Dramatic mezzo-soprano 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 di Siviglia. 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, Ms. Secchi performed in numerous gala and solo concerts and appeared on Italian television (Lirica in Salotto) and radio (Radio Meneghina). Frequently performing the leading mezzo soprano roles in Europe, Caterina Secchi performed at the National Theaters of Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.
Caterina Secchi sang two concerts at the Bay of Islands Arts Festival in New Zealand which 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, as well as with the American Association of Verdi Studies Gala at Carnegie Recital Hall.
Tara Werner of the New Zealand Herald 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 Il Trovatore 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.”