‘Anna Bonitatibus’

‘How marvellous opera would be if there were no singers!’, Rossini is supposed to have exclaimed. Knowing the skill and vivacity with which he wrote for the artists of his time this statement sounds like a jest – worthy of the verve the composer showed us in his comic and endearing Péchés de vieillesse (‘Sins of Old Age’). Anita Bonitatibus knows this well, as she has devoted much of her time to research into and reassessment of rare or unknown works by Mozart and Rossini, whose famous roles she has sung the length and breadth of Europe. After her debut at La Monnaie in Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Haendel), she portrayed Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart) in 2013. This season, the mezzo-soprano is back on our stage again to share with us some vocal jewels by her beloved Rossini, before taking up the role of Cecilio in Lucio Silla.