Mariella Devia

Mariella Devia (12 April 1948) is an Italian operatic soprano. After beginning her career as a lyric coloratura soprano, in recent years she has also enjoyed much success with some of the most dramatic roles in the bel canto repertoire.

Born in Chiusavecchia, Devia trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Iolanda Magnoni. She made her stage debut in Treviso in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in 1973 and quickly sang throughout Italy, making her debut at La Scala in Milan in 1987, as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

On the international scene, she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera from 1979 to 1994 as Lucia, Gilda, Nannetta, Despina and Konstanze, and at Carnegie Hall as Lakmé, in 1979, and later as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Elvira in I puritani and Adelia. She made her debut at the Paris Opera (I puritani - Salle Favart) and the Aix-en-Provence Festival (as Konstanze) in 1987, and at the Royal Opera House in London in 1988 (again as Konstanze).

She was a regular at the Pesaro Festival and at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, where she collaborated in the resurrection of long neglected operas by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and other bel canto composers. She is also admired for her Mozart performances in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Magic Flute, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Idomeneo.