|
Born: August 23, 1938 - Genoa, Liguria, Italy
Died: August 10, 2024 - Sori, Liguria, Italy |
|
The Italian soprano, Celestina Casapietra, received her education at the Milan Conservatory, especially with the famous soprano Gina Cigna and with Costaguta. In 1963, she won prizes at singing competitions in Milan and Rome.
Celestina Casapietra made her debut in 1961 at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan in the opera Mese Mariano by Giordano. She then sang in Italy in Genoa, San Remo, Pisa and Venice, as well as at the Opera of Lyon. In 1964, she was discovered by the conductor Otmar Suitner and in 1965 became a member of the Berlin State Opera. Here she sang in a long-running successful career roles such as Elsa in Lohengrin, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, Donna Anna in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, Agathe in Freischütz, Mimi in La Bohème, Micaela in Georges Bizet's Carmen and the title role in Richard Strauss' opera Daphne. She had successful guest performances at the Teatro Fenice Venice, at the Bolshoi Theater Moscow, at the Wiener Staatsoper, in Prague. Helsinki, Copenhagen, Chicago and Paris. At the Festival of Salzburg, she appeared in 1969-1971 in the performances of Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo by Francesco Cavalli. In 1984, she sang at the Salzburg Mozart Weeks the role of Vitellia in W.A. Mozart's La clemenza di Tito; in 1985 in Dublin the Marschallin in Rosenkavalier; in 1986 at the Festival of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. In 1983, she performed in Hamburg; in 1989, in Amsterdam in Der Kreidekreis by Zemlinsky. In 1993, her contract with the Berlin State Opera was terminated by them, resulting in a long legal dispute, the singer eventually won. Her career was long lasting; In 1994, she performed in Genoa as Tosca, in Lyon as Ariadne on Naxos by Richard Strauss.
Celestina Casapietra was married to the conductor Herbert Kegel from 1966 to 1983. They had one child, the tenor Björn Casapietra (b February 18, 1970 in Genoa, Italy).
Recordings: She sang Fiordiligi on Ariola-Eurodisc in a full recording of W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte; on Philips Solos in W.A. Mozart's Masses; in Carmina Burana and in Trionfi by C. Orff. Further recordings on Eterna and on Ars Vivendi (Symphony No. 4 by Gustav Mahler). |
