Maria Agresta

Maria Giovanna Agresta (born 16 July 1978) is an Italian operatic soprano.

Life Born in Vallo della Lucania, Agresta obtained her diploma at the in Salerno with top marks and then completed her studies with Raina Kabaivanska in Modena. In 2006 she made her debut in Spoleto as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and then appeared as Selene in Baldassare Galuppi's Didone abbandonata. She made her role debut as Micaëla in Carmen in 2007 in Messina and sang Desdemona in Otello in various venues.

Further roles from the Italian repertoire followed; including her role debut as Elena in I vespri siciliani at the Teatro Regio di Torino in 2011, which brought her wide recognition. Since then she has also sung at La Scala in Milan and other important opera houses such as the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, La Fenice in Venice, the Bayerischen Staatsoper München, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Royal Opera House London and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía Valencia. In 2014, Agresta appeared in Omaggio a Raina Kabaivanska, a tribute concert for Kabaivanska's 80th birthday at the Teatro Regio di Parma during Festival Verdi, performing with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini under the direction of Nayden Todorov. In 2015 she appeared for the first time at the Salzburg Easter Festivals with Jonas Kaufmann in the role of Nedda in Pagliacci. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera (New York) in January 2016 in the role of Mimi in La Bohème. At the Salzburg Festival in August 2016 she made an acclaimed role debut in the French repertoire as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. In 2017 there followed further engagements at the Metropolitan Opera as Micaëla in Carmen in January and as Liù in Turandot in October. In 2014 Agresta was awarded the XXXIII Premio della Critica Musicale Italiana.

Repertoire Roles include:

Operatic repertoireRole TitleComposer Norma Norma BelliniElvira I puritani BelliniMicaela Carmen BizetGemma Gemma di Vergy DonizettiSelene Didone abbandonata GaluppiMarguerite Faust GounodNedda Pagliacci LeoncavalloDonna Elvira Don Giovanni MozartMimì La bohème PucciniAngelica Suor Angelica Puccini Liù Turandot PucciniRosina Il barbiere di Siviglia RossiniJulia La Vestale SpontiniLeonora Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio VerdiLucrezia Contarini I due Foscari VerdiOdabella Attila VerdiAmalia I masnadieri VerdiLeonora Il trovatore VerdiVioletta Valery La traviata VerdiAmelia Grimaldi Simon Boccanegra VerdiElena I vespri siciliani VerdiDesdemona Otello Verdi

Her concert repertoire includes also Rossini's Stabat Mater and Verdi's Requiem.