CeciliaMolinari

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  • Mezzo-Soprano

About Cecilia

Possessing "a magical ingredient that has the power to lift the audience to a higher plane" (Operawire), Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari has been praised for her “very stylish” (Bachtrack) singing “entirely at the service of the dramaturgy” (Le Monde). She is especially known for her interpretation of bel canto, Mozart and baroque roles, notably including Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, and the title role in Handel’s Ariodante which she recently performed to great critical acclaim. Major recent and upcoming house debuts include the Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, and the Lyric Opera Chicago.

Cecilia’s 2025/26 season includes several important debuts, including her debut at Opéra national de Paris, where she returns to the title role in Handel’s Ariodante, in a Robert Carsen production, conducted by Raphaël Pichon. Cecilia focuses on Mozart - one of her favourite composers - this season, with three Mozart roles forming the core of her season. She makes her US debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago with a return to the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and returns to Dutch National Opera for Cherubina* (a female version of Cherubino) in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro directed by Kirill Srebrennikov. At Teatro La Fenice in Venice, she returns for her debut as Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

Recent bel canto highlights include Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) notably for Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, among others, the title role in La Cenerentola and Smeton (Anna Bolena) at Dutch National Opera, Abenamet Zoraida di Granata for the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo (recently released on DVD), Siveno (Demetrio e Polibio) at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle at Auditorio at Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Concertgebouw. Recent Mozart roles include Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at Wiener Staatsoper, and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) at Semperoper Dresden and Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Les Arts Valencia, Idamante (Idomeneo) at Dutch National Opera and Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, and Mozart’s Requiem. Her repertoire also includes Béatrice Béatrice et Bénédict at Opéra National de Lyon, Sesto Giulio Cesare at Dutch National Opera (released on DVD), and Meg Page (Falstaff) at the Salzburger Festspiele.

Beyond the opera stage, Cecilia has earned critical acclaim for her concert performances. 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 pieces with major orchestras, including the Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Insula Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonicadella RAI, the PKF - Prague Philarmonia, and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. Notable conductors with which she has collaborated include James Conlin, Michele Mariotti, Giacomo Sagripanti, Ivor Bolton, and Emmanuelle Haim.

She holds a master’s degree in flute from Conservatorio di Musica F. A. Bonporti, and a master’s degree in Vocal Studies from Chi. Pollini Conservatory of Music in Padova, graduating with high honours. She was a member of the L'Accademia Rossiniana in the summer of 2015. In addition to her musical accomplishments, Cecilia Molinari completed her studies at the University of Medicine and Surgery in Padova, graduating with a Doctorate in Medicine.

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Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt.

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Season Highlights

Sep 2025 - Oct 2025
Opéra Bastille, Paris
Handel: Ariodante (title role) Conductor: Raphaël Pichon
Nov 2025 - Nov 2025
Teatro la Fenice, Venice
Mozart: Clemenza di Tito (Sesto) Conductor: Ivor Bolton
Feb 2026 - Feb 2026
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Mozart: Così fan tutte (Dorabella) Conductor: Enrique Mazzola
May 2026 - May 2026
Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) Conductor: Francesco Corti

Video

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Selected Repertoire

Bellini

Adelson e Salvini (Nelly)   •   i Capuleti e i Montecchi (Romeo)

Berlioz

Béatrice et Benedict (Béatrice)

Donizetti

Lucrezia Borgia (Maffio Orsini)   •   Anna Bolena (Smeton)

Gluck

Orfeo ed Euridice (Orfeo)

Gounod

Faust (Siebel)   •   Roméo et Juliette (Stephano)

Handel

Ariodante (Ariodante)   •   Giulio Cesare (Sesto / Giulio Cesare)   •   Serse (Serse / Amastre)   •   Rinaldo (Rinaldo)   •   Alcina (Ruggiero)   •   Radamisto (Radamisto)   •   Oreste (Oreste)

Mozart

Così fan tutte (Dorabella)   •   Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino)   •   La clemenza di Tito (Sesto / Annio)   •   Idomeneo (Idamante)

Offenbach

Les contes d'Hoffmann (Nicklausse / Muse)

Rossini

Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)   •   La Cenerentola (Angelina)   •   Il viaggio a Reims (Marchesa Melibea)   •   Tancredi (Tancredi)   •   L'italiana in Algeri (Isabella)   •   Le Comte Ory (Isolier)   •   La donna del lago (Elena)

News

Press

  • Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

    Glyndebourne Festival
    May 2025 - Jul 2025

    • The two innamorati, Rosina and Count Almaviva (Lindoro), are played by a well-matched pair of debut artists, Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari and American lyric tenor Jonah Hoskins. Molinari is sensational as the entitled ward, swooshing around in her Balenciaga-inspired dresses in a flamenco frenzy of repression. Her voice is a thing of wonder with a golden-hued lower register and a sparkling coloratura, all combined with a technique that makes Rossini’s hyper-ornamentations seem easy. Molinari is also a qualified surgeon and brings that level of precision to her vocal passion in her Act 1 aria ‘Una voce poco fa.’

    • The current cast reveals that when the aim is to make a performance dynamic, joyous and exuberant, it can pay for the portrayals that underpin it to be quite subtle. This approach is epitomised by Cecilia Molinari as Rosina, whose brilliantly precise mezzo-soprano combines depth with the flexibility to tackle all of the role’s vocal demands. When she sings ‘Una voce poco fa’ she reveals some astutely observed gestures, while Berta’s presence during the aria introduces further dimensions.

