Vivica Genaux

Vivica Genaux Biography

Vivica Genaux (born in Fairbanks, Alaska) is an American mezzo-soprano. Her father, of Belgian descent, was a biochemistry professor at the University of Alaska and her mother, of Swiss-German extraction, was a language teacher. She has sung in major operas such The Barber of Seville at the Metropolitan Opera, L'italiana in Algeri at Opera National de Paris and Cinderella with Dallas Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper. Ms. Genaux studied with the late Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Virginia Zeani at Indiana University Bloomington and currently studies with Claudia Pinza (daughter of tenor Ezio Pinza). She began her professional career specializing in charming portrayals of Rossini comic heroines (Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri, Angelina in La Cenerentola). She has performed these roles more than two hundred times with many of the major U.S. opera companies (including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, and Pittsburgh Operas), as well as in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dresden, Munich, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Verona, Santiago and Perth. Her role as the hero in Handel's "Arminio" was her first baroque role and she continues to expand her repertoire which currently includes 28 roles, 20 of which are pants-roles (mezzo playing male character). Prior career highlights have included: Brussels (La Monnaie) and Paris (Champs-Elysees) for Hasse's Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, led by long-time mentor, conductor Rene Jacobs; the recently rediscovered Alessandro Scarlatti oratorio La Santissima Trinita in Paris, Palermo and Lyon, which marked her first collaboration with Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante; Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice at the Los Angeles Opera; a Weill Hall recital at New York's Carnegie Hall; Rosinas at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera; the Opera National de Paris (Barbiere and Alcina); a concert at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin with Rene Jacobs and the Akademie fur Alte Musik performing music from their "Arias for Farinelli" CD; Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream in Paris and Hong Kong with Kurt Masur and the Orchestre National de France; Rinaldo in Montpellier and Innsbruck; Minnesota Opera for Lucrezia Borgia, I Capuleti ed i Montecchi and Semiramide; Urbain in Les Huguenots for the opening of the new opera house in Bilbao; Hassem in Donizetti's Alahor in Granata in Sevilla; Selimo in Hasse's Solimano at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin; and seven appearances at the Caramoor Festival. Wikipedia