Patrizia Ciofi
Patrizia Ciofi (born 7 June 1967) is an Italian operatic coloratura soprano. Career. Born in Casole d'Elsa, Ciofi studied at the Istituto Musicale Pietro Mascagni in Livorno. She subsequently took part in master classes at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena, with Carlo Bergonzi and Shirley Verrett. She made her debut in Gino Negri's "Giovanni Sebastiano" at the Teatro Comunale, Florence in 1989. She began her collaboration with the Festival della Valle d'Itria, featuring in "La sonnambula" (1994), Cherubini's "Médée" (1995), Piccinni's "L'americano" (1996), French version of "Lucia di Lammermoor" (1997), Giordano's "Mese mariano" and  Il re (1998), Traetta's "Ippolito ed Aricia" (1999), Rossini's "Otello" and Meyerbeer's "Robert le diable" (2000). She made her La Scala debut in 1997 with "La traviata", conducted by Riccardo Muti, and returned for "L'elisir d'amore" in 1998 and 2001. She has sung in most of the major Italian opera houses as well as the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. She has also sung in Paris, at the Châtelet, the Paris Opera and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, in Lyon and Marseille, also sung at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. She made her Covent Garden  debut in 2002 with Rigoletto, her Chicago debut in 2003 with "La traviata" and Wiener Staatsoper debut in 2008 with "La sonnambula". Her major roles on stage include Amina in Vincenzo Bellini's "La sonnambula", Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's "La traviata", Gilda in "Rigoletto", Susanna in Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro", and Lucia in Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" (in both the standard Italian version and the French version "Lucie de Lammermoor" of 1839). Ciofi has also made a number of recordings, including the "Le nozze di Figaro", conducted by René Jacobs, which won the 2005 Grammy  Award for Best Opera Recording. Another example is the recording of Giacomo Meyerbeer's Opera "Il crociato in Egitto" together with the Male Soprano Michael Maniaci at La Fenice in Venice. In December 2012, she was brought in at very short notice to sing Isabelle in the revival of Giacomo Meyerbeer's "Robert le diable" at the Royal Opera House, London, replacing Jennifer Rowley.