Francesca Manzo

Francesca Manzo, soprano, graduated with honours in Opera singing at “Giuseppe Martucci” Conservatory of Music in Salerno. In 2016 she was admitted to the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, perfecting her studies with Luciana D’Intino, Eva Mei, Renato Bruson, Gregory Kunde, Leo Nucci, and Vincenzo Scalera.

She made her stage debut in the role of Konstanze in Il ratto dal serraglio by W.A. Mozart for children. In September 2017 she debuted as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel by E. Humperdinck in the new production of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan conducted by Marek Albrecht and directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf, which was a great success for the audience and critics. She took part in the world premiere of Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo, the last work of the composer S. Sciarrino at the Teatro alla Scala, broadcasted live on radio. Moreover, she was the Sacerdotessa in the historical Aida, a production created by Franco Zeffirelli and directed by Daniel Oren, which took place at La Scala as well. In the new production from La Scala Alibaba of Cherubini in September 2018, she was singing the role of Delia, conducted by Paolo Carignani and directed by Liliana Cavani. She was Adina in the children’s production of Elisir d’amore by G. Donizetti, not only at La Scala but also in Geneva, directed by Grischa Asagaroff and conducted by Pietro Mianiti. Francesca sang the important New Year concert at the Giuseppe Verdi Municipal Theatre in Salerno in 2019. She played the part of Annina in the historical staging of La Scala’s “La Traviata” conducted by Chung Myung-whun under the direction of Liliana Cavani. She performed as soloist at the Easter concert in Ljubljana with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. At the Teatro alla Scala she debuted as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi directed by Woody Allen and conducted by Ivan Tischer and also as Gilda in the Rigoletto production signed by Gilbert Deflo with legendary baritone Leo Nucci, under the baton of Daniel Oren. She performed in a concert at Zaryade Hall in Moscow with the students of the Bolshoi Theatre’s Opera Studio. In December 2019 she made her debut in the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari as Gretel (Teatro alla Scala’s production). She performed at the New Year’s Eve 2020 concert in Milan in the event broadcast on Sky Arte with the orchestra Pomeriggi Musicali conducted by Beatrice Venezi.

Then she sang in Austria with the Junge Philharmonie Wien and she debuted the role of Mimi from G. Puccini’s La Bohème with director Dante Ferretti and conductor Yutaka Sado at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Japan. She won the audience award at the XI “Ravello città della Musica” Competition, at the XXV Zandonai Competition and first prize at Giancarlo Aliverta Competition in Milan. She was Mimi in the production of Voce all’Opera and Orchestra Senzaspine in Bologna and Milan in the staging by Gianmaria Aliverta conducted by T. Ussardi and N. J. Suppa. She performed for the RAI broadcast La Gioia della musica directed by C. Augias with the RAI Orchestra conducted by A. Canonici. After this, she took part in Japan’s tour of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo for the production of La Bohème under the direction of M. Pontiggia and the baton of F. Ciampa. She made her debut in the role of Violetta in La Traviata by G. Verdi in the production of Voce all’Opera in Milan conducted by G. Muttigli and directed by A. Pasini. She made her debut in G. Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Milan in the G. Verdi Hall in the city’s conservatory of music conducted by P. Mianiti and in Rossini’s Stabat Mater alongside Roberto Scandiuzzi. Then she performed in Nagasaki, Japan, in a concert for the hundredth anniversary of the death of the composer from Lucca.