Amarilli Nizza defined Verdi as her “best friend”. And it is truly so, because although she owes a lot to Puccini – her “first great love”, her international career took flight with Verdi. She came on the scene as a lyrical soprano, but with time and thanks to her solid technique and a wise choice of repertoire, she has developed dramatic accents and nuances and has become a true Verdi heroine.

The Italian soprano Amarilli Nizza was born in Milan and grew up in a musical family as the fourth generation of professional singers. As a child, she studied piano before voice studies with her grandmother Claudia Biadi, who has been her most formative teacher. In 1993, while still very young, she won the 'Mattia Battistini' competition and had her debut as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s 'Madama Butterfly' at Rieti’s Flavio Vespasiano theatre.

Her agile voice and solid technique, together with fine acting skills, have granted her access to the most important venues and International Festivals, among them the Wiener Staatsoper, Fondazione Arena di Verona, Teatro del Maggio musicale Fiorentino, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Berlin’s Deutsche Opera, Moscow’s Kremlin Palace, Tokyo’s New National Theatre and Bunka Kaikan.

Recorded at: Auditorium of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ostrava, Czech Republic

Recording date: May 2014

Duration: 71'45"

Notes: English, Italian