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The Swiss-French mezzo-soprano, Marina Viotti, was born in Switzerland, her parents both being musicians, and grew up in Northern France. At the early age of 8 years she started to play the flute and joined several choirs. Curious and passionate by nature, she did not only study classical music, but also approached other musical worlds and explored different styles such as jazz, gospel and heavy metal or chanson. This permitted her to be on stage in early years already and she lived this experience as a "frontwoman" for a number of years. At the age of 18 she decided to study literature and philosophy in Lyon, while continuing her musical studies too. Fulfilled by her two passions, music and literature, she got her "diplome supérieur" of flute at the Luxembourg International Conservatory at age 19 and her master's degree for philosophy/literature at age 22. That time she started learning choir-conducting and took her first vocal lessons. These experiments led her to Vienna where she started her vocal education with Heidi Brunner in 2010. She quickly became a member of the Vienna Singverein Chorus and the Gustav Mahler Chorus at the Wiener Staatsoper. She kept her interest in literature and is frequently giving French classes at the Lycée Francais in Vienna. In early 2011 she made her first appearance as a solo-singer with Rossini's Agnus Dei and consequently took over vocal parts within rehearsals of Verdi's Requiem and Francis Poulenc's Les dialogues des Carmélites. Familiar with French and Italian repertoire, her inspired interpretation provided her many other opportunities as well. She continued her singing studies at the Lausanne University of Music in the class of Brigitte Balleys. She completed her studies with a diploma as a soloist. Currently she is studying Belcanto with Raul Gimenez. In April 2019, she was awarded the “Mazars Young Singer Award” as best young singer at the prestigious International Opera Awards in London. She won the 3rd Prize at the “Concours de Genève” in 2016, the International Belcanto Prize at the Rossini Festival in Wildbad in 2015 and the 1st Prize as well as the Musician’s Prize at the International Competition of Mâcon in 2014.
Marina Viotti’s first steps on the operatic stage after her studies took her to the Lausanne Opera, the Lucerne Theatre and, as part of the young ensemble, to the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She made her debut as Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad in 2015. She is a sought-after concert singer. Her concert repertoire includes among others: J. Haydn's The Seven last Words of our Saviour, L.v. Beethoven’s Mass in D major and Symphony No. 9, Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Robert Schumann's Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, Roddini's La petite messe solennelle, Verdi’s Requiem, De Falla's El amor Brujo with the Ochestre de la Suisse Italienne, Chausson's La Poème de l’amour et de la mer, to name but a few.
In the 2019-2020 season, Marina Viotti opened the season with her house debut at the Bavarian State Opera as Maddalena in Rigoletto and at the Scala in Milan as Stéphano in Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. Further important house debuts include Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Semperoper in Dresden and Melibea in Il viaggio a Reims in Valencia. Rosina was also on the programme at the Liceu in Barcelona. Her concert activities continue to play an important role as well. In the 2020-2021 season, she made her house debut at the Bilbao Opera with Il turco in Italia. She sang again at the Liceu Barcelona, this time Nicklausse and Muse in Hoffmann’s Tales, made her house debut as Rosina at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and appeared on stage at the Musical Olympus Festival in St. Petersburg. At the Strasbourg Opera, she made her role debut as Bradamante in a concert version of G.F. Handel's Alcina. In the current 2021-2022 season, in addition to her busy concert schedule, she will make her house debut at the Staatsoper Berlin as Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte under Daniel Barenboim, sing Maddalena in Rigoletto at La Scala in Milan, Orlofsky in Fledermaus at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Bradamante in Alcina, as well as concert performances of Rossini’s Semiramide (Arsace) in Lausanne. She will also return to La Scala as Rosenkavalier and Maddalena in Rigoletto.
Marina Viotti is regularly invited to festivals (Lavaux Classics, Solothurn Classics, Label Suisse) to present her recital programmes “Love has no borders” (duo piano/voice) and “De Bach à Piaf, chansons d’amour” and “Porque existe otro querer?” (duo guitar/voice) |
