Vivica Genaux

The Alaskan coloratura mezzo Vivica Genaux was born in Fairbanks in 1969 and trained at Indiana University, where she studied with Nicola Rossini-Lemeni and Virginia Zeani; at the beginning of her career, she was particularly associated with Rossini’s comic heroines (Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Isabella L’Italiana in Algeri, and the title-role in La cenerentola). Though she continues to be in demand for bel canto roles such as Bellini’s Romeo (I capuleti) and Arsace in Rossini’s Semiramide, she came to specialise in baroque repertoire and in particular roles written for the great castrati of the eighteenth century: her solo discography includes A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni, Pyrotechnics (an all-Vivaldi collection with Fabio Biondi, for which BBC Music Magazine described her as ‘a technically accomplished and warmly communicative artist’), and Arias for Farinelli with René Jacobs (‘Genaux’s faultless presentation of this richly ornamented music easily overcomes any risks in the repertoire’ – The Independent). She also recorded the title-role in Handel’s Rinaldo for Jacobs in 2014.

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