Caterina Secchi
feels equally at home in Italy and in the United States, where she was born and
where she began her vocal studies with the late Elio Gennari, graduate of
the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, Italy.
A longtime resident of Milan, Italy,
Caterina Secchi made her debut at the Teatro Regio of Parma as a very young
singer in Il Barbiere diSiviglia. She was
immediately re-signed by the Teatro Regio and appeared as soloist in Bruckner's
Mass in D Minor, singing in Parma, Modena, Ferrara, and Reggio
Emilia. With the La Camerata Internazionale Rossiniana she performed
frequently in Milan and on tour as soloist in Rossini's Stabat Mater and
Petite Messe Solemnelle, as well as interpreting the part of La Monaca di
Monza in Ponchielli's rarely-performed opera I Promessi Sposi.
She has performed the leading mezzo-soprano
roles in Nabucco, Aida, Un Ballo in Maschera, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Il Trovatore, among others. In
Milan, Caterina Secchi performed in numerous gala and solo concerts and appeared
on Italian television (Lirica in Salotto) and radio (Radio
Meneghina).
In the United States, Caterina Secchi has
performed with Palm Beach Opera, Fort Lauderdale Opera (Azucena in Il
Trovatore) and in numerous orchestral works (Berlioz's Cleopatre and
De Falla's El AmorBrujo with the San Fernando Valley Symphony
Orchestra) as well as such oratorio works as Verdi's Requiem, and the
Magnificat of both Bach and Vivaldi.
In April of 1999, Caterina Secchi sang two
concerts at the Bay of Islands Arts Festival in New Zealand. The concerts
included Italian and French song, Italian, French and Russian dramatic
mezzo-soprano arias, and Mussorsky's Songs and Dances of
Death. She has sung recitals and been featured in gala concerts
with the Wagner Society of America (Chicago, 2004) as well as with the American
Association of Verdi Studies Gala at
Carnegie Recital Hall.
Tara Werner of the New Zealand
Herald (6 April, 1999) wrote: "... Secchi is a dramatic mezzo with a big
sound that could fill any venue ... She is most at home with large roles such as
the gypsy Azucena in IlTrovatore and Dalila in Samson et
Dalila, and she sang their arias with practised ease. And she
was truly in her element with composers such as Mussorgsky, singing a powerful
interpretation of the Songs and Dances of Death."
