared in concert with Riccardo Minasi at the Opernhaus Zürich.
Particularly fond of Mozart, Maria Grazia was Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Teatro Regio Torino; Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Rome, Liège and Prague; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Bologna and Turin; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Turin, Liège and Rome. Add to this Ilia in Idomeneo in a new Fabio Biondi/Jean-Louis Grinda production at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège.
Under the knowing hand of Riccardo Muti, Maria Grazia starred as Amital in Betulia liberata at the Salzburg Festival and, more recently, returned to the role of Donna Anna for the Teatro Massimo di Palermo.
She has issued several CDs with Naïve: Pulcinella vendicato by Paisiello, Statira Principessa di Persia by Cavalli and Coralità e Devotione by Provenzale. She has recorded Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Stéphanie d’Oustrac and Antonio Florio for the label Eloquentia, and features on the CD “Le Cantate Italiane di Handel” with la Risonanza released by Glossa. Maria Grazia’s first solo album “Furor!” with music by Spanish composer Terradellas achieved great critical acclaim.
Recent and future engagements include Norina in Don Pasquale under Alessandro De Marchi at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Stefano Ranzani at the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Liù in Turandot in a Donato Renzetti/Francesco Micheli production for the Caracalla Festival of the Rome Opera and Gilda in Rigoletto helmed by Daniele Callegari and Damiano Michieletto at La Fenice.
