Gaia Petrone

She graduated from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, then furthered her studies in Baroque music at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Winner of the VII International Competition of Ancient Music “F. Provenzale” in Naples and the XII International Opera Competition “V. Gentile,” her professional career began while she was still a student with her debut as Apollonia in Haydn's La Canterina at the Festival dell'Intermezzo e dell'Opera buffa, Dorina in La finta cameriera by Latilla at the Secondo Festivalatilla, and Lisetta in Haydn's Il mondo della luna at the Teatro Bonci in Cesena. She also played Tancredi in the serenade Erminia, Tancredi, Polidoro, and Pastore by Scarlatti with the Ensemble Concerto de' Cavalieri at the Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de' Turchini in Naples, and the roles of Pittura and Alinda in the modern world premiere of Il novello Giasone by Stradella/Cavalli at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in 2011. In concert, she has sung Vivaldi's Gloria with the Gruppo d'Archi Veneto and with the Wiener Kammersymphonie at the Musikverein in Vienna, Bach's Mass in B minor conducted by Marco Berrini, and Schutz's Musikalische Exequien conducted by Peter Neumann. She has also appeared in concert at the Teatro Sociale in Rovigo and the Teatro Comunale in Vicenza with the Filarmonica Regionale Veneta, conducted by Stefano Romani.

© Maria Giovina Russo

Her discography includes live recordings of Haydn's Il mondo della luna and Cavalli/Stradella's Il novello Giasone, recorded for Bongiovanni, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Massimo Zanetti for Decca, S. Landi's La morte d'Orfeo conducted by C. Rousset for Naxos, Margherita d'Anjou (Isaura) conducted by Fabio Luisi, and Donizetti's Le nozze in villa conducted by S. Montanari for Dynamic. In 2015, she made her UK debut in Handel's Messiah with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann. In 2012, she joined the Junges Ensemble of the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, performing roles such as Clarina in Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio, Medoro in Handel's Orlando, Sibari in Händel/Vinci's Semiramide riconosciuta under the direction of Alan Curtis, and Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. In 2013, she made her highly successful debut in the role of Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola. This was followed by her US debut as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Palm Beach Opera and as Pisana in I Due Foscari at the Theater an der Wien with Placido Domingo and conducted by James Conlon.
This was followed by her debuts as Ippolita in Cavalli's Elena at the Aix-en-Provence Festival under the baton of Leonardo Garcia Alarcòn, Angelina in Cenerentola at the Gothenburg Opera, and Ursule in Berlioz's Beatrice et Bénédict in Toulouse. In the 2015-16 season, she returned to the Theater an der Wien as Damigella in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea under the direction of J.C. Spinosi and Emilia in Rossini's Otello. In the 2016-2017 season, she returned to sing Emilia in Rossini's Otello for the season opening of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, conducted by Gabriele Ferro and directed by Amos Gitai. Then for the 280th anniversary of the Teatro San Carlo, she sang the role of Megacle in Leonardo Leo's Olimpiade, and subsequently Cleone in Ermione and Zaida in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia, conducted by M. Montanaro. Other engagements include the role of Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Smålands Music and Teater in Jönkoping, Sweden, Abra in Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans on tour at the TAW in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Opéra royale de Versailles with The King's Consort, Ramise in Händel's Arminio for the 40th Händel Festspiele in Karlsruhe, Proserpina and Ninfa in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo for the Monteverdi Festival at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona with Ottavio Dantone and Accademia Bizantina, Isaura in Margherita d'Anjou by G. Meyerbeer at the Martina Franca Festival conducted by Fabio Luisi, Aurora and Fosforo in La morte d'Orfeo by Stefano Landi at the De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyrique, directed by Pierre Audi, Iris in Proserpine by Silvia Colasanti for the Festival dei due mondi in Spoleto 2019, Eduige in Händel's Rodelinda at the National Opera in Santiago, Chile.

She played Sabina, the protagonist of Donizetti's Le nozze in villa, for the 2020 Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo, Licori in Porpora's L'Angelica under the direction of Sardelli, and Abra in Juditha triumphans by A. Vivaldi at the Stuttgart Opera House. She recently returned to the Monteverdi Festival in Cremona in the role of Humana fragilità and Melanto in Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria conducted by O. Dantone and directed by Luigi De Angelis, and to the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca as Arsamene in Cavalli's Il Xerse, conducted by F.M. Sardelli and directed by Leo Muscato. Recent debuts include Orillo in Sartorio's L'Orfeo at the Montpellier Opera House and in the contemporary opera Raffa in the Sky at the Donizetti in Bergamo, conducted by C. Boccadoro and directed by F. Micheli, as well as his debut with the Sentieri Selvaggi ensemble and Maestro Boccadoro in L. Berio's Folk Songs and a tour with Simone Vallerotonda's ensemble I Bassifondi, performing A. Scarlatti's unpublished serenade Già compito il suo giro, which will be followed by the recording of the album.