Spain & Portugal
Anna Bonitatibus, a native of Basilicata (Italy), made her debut at La Scala Milan in 1999 in Don Giovanni under the baton of Riccardo Muti. Since then, her interpretations have included over fifty operatic titles, covering early baroque to bel canto repertoire and collaborating with all the major conductors and directors such as Ivor Bolton, Sir Antonio Pappano, René Jacobs, William Christie, Myung Whung Chung, Franz Welser-Möst, Roberto Abbado, Alain Altinoglu, Marc Minkowski and Teodor Currentzis.
From her first recording, Vivaldi’s La Griselda made in 1992, Anna Bonitatibus distinguished herself through the operas of the baroque period, Neapolitan opera buffa and French repertoire. Thanks to her performances of familiar works by Mozart, Handel and Rossini, she has performed on all Europe’s leading stages and in concert halls worldwide. Her en travesti roles, or “trousers roles”, deserve a special mention and as the embodiment of Cherubino, she has become one of the most acclaimed performers of Mozart.
Among her many award-winning recordings, Anna Bonitatibus received the International Opera Award in 2015 for her disc Semiramide, la Signora regale – a variety of musical gems discovered by herself. In 2016, Bonitatibus took a selection of songs from this album on tour with Prague baroque orchestra Collegium 1704, performing in concert halls in Baden-Baden, Essen and at Wigmore Hall in London, where she returned in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 for Italian song recitals. Her last CD with the Munich Rundfunkorchester, en travesti, which features so-called “trousers roles”, also received great critical acclaim.
Highlights of the past seasons include her debut at the Opéra National de Bordeaux as Dulcinée in Massenet’s Don Quichotte under the baton of Marc Minkowski, Cherubino/Le nozze di Figaro at Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Cecilio/Lucio Silla at Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels, Il Destino/La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper Munich and Teatro Real de Madrid, Sesto/La Clemenza di Tito in Warsaw and at Opéra Royal de Wallonie Liège, Agrippina, Ottavia/L’incoronazione di Poppea and her role debut as Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at The Grange Festival, Handel’s Ottone in Moscow, Giunone/Ercole amante at Opéra Comique Paris, as well as the title role of Donizetti’s Enrico di Borgogna in Bergamo, Carmen in Madrid, and Riccardo Broschi’s Merope at the Innsbrucker Festwochen.
Most recently, she sang the role of Licida in Pergolesi’s L’Olimpiade at Zürich Opera, Idamante/Idomeneo at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Ruggiero/Alcina in concert with Les Musiciens du Louvre and Marc Minkowski, and embodied the title roles in Agrippina (Bavarian State Opera and Hamburg State Opera) and Serse (Halle Händel Festival) with great success.
In the concert field, she was a guest at London’s Wigmore Hall, in Cleveland, Boston, Helsinki, Bologna, Pesaro, Parma, Barcelona, Potsdam, and Linz, as well as at the Aids Opera Gala in Bonn, the Al Bustan Festival in Beirut and the Händel Festivals in Karlsruhe and Halle.
Engagements in the 2024/25 season include her return to the Zürich Opera as Agrippina in a new production and to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence for a new production of Cavalli’s La Calisto/Giunone/L’Eternità. In addition, she can be heard in Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in Bordeaux and will return to London’s Wigmore Hall and the Halle Händel Festival for recitals.
Anna Bonitatibus is the recipient of the 2023 Händel Prize of the city of Halle, honouring her longstanding interpretations of Händel’s music, as well as her passionate dedication leading to performances also of lesser-known works.
