Cecilia Molinari

The Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari is renowned for her interpretations of bel canto, Mozart, and Baroque roles, including Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), and the title role in Handel’s Ariodante, which she has recently performed with great success. Among her most important house debuts in recent years and in the near future are the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The 2025/26 season includes several significant debuts, among them her debut at the Opéra national de Paris, where she again sings the title role in Handel’s Ariodante. In addition, Cecilia Molinari focuses on Mozart this season, with three Mozart roles forming the core of the season: at Teatro La Fenice in Venice (Italy) she returns for her debut as Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), she makes her US debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with a return to the role of Dorabella (Così fan tutte), and she returns to the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam (Netherlands) as Cherubina (a female version of Cherubino) in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro.

Recent highlights in the bel canto repertoire include Rosina – notably at the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and the Glyndebourne Festival – as well as the title role in La cenerentola. Further appearances include Smeton (Anna Bolena) at Dutch National Opera, Abenamet in Zoraida di Granata at the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo (Italy; recently released on DVD), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice) at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Maffio Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia) at Müpa in Budapest (Hungary), Siveno (Demetrio e Polibio) at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Italy), Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle at the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid (Spain), and Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Her recent Mozart roles include Dorabella at the Vienna State Opera, Cherubino at the Semperoper Dresden, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville (Spain), and Les Arts Valencia (Spain), Idamante (Idomeneo) at Dutch National Opera and Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (Italy), as well as Mozart’s Requiem. She has also enjoyed success as Béatrice (Béatrice et Bénédict) at the Opéra National de Lyon, Sesto (Giulio Cesare) at Dutch National Opera (released on DVD), and Meg Page (Falstaff) at the Salzburg Festival.

In addition to the repertoire mentioned above, her concert repertoire includes Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Haydn’s “Berenice, che fai.” She has performed these works with, among others, the Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Insula Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI, the Prague Philharmonia, and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Cecilia Molinari completed studies in both flute and voice, and in 2015 she was a member of the Accademia Rossiniana. In addition to her musical achievements, she graduated from the University of Medicine and Surgery in Padua (Italy) with a doctorate in medicine.