Sonia Prina

Sonia Prina quickly established herself as one of the leading contraltos of her generation. After graduating in singing and trumpet from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, she was admitted at the Academy of Young Singers of the Teatro alla Scala. She made her operatic stage debut at the Scala at only 23 years old as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia conducted by Riccardo Chailly and featuring young Juan Diego Flórez as Almaviva. Thanks to her unique voice Sonia received international recognition and won several prizes including The Italian music critics’ Prize “Franco Abbiati” in 2006 and the “Tiberini d’Oro” Prize in 2014 both naming her “Best Singer of the Year”. Career highlights include the title roles in Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba (Salzburg Festival) and in Gluck’s Ezio (Frankfurt Opera). She was Clarice in Rossini’s Pietra del paragone (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris) and Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri (Teatro Regio, Turin). She performed La Resurrezione with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Emmanuelle Haïm, Mozart’s Requiem with Antonio Pappano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms. Particularly fond of Handel, Sonia sang the title roles in Giulio Cesare (Paris, Dresden, Turin), Orlando (Sydney, Paris, Dresden), Tamerlano (Munich), Amadigi (Naples), Rinaldo (Zurich, Milan, Glyndebourne), Silla (Rome, Bucharest). She also performed as Bradamante in Alcina (Paris, Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Bordeaux), Polinesso in Ariodante (Aix-en-Provence, Barcelona, San Francisco), Bertarido in Rodelinda (London, Vienna), Goffredo in Rinaldo (Chicago), Amastre in Serse (San Francisco, Houston), Galatea in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (Brussels, Bucharest, London). She sang Handel’s Messiah at the Musikverein Vienna under the baton of Erwin Ortner and at the Paris Philharmonie under Hervé Niquet. Her repertoire comprises the Monteverdi Trilogy in which she appears as Ottone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Penelope in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with Ottavio Dantone, Messaggera and Speranza in L’Orfeo with William Christie at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Other Baroque highlights are Vivaldi’s Farnace (Madrid, Venice) and Teuzzone (Liceu, Barcelona) with Jordi Savall, Ottone in villa with Diego Fasolis (La Fenice), Juditha Triumphans with Jean-Christophe Spinosi (Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), Scarlatti’s Vergine addolorata under Fabio Biondi (Staatsoper Berlin) and Hasse’s Semele with Claudio Osele (Theater an der Wien). In addition to the Baroque period, Sonia Prina has distinguished herself in Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire. She sang Mistress Quickly in Falstaff with conductors Donato Renzetti and Riccardo Frizza (Berlin, Parma, Turin); Smeton in Anna Bolena (Barcelona) alongside Edita Gruberová and Elina Garanca; La Maman, La Tasse chinoise, La Libellule in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Palermo and Naples); Federica in Luisa Miller (Barcelona). Under the guidance of Zubin Mehta, she appeared in the world premiere of Chansons populaires pour voix et petit ensemble by contemporary French composer MarcAndré Dalbavie for the Florence Opera. In 2017/2018, she was artist-in-residence at London Wigmore Hall where she has been re-invited year after year since 2012. Sonia’s vast discography includes several works by Handel – Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, La Resurrezione (Virgin,) Lotario (DHM), Rodelinda (Deutsche Grammophon), Ezio (Erato) – and by Vivaldi: La Senna festeggiante, L’Olimpiade, the title role in Ottone in villa and the solo album “Arie Ritrovate” (Naïve). Sonia also recorded Monteverdi’s Orfeo (Erato) and the title role in Gluck’s Ezio. She appears in the following DVDs: Ascanio in Alba (Deutsche Grammophon) and Rinaldo (Opus Arte) in which she sings the title roles, as well as La Pietra del paragone (Naïve). For the label Glossa, Sonia released Handel’s Catone and Silla (title role), as well as the solo album “Heroes in Love” dedicated to Gluck which includes some world premiere recordings. Recent and forthcoming engagements include the world premiere in modern times of Porpora’s Deianira, Iole ed Ercole with Baptiste Lopez/Kammerorchester Basel at Theater an der Wien and Handel’s Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Disinganno) under Fabio Biondi in Granada. She gives concerts with the Darmstädter Barocksolisten at Melk Festival, with Dani Espasa/Vespres d’Arnadì in Siviglia and with the Berliner Barocksolisten alongside Julia Lezhneva in Moscow and St. Petersburg. She is regularly invited to London's Wigmore Hall (recent projects include Hasse's Semele (Jupiter) and Vivaldi's Stabat Mater with Akamus). With Auser Musici she recorded Handel's Catone.