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 performed the title role in Rossini’s Semiramide under Corrado Rovaris for the Opéra de Lausanne, and Lisetta in La Gazetta for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro with Carlo Rizzi conducting.
Maria Grazia paid tribute to Baroque composers such as Handel singing Asteria in Tamerlano at La Scala with Diego Fasolis, Almirena in Rinaldo at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées under Ottavio Dantone, Dalinda in Ariodante with Christophe Rousset at the Theater an der Wien, the title role in Partenope at the International Baroque Festival in Beaune; Vivaldi: La Fida ninfa with Jean-Christophe Spinosi at the Opera Rara Festival in Krakow, Giustino at the Theater an der Wien; Pergolesi: L’Olimpiade in Naples; Gluck: Il Trionfo di Clelia at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Part of her repertoire features sacred music: Paisiello’s Messa per l’Incoronazione di Napoleone at the Festival of Saint-Denis, Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate at the Teatro Real and Mass in C minor with Christophe Rousset at the Mozarteum in Salzburg… Under the guidance of Zubin Mehta, she performed as the soprano soloist in Hayden’s Paukenmesse at the Florence Opera.
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 (Jérémie Rhorer/Graham Vick); Amital in Betulia liberata at the Salzburg Festival under the baton of Riccardo Muti.
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 com-poser Terradellas achieved great critical acclaim.
Recent and future engagements include Donizetti’s Fille du régiment (Marie) for La Fenice and Donizetti’s Elisir d’amore (Adina) in Rennes, Angers and Nantes. Maria Grazia offers a recital dedicated to Neapolitan music alongside Riccardo Minasi/La Scintilla for the Opernhaus Zürich.