    • German Olvera as Figaro and Cecilia Molinari as Rosina are wildly fun to watch and both in fantastic voice. Olvera brings a Puck-like, pixie energy to his role as the seemingly omniscient and extraordinarily omnipresent barber - he appears from trap doors, walls, windows and even the orchestra pit. Molinari is fiery in both character and voice. Her coloratura shines, particularly in the piano lesson scene with Almaviva.

    • Cecilia Molinari war eine hervorragende Rosina mit einer großartigen, hochemotionalen Darstellung, einer tollen Mimik und einem wunderschönen, facettenreichen [mezzo]Sopran.

  • Cosi fan tutte (Dorabella)

    Wiener Staatsoper
    Oct 2024 - Oct 2024

    • The Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari not only has an outstanding bel canto voice, as she already demonstrated in Vienna as Rosina in Barbiere di Siviglia 2022 alongside Juan Diego Flórez, but is also a fine Mozart singer, as she now demonstrates in the role of Dorabella. Her Dorabella is an authentic, unaffected young woman, somewhat fickle, but very likeable in her naturalness, which sets her apart from her sister Fiordiligi.

  • Zoraida di Granata (Abenamet)

    Donizetti Opera Festival, Bergamo
    Dec 2024 - Dec 2024

    • The 1824 version places much greater emphasis on Abenamet, entirely worth it when the role was so well sung here by Cecilia Molinari. Her light, lithe mezzo is very stylish, with a warm flutter to her vibrato and she sang with great distinction, especially in the impressive prison scene where Abenamet is unchained by Almuzir on condition that he flees.

    • The cast was led by Cecilia Molinari’s Abenamet and Zuzana Markovà’s Zoraida, both of whom gave high-level performances. The former, in this role en travesti, displayed agility of great precision, a homogeneous voice in all registers and a significant stage presence that made the character of the hero truly credible.

    • Cecilia Molinari certainly stood out above all, a mezzo-soprano with a voice that is perhaps not particularly broad or extended but used so intelligently, with impeccable musicality and virtuosity, together with a grip on the role lived so intensely as to give back to the character of Abenamet all the passion and unhappiness of the hero who is already proto-romantic rather than bel canto-style. And, even if her vocal caliber may be closer to that of Cherubino than Arsace, her disguise was so all-encompassing that it made us lose sight of the very nature of the singer in favour of that of an interpreter of extraordinary magnetism, with few comparisons at the moment among the young talents.

    • The role of Abenamet found in Cecilia Molinari a great interpreter with a convincing masculine essence complemented by a warm vocal colour. The Italian singer's warm and expressive timbre brought special depth to the character, especially in the duets with Zoraida. In the moving final aria, "Da un eccesso di tormento," Molinari excelled in alternating between her character's courage and a vulnerability that humanised the relationship between the lovers.

  • Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino)

    Dresden Semperoper
    Sep 2023 - Oct 2023

    • Italian mezzo Cecilia Molinari was a superb Cherubino, vocally reminiscent of the young Teresa Berganza, and as dramatically spirited as the young Maria Ewing, two singers who have marked this role. Her light mezzo is perfect for this travesti role, evocative of youth and vulnerability. Molinari, despite her good looks, was credible as an adolescent male. Both her Act I “Non so più cosa son, cosa sento” and her Act II “Voi che sapete che cosa è l’amor” were a true joy, replete with the requisite adolescent petulance.

  • Ariodante (title role)

    Festival della Valle d'Itria, Martina Franca
    Aug 2024

    • Ariodante was played by the splendid Cecilia Molinari, who stood out for her technique and interpretation. She received warm ovations after the aria 'Dopo notte atra, e funesta', which she repeated to everyone's delight.

    • In the role of Ariodante, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari demonstrated outstanding vocal qualities in terms of delicacy and timbre, accomplished coloratura, and decisive ease of acting, managing to communicate intense emotions, rewarded at the end with a stirring ovation.

  • Béatrice et Bénédict (Béatrice)

    Opera de Lyon
    May 2024 - May 2024

    • The cast is dominated by Cecilia Molinari's classy Beatrice, who displays perfect technique across the entire range, combining articulation and phrasing, always serving the meaning.

  • Idomeneo (Idamante)

    Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova
    Feb 2024

    • Idamante, generous and heroic in her total respect for her father, is Cecilia Molinari, very good at assuming masculine traits and movements (hers is a textbook walk) and highly praiseworthy on a vocal level

    • Cecilia Molinari’s Idamante stands out ... she has an instrument with a clear and homogeneous line, very musical and well projected. The mezzo-soprano manages to shape the sound with the right expressive purpose and as a result is always effective. Also noteworthy is her stage presence, agile and easy in her movements.

  • Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

    Deutsche Oper Berlin
    Dec 2023

    • An attractive appearance and an equally attractive mezzo-soprano voice, evenly coloured in all registers, characterise Cecilia Molinari's Rosina.

  • Mozart Requiem

    Teatro La Fenice
    Apr 2021 - Apr 2021

  • Demetrio e Polibio (Siveno)

    Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro
    Aug 2019 - Aug 2021

    • Cecilia Molinari convinced in the breeches role of Siveno. Her mezzo was secure and stylish, and her vibrato had an exciting flutter which made her interpretation engaging and charming. In the second act she gave an emotional, moving rendering of the aria “Perdon ti chiedo, o padre”.

  • La morte d'Orfeo

    Dutch National Opera
    Mar 2018 - Mar 2018

    • Anyone who heard the lustrous mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari as Euridice would have forgiven Orfeo for not making any progress in therapy.