Maria Ferrante
Soprano
Soprano
"Maria Ferrante broke my heart Sunday night. Or, through her, Puccini's Madama Butterfly did," wrote Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe in January, 2003. Her "combination of delicacy and intensity. . . brought tears to my eyes. . . In her honesty, imagination, and investment, she was infinitely superior to the last Butterfly I saw at the Met." The petite soprano's operatic roles range from the great stage heroines (Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Pamina in Mozart's Magic Flute, Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, Liù in Puccini's Turandot, Rosalinda in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, and Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème) to serving girls (Despina in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, Barbarina in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Serpina in Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona, and in Englebert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel: Gretel, who not only serves, but is served.) "A true singing actress," Dyer enthused, "her eyes and hands and body know how to sing, and with her voice she can act." Performing in the trousers role of Oscar in Verdi's A Masked Ball for Berks Grand Opera, she was acclaimed as "perfect, I doubt if any company anywhere could find one better suited to sing this crucial role."
Recent performances have included her appearance in New York with the Ensemble for the Romantic Century in a program of Spanish compositions accompanied by the guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery; Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 at New York's Symphony Space ("sung with sweetness and oxygenated clarity by Maria Ferrante"); as well as performances with the Charleston and Delaware Symphony Orchestras, as featured soloist for BankBoston Showcase Series, The Newton Symphony (MA), The Newtown Chamber Orchestra (CT), Harvard's Landmark Concerts, the Harvard Musical Association, Orpheus Choir of Hexam (England), The National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), Kosciusko Foundation(NYC), the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, the Bay Chamber Ensemble, the Boston Chamber Ensemble, and the Great Music Series (Provincetown). An acclaimed regular soloist with the Mohawk Concert Series, she will be appearing for them with the great violinist Arnold Steinhardt in New York City in May, 2003.
Ms. Ferrante's most recently released CD, Sea Tides and Time received a rave review from the Boston Herald,"[Ms. Ferrante] known for her lilting soprano voice and probing mind... brings a supple and colorful approach to a broad variety of repertoire." The Boston Globe said: "Superb."
Recent performances have included her appearance in New York with the Ensemble for the Romantic Century in a program of Spanish compositions accompanied by the guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery; Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 at New York's Symphony Space ("sung with sweetness and oxygenated clarity by Maria Ferrante"); as well as performances with the Charleston and Delaware Symphony Orchestras, as featured soloist for BankBoston Showcase Series, The Newton Symphony (MA), The Newtown Chamber Orchestra (CT), Harvard's Landmark Concerts, the Harvard Musical Association, Orpheus Choir of Hexam (England), The National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), Kosciusko Foundation(NYC), the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, the Bay Chamber Ensemble, the Boston Chamber Ensemble, and the Great Music Series (Provincetown). An acclaimed regular soloist with the Mohawk Concert Series, she will be appearing for them with the great violinist Arnold Steinhardt in New York City in May, 2003.
Ms. Ferrante's most recently released CD, Sea Tides and Time received a rave review from the Boston Herald,"[Ms. Ferrante] known for her lilting soprano voice and probing mind... brings a supple and colorful approach to a broad variety of repertoire." The Boston Globe said: "Superb."
