Italian Soprano Nuccia Focile is all set to attend as one of the International Tutors at the 2020 NZ Opera School, and is looking forward to returning back to New Zealand and this time being apart of the faculty, passing her experience and guidance of an international standard onto the young New Zealand opera singers of the school.
New Zealand 2000 – Amelia in Simon Boccanegra
New Zealand 2010 – Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro
Nuccia was born in Sicily, studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Turin under Elio Battaglia and made her operatic debut in 1983 as Serpina in “La Serva Padrona” by Pergolesi in Spoleto. In 1984 she sung her first Mimi in “La Boheme” by Puccini at the Teatro Regio in Turin and made her debut as Oscar in Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” at La Scala Milan in 1985. Also in that year she won the International Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia, following which she made many concert and opera appearances with the famous tenor. In 1995 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimi in Puccini’s “La Boheme”. She brings an “almost unbearable poignancy” to Mimi, her best-known role.
Nuccia Focile has appeared in many roles, such as Nannetta in “Falstaff” , Nedda in “Pagliacci”, Violetta in “La Traviata”, Elisabetta in “Don Carlos”, Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, the title role in “Madama Butterfly and Katya Kabanova,Tatiana in “Eugene Onegin”,Amelia in “Simon Boccanegra”, Musetta in “La Boheme, the title role in “Jenufa”, Despina in “Cosi Fan Tutte”, Adina in “L’Elisir d’Amore”, Liu in “Turandot, Ilia in “Idomeneo, Giulietta in “Capuleti e Montecchi”, Norina in “Don Pasquale”, Michaela in “Carmen” and Juliette in “Romeo et Juliette” by Gounod.
Her other roles include Donna Elvira in “Don Giovanni”, the title role in “Iphigenia in Tauris”, Alice Ford in “Falstaff”, the Countess in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, the title role in Menotti’s “Maria Golovin”, Desdemona in “Otello.
Welsh National Opera 2007 – Tatiana in Onegin
Nuccia Focile has sung for the most prestigious Opera Houses in the world such as Royal Opera in London, Opera Bastille, Chatelet and Palais Garnier in Paris, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas, Seattle, New Zealand, New Israeli Opera, Teatro San Carlo in Napoli, La Fenice in Venice, Opera di Roma , Teatro Bellini in Catania and Teatro Massimo in Palermo.
She has performed many leading roles for the Welsh National Opera .
Nuccia Focile has made several recordings for the Philips , Opera Rara , EMI and Telarc lables, including “Le Nozze di Figaro”, “Cosi Fan Tutte” and “Don Giovanni “ conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras , Tatiana in “Eugene Onegin” conducted by Semyon Bychkov, Rossini’s “Messe Solennelle conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, Ascanio in Pergolesi’s “Lo Frate ‘Nnamorato” conducted by Riccardo Muti.
She has been awarded Artist of the Year 2013 for “La Voix Humaine” by Poulenc at Seattle Opera.
Seattle 2009 – Violetta in La Traviata
In 2017 Nuccia Focile has been appointed as a Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London and she has also been teaching since 2011 at the Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff alongside Dennis O’Neill.
The New Zealand Opera School are very delighted Nuccia will be joining us for the 26th Anniversary of the school early January 2020 and her immense experience she will bring to the students that will be selected to attend the school.
