Marco Di Sapia – lyric baritone

Marco Di Sapia will open his 2010-11 season with the world premiere of Cherubini’s opera “Koukourgi” at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt (Austria). Further engagements include Belcore with the Opéra Théâtre de St.Etienne, the Opéra de Rouen and the Opéra de Limoges, and he will return to the Volksoper Wien as Dr. Falke in “Die Fledermaus” and Danilo in “Die lustige Witwe”.

In recent years Marco Di Sapia has been working steadily in France and Austria. In May 2009 he made his debut at the Volksoper Wien as Lord Cookburn in of Auber’s “Fra Diavolo”, reviving that role in the following season. Other roles at the Volksoper Wien included Dr. Falke in “Die Fledermaus” and Reißteufel in “Antonia und der Reißteufel”, the new children’s opera by Christian Kolonovits. Between 2008 and 2010 he was heard on major opera stages in France, including Reims, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, Nizza, Nancy and Montpellier singing the role of Don Profundo in Rossini’s “Il viaggio a Reims”. In 2007 he made his debut at the Opéra National de Montpellier in Massenet’s “Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame” (alongside Roberto Alagna). He returned to Montpellier for the world premiere of “Affaire Étrangère” and in the role of Jupiter in Offenbach’s “Orphée aux Enfers”. Other guest engagements brought him to the Opéra de Lyon, the Opéra Théâtre de St.Etienne and the Opéra de Toulon.

The year 2000 marked his professional debut in Vienna with the Neue Oper Wien, taking on the role of Sid in Britten’s “Albert Herring”, marking the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with this contemporary production company, culminating in performances with the Bregenzer Festspiele in the world premiere of “Eine Marathon-Familie”, an opera by the Serbian composer Isidora Žebeljan. His appearances in operetta have been equally successful, and his portrayals of Pappacoda (“Eine Nacht in Venedig”) and Boris (“Moskva, Cheremushki” – the only operetta by Dimitri Shostakovich), both with the Wiener Kammeroper, as well as his debut as Danilo in “Die lustige Witwe” with the Operettensommer Kufstein have been acclaimed by audiences as well as the press.

In classical repertory, he has enjoyed successes in several Mozart roles, including Papageno, Count Almaviva, Guglielmo and both Don Giovanni and Leporello, which he sang at the National State Opera Ulan Bator (Mongolia). He also performed Dottore Malatesta in Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, Figaro in Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia“ at Schloss Kirchstetten (Austria), all Four Villains in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann“ at the City Opera Stettin (Poland) and Faninal in “Der Rosenkavalier” at the State Opera Gdansk (Poland). At the Wiener Konzerthaus he sang Plistene in Antonio Salieri’s opera “La grotta di Trofonio”, and he appeared at the Bucharest National Opera in Rossini’s “La Cenerentola”.

In classical repertory, he has enjoyed successes in several Mozart roles, including Papageno, Count Almaviva, Guglielmo and both Don Giovanni and Leporello, which he sang at the National State Opera Ulan Bator (Mongolia). He also performed Dottore Malatesta in Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, Figaro in Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia“ at Schloss Kirchstetten (Austria), all Four Villains in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann“ at the City Opera Stettin (Poland) and Faninal in “Der Rosenkavalier” at the State Opera Gdansk (Poland). At the Wiener Konzerthaus he sang Plistene in Antonio Salieri’s opera “La grotta di Trofonio”, and he appeared at the Bucharest National Opera in Rossini’s “La Cenerentola”.

Marco Di Sapia was born in Genoa, (Italy) and grew up in Rome.  There he initially trained as an actor, before dedicating himself to singing.  He moved to Vienna, Austria in 1997 to major in solo singing, and graduated with honors from the Conservatory in 2005.  He received an additional diploma in opera, Lieder and oratorio singing at Vienna’s University for Music and Performing Arts. He has won a multitude of awards. His more recent achievement includes winning a stipend at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon, where as result he was engaged at CNIPAL (Centre National d’Insertion Professionnelle des Artistes Lyriques) in Marseille for the 2006-07 season.