The American soprano of Italian background, Maria Venuti, pursued her studies at the Eastrnan School of Music in Rochester, New York. She passed her concert exam with honours at Detmold's Hochschule für Musik. She has won prizes at various voice competitions.
A master-class with Christa Ludwig helped Maria Venuti to obtain an engagement at the Vienna State Opera, where she sang under Herbert von Karajan in her very first year. She has sung all the major lyric coloratura roles at the most reputable opera houses of the entire world. In addition, she is also a sought-after concert singer. She has worked which conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Wolfgang Sawallisch. John Eliot Gardiner, Charles Mackerras and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and also devotes much of her time to Lieder singing.
Knowledge about the voice was always of great importance to Maria Venuti. Since 1994, she has been Professor of singing at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, also teaching master-classes in Germany and overseas. In addition, in 1997 she founded the Karlsruhe-based Hildegard Zadek Foundation, which regularly grants scholarships to gifted young singers and since 2003, organizes the International Hilde Zadek Singing Competition in cooperation with the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Among her pupils and/or singers who have attended her master-classes: Julia Barthe (Soprano), Reglint Bühler (Soprano), Julio Fernández (Tenor), Cordelia Hanus (Soprano), Michael Marz (Baritone), Rosemara Ribeiro (Mezzo-soprano), Florian Schmitt-Bohn (Baritone), Gundula Schneider (Mezzo-soprano), Isabella Stettner (Soprano).*** |