Rodion Pogossov

Rodion Pogossov was born in Russia and established himself after joining the Lindemann Young Artist Programme at the Metropolitan Opera.

Conductors he works with include James Levine, Jean-Christoph Spinosa, Enrique Mazzola, Kent Nagano and James Conlon, appearing regularly at world-class houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Michigan Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

His operatic roles include Guglielmo Così fan tutte, Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Silvio Pagliacci, Marcello La Bohème and the title role in Don Giovanni. Also an excellent recitalist, he frequently performs works including Orff’s Carmina Burana, Faure and Brahms Requiem and Rachmaninov’s The Bells, to name a few.

A recording artist, his discography includes his solo song recital disc for EMI, which received great acclaim and a disc of Rachmaninov songs with pianist Iain Burnside. For Opera Rara Rodion appears on Bellini’s Adelson e Salvini (released February 2017).

Mary Plazas

Following her operatic debut in 1992 with English National Opera in Don Carlos, Mary Plazas spent three years with ENO as a company principal. She has performed with the Royal Opera, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Glyndebourne Touring Company, New Israeli Opera and at the Aldeburgh and Cheltenham festivals. Recitals and concerts have included solo performances in London at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, and the Karajan Centre in Vienna. With Opera Rara, Plazas has recorded Giovanni Pacini’s Maria regina d’Inghilterra.

Sandrine Piau

Renowned in the world of baroque music, French soprano Sandrine Piau performs regularly with such noted conductors as William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman and René Jacobs.

She embraces both lyric and baroque repertoire, performing roles such as Pamina from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Titania from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Servilia from Gluck’s La Clemenza di Tito. Roles include Nanetta from Verdi’s Falstaff at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux and Sophie in Massenet’s Werther at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. She appears regularly in concert, performing at the Salzburg, Covent Garden and Montreux festivals in recent years. A singer of both French and German repertoire, she has collaborated with many renowned recital accompanists, including Jos van Immerseel and Myung-Whun Chung. Her recorded output includes discs of arias by Handel and Mozart. She can also be heard on Opera Rara’s recording of Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon.

Mirco Palazzi

Born in Rimini in 1978, Mirco Palazzi graduated in singing in Pesaro, with Robleto Merolla. He has appeared in Tancredi in Naples, La Sonnambula in Parma, Ravenna and Catania; La Bohèmein Catania, Parma and Monaco; Lucia di Lammermoor in Genova, directed by Graham Vick, in Avignon and in Barcelona; Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Bologna and Genova; Ferrando in Il Trovatore in Naples, Busseto, Stuttgart, Thessaloniki and in Japan; Semiramide in Turin and Rome, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Florence, Spoleto Ancona, Naples as well as in Leipzig and Londn under Chailly; Rossini’s Otello, Zelmira, Stabat Mater, Petite Messe Solennelle in Pesaro; Rossini’s Stabat Mater conducted by Riccardo Chailly at La Scala in Milan. Among his future engagements are Guillaume Tell and Caterina Cornaro at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Don Giovanni (Masetto) at La Scala under Louis Langrée and in Dallas (Leporello), Mozart’s Requiem at La Fenice in Venice, Haydn’s Paukenmesse in Naples, Maria Stuarda in Palermo, Il Diluvio universale in St. Gallen, Demetrio e Polibio (Polibio) at the Rossini Opera Festival, Il Trovatore in Koln, Lucia di Lammermoor in Palermo and at the Washington National Opera, Linda di Chamounix at the Liceu in Barcelona. For Opera Rara he has recorded Rossini’s Zelmira and Adelaide di Borgogna (live from the Edinburgh International Festival), Donizetti’s Pia de’ Tolomei and Il diluvio universale, highlights of Meyerbeer’s L’esule di Granata.

Alan Opie

Alan Opie was born in Cornwall and studied at the London Opera Centre (then Sadler’s Wells), where he was appointed principal baritone while still a student. He combined his work with ENO with performances for other major UK companies, and his international career has encompassed Bayreuth, Chicago, Santa Fe, Paris, Vienna, Brussels and Berlin. Opie appears regularly at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. He has received two Grammy Awards – for Britten’s Peter Grimes and for the role of Beckmesser in the Chicago Symphony performance of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg. You can hear Alan Opie on Opera Rara’s recording of Robinson Crusoe and on Paventa Insano – Pacini and Mercadante Arias and Ensembles.

Paul Nilon

Handel and Mozart feature predominantly in Paul Nilon’s repertoire. Among work with opera companies through the UK and abroad he has sung Tamino for English National Opera and Scottish Opera, and Lurcanio in David Alden’s production of Ariodante at ENO. He also enjoys an active concert career, including Gounod’s St Cecilia Mass in Madrid and the Bach B minor Mass at the Royal Festival Hall with the LPO. He can be heard on Opera Rara recordings including Donizetti’s L’Assedio di Calais, and Medea in Corinto, Mercadante’s Orazie e Curiazi, Rossini’s Riccardo e Zoraide and Ermione and the anthology A Hundred Years Of Italian Opera.

Robert Murray

Robert Murray studied at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio. He won second prize in the Kathleen Ferrier awards 2003 and was a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Operatic roles at the Royal Opera House include Tamino (‘Die Zauberflote’), Lysander (‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’), Agenore (‘Il re Pastore’), Belfiore (‘La Finta Giardiniera’), Jacquino (‘Fidelio’) and Don Ottavio (‘Don Giovanni’). Other roles include the title role in ‘Albert Herring’ for Glyndebourne On Tour; Nanki-Poo, Tamino, Don Ottavio and Idamante for English National Opera and Tom Rakewell (‘The Rake’s Progress’) for Garsington Opera. Concert work includes Haydn’s Nelson Mass with Sir John Eliot Gardiner for the BBC Proms; Handel’s ‘Solomon’ with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg; Mozart’s C Minor Mass both with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras, and with Le Concert D’Astrée; Britten’s War Requiem with Simone Young and Britten’s ‘Our Hunting Fathers’ with Thomas Adès at the Aldeburgh Festival; Strauss’s ‘Elektra’ with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Edward Gardner, Schumann’s ‘Manfred’ with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov at the Edinburgh Festival and ‘Tristan und Isolde’ with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev. Fantasio is Robert’s first recording with Opera Rara.

Diana Montague

Diana Montague was born in Winchester and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. Since her debut as Zerlina with Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1977, she has appeared at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls, including Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Bastille and Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires. Her festival appearances include Bayreuth, Salzburg and Edinburgh. Her repertoire includes the major roles for mezzo-soprano in operas by Mozart, Gluck, Strauss, Rossini, Bellini and Berlioz. For Opera Rara, Diana has recorded Donizetti’s Zoraida di Granata and Rosmonda d’Inghilterra and Meyerbeer’s Il Crociato in Egitto. Her versatility can also be experienced on the Opera Rara recital disc Diana Montague – Bella Immagin.

Nelly Miricioiu

The Romanian-born soprano has a remarkably wide repertoire. She made her Covent Garden debut as Nedda in Pagliacci opposite John Vickers in 1982. In 1983 came her La Scala debut in Lucia di Lammermoor and in 1986 she sang Tosca in Frankfurt with José Carreras, also her partner in her début as Violetta in Oviedo. Miricioiu is highly acclaimed in the roles of the great bel canto heroines. She has made several recordings with Opera Rara: Maria de Rudenz, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, Donizetti – Scenes and Overtures, Orazi e Curiazi, Maria Regina d’Inghilterra, Ricciardo e Zoraide and Nelly Miricioiu – Rossini Gala.