Maria Agresta

Maria Giovanna Agresta (born 16 July 1978) is an Italian opera and concert singer soprano.

Born in Vallo della Lucania, Agresta obtained her diploma at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Martucci  in Salerno with top marks and then completed her studies with Raina Kabaivanska in Modena. In 2006 she gave her debuts in Spoleto as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and as Selene in Baldassare Galuppi's Didone abbandonata. She made her debut in 2007 as Micaëla in Carmen in Messina and as Desdemona in Otello in various venues.

Further roles from the Italian repertoire followed; especially her debut as Duchessa Elena in I vespri siciliani at the Teatro Regio di Torino in 2011 brought her wide recognition. Since then she has also been a sought-after guest at La Scala in Milan and other important opera houses such as the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, La Fenice in Venice, the Bayerischen Staatsoper München, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Royal Opera House London and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía Valencia. In 2015 she appeared for the first time at the Salzburg Easter Festivals as stage partner of Jonas Kaufmann in the role of Nedda in Pagliacci. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera (New York) in January 2016 in the role of Mimi in La Bohème. At the Salzburg Festivals in August 2016 she made a much acclaimed role debut in the French repertoire as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. 2017 followed further engagements at the Metropolitan Opera as Micaëla in Carmen in JanuaryWilborn Hampton (18 October 2017). "Met Opera: A Stirring "Turandot" With Dyka, Antonenko, and an Homage to James Morris". Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 January 2019..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em} In 2014 Agresta was awarded the XXXIII Premio della Critica Musicale Italiana. Here is the English translation of the reason: