Desirée Rancatore

Rancatore was born in Palermo. She studied violin and piano before studying singing with her mother Maria Argento at the age of 16 and later in Rome, with Margaret Baker Genovesi. She won first prizes at several competitions: Ibla International Competition in Ragusa (1995), V. Bellini International Competition in Caltanissetta (1995), Maria Caniglia International Competition in Sulmona (1996).[1] In 1996, at the age of 19 she debuted at the Salzburg Festival as Barbarina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. She returned to the Festival in the following seasons for Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Blonde; 1997, 1998), Verdi's Don Carlo conducted by Lorin Maazel (Voice from Heaven; 1998, 1999), Great Mass in C minor (2000), Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (2001), Hasse's Piramo e Tisbe (2010; conducted by Fabio Biondi), and concerts at the Salzburg Mozarteum.

She debuted in Italy in 1997 at the opening of the season at the Teatro Regio in Parma in L'arlesiana by Francesco Cilea. In 1998, she sang her first Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann, a role to which she would be associated, at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, and debuted at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier.[1] She has performed the role of Olympia at the Paris Opera, at the Royal Opera House in London, at the Zürich Opera, at the Massimo in Palermo, at the Opera in Rome, the Teatro Regio in Turin[2] and Parma, the Toulouse Théâtre du Capitole, the Teatro Real in Madrid, La Scala in Milan, the Sferisterio di Macerata, the Chorégies d'Orange and the Vienna State Opera (2001). She is also known for her portrayal of Gilda from Rigoletto, which she has performed in Melbourne, San Francisco,[3] Las Palmas, Tokyo, Venice, Mexico, Vienna, Verona, Parma, Beijing, Florence, Zurich and London (concert version at the Barbican).

She debuted in the lead role in Lucia di Lammermoor in the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo in the 2005/06 season, later doing a tour of Japan in this role, which included Tokyo, conducted by Antonino Fogliani. She sang the role again in the Oviedo Opera, in the Zurich Opera, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro Francesco Cilea in Reggio Calabria and in the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara.

Another of her roles is Adina from L'elisir d'amore, which she debuted in Laurent Pelly's production at the Opéra Bastille in Paris and which she performed again in the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and in La Fenice in Venice. She debuted the lead role in Delibes' Lakmé, which she has sung in Palermo, the Campoamor in Oviedo and in the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo. In December 2004, at the reopening of La Scala in Milan, she sang the role of Semele in Salieri's Europa riconosciuta, conducted by Riccardo Muti.[4] She was invited to open the 2005/06 season at the Bologna Comunale in a new production of Ascanio in Alba and in October 2008 she made her debut as Elvira in Bellini's I puritani in Palermo. In 2010 she debuted the role of Amina from La sonnambula in Las Palmas.

In concert she has also performed as a soloist in Rossini's Petite messe solennelle in Paris, Mozart's Requiem (Massimo, Palermo), and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (Paris, Radio France National Orchestra, conducted by Muti). She also participated in the opening concert of the 2003/04 season at La Scala and has sung with the Turin RAI Symphonic Orchestra and, in a gala alongside Bryn Terfel and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, as well as a Spanish tour with the Catania Massimo Bellini Philharmonic.

In 2011 she sang at the New Year's Concert at La Fenice, at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall,[5] at the Zürich Opera House (Rigoletto), at the Teatro Massimo Palermo (Lucia di Lammermoor),[6] at the Greek Theatre of Syracuse (with Andrea Bocelli),[7] at the Sferisterio Opera Festival (Rigoletto)[8] and at the National Center for Performing Arts Beijing (Rigoletto).

2013 saw Rancatore's return to the Salzburg Festival in a one-off TV-live/online production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, staged (alongside vintage aircraft) in Hangar-7 of Salzburg Airport while conducted, without visual contact, in Hangar-8 by Hans Graf.[9] The same year, Vienna State Opera billed her as Violetta in La traviata.[10] In 2016 Rancatore sang Violetta the Royal Danish Theatre.

Rancatore married young and the marriage ended in failure.[1] On 8 July 2019, she married clarinetist Alessandro Cirrito at the Church of Saint Francis of Paola in Palermo.[11]

• 2004: Medaglia d'Oro Città di Milano Award
• 2008: Mimosa d'Oro Award
• 2008: Kaleidos Award
• 2008: Ester Mazzoleni Special Prize
• 2009: Zenatello Award
• 2010: Oscar della lirica, Verona

• Official website
• Former official website archived on 2016-03-04
• StreamOpera.com/ Desirée Rancatore