Maria José Siri has been recognized as one of the most important sopranos of the international operatic panorama. With a repertoire spanning from Belcanto to Verismo, she distinguished herself as an acclaimed interpreter of the most famous heroines of Verdi and Puccini.
"Capable of a total abandon" with "brilliant high notes" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) combined with a "steel voice with lyricism and pathos" (The Financial Times) she is considered "a point of reference artist, not just for her lush voice quality but also for her tone production that reminds of the full and round sound of Tebaldi” (Opera Áctual).
Uruguayan born of Italian origin, she began studying music at a very young age, then went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire and later on with Ileana Cotrubaș.
She made her European debut in 2008 as Leonora in Il Trovatore at the Teatro "Carlo Felice" in Genoa and as Aida at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan afterwards (2009).
Maria's career rapidly took off since then, especially in 2016, when she opened La Scala's season as Madama Butterfly (Decca), in its original version. She has shot to stardom in 2017, when she won the prestigious International Opera Award "Oscar della Lirica".
She performed the role of Aida once again at La Scala (2015), followed by the new productions of Francesca da Rimini (2018) and Manon Lescaut (2019). Moreover, she has been the first soprano to have performed the complete Messa per Rossini (2017, Decca) in Italy.
Her collaboration with the most important Italian theatres is intense and she has established an abiding connection with the major theatres in the world.
With a triumphant return on a recent tour in Colombia, San Salvador and Venezuela, she took part in several gala evenings alongside Plácido Domingo, including a Zarzuela concert at the famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
A significant collaboration with the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, has brought her to perform in many productions as well as in several DVDs in the roles of Adriana Lecouvreur (Naxos), Suor Angelica/Giorgetta (Dynamic), Abigaille (Maggio Live), Lucrezia Contarini (Dynamic) and Elvira (Dynamic).
In the Arenian temple of music, where the internationally renowned Summer Festival takes place, Madame Siri took part in numerous gala evenings and performed various roles such as: Donna Elvira (2015, DVD/Blu-ray CMajor), Nedda/Santuzza and Lady Macbeth.
More recently, she sung Abigaille, Madama Butterfly and of course her beloved Aida, which she brought to the stage more than 170 times in Europe, Asia, South America and even in front of the Pyramids of Giza.
Amongst the most beloved roles of her, it is worth recalling Odabella, the warrior, a role that she debuted at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2016, DVD Cmajor), at the Teatro Regio di Parma (2018) and that, last year, she debuted at the world-renowned Royal Opera House in London as well.
A further recent important debut saw her solidly alongside the great Plácido Domingo at the prestigious Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Recent performances include Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Abigaille, performed both at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste and at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville in her recent house debut which obtained an enormous success from public and critics, as well as her rendering of Aida, performed at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival this summer.
A big triumph was her rendering of Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo which saw her as the protagonist in the opening production of last season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
She was able “to weave an immaculate singing line” (Il Trillo Parlante) managing “to give us a moving and amazingly sung fourth act with floating piani and high notes” (Rauchenwald-classic.com).
March 2025
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