Sonia Prina is one of the most famous singers of her generation. She studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatorio di musica in Milan (vocals and trumpet faculties). In 1996 she was admitted to the Academy of Young Singers of the Teatro alla Scala, while in 1997 she began to appear in performances (generally baroque repertoire).
Thanks to her unique voice the singer quickly won international acclaim at the world’s top opera houses. Sonia Prina has received the prestigious Premio Franco Abbiati della critica musicale (2006) and the Tiberini d’oro prize (2014), with which she was commemorated as best singer of the year. Her performances and recordings have also brought her numerous prizes and awards.
Engagements in recent years include title roles in Handel’s opera Rinaldo (Glyndebourne Festival and La Scala), Orlando at the Sydney Opera House and Tamerlano at the Munich Staatsoper as well as Mozart’s opera Ascanio in Alba at the Salzburg Festival. She has also performed the role of Clarice in Rossini’s opera La pietra del paragone at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
Handel’s music has always held a special place in Prina’s repertoire. She has performed lead roles in the operas Julius Caesar (Lille, Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena; conductor – Ottavio Dantone) and Orlando (Paris’ Théâtre des Champs Élysées; conductor – Emmanuelle Haïm, stage director – David MacVicar, and the Opéra Bastille; conductor – Emmanuelle Haïm), Silla at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome (conductor – Fabio Biondi), Rinaldo at the Zurich Opera and the roles of Amastra in the opera Xerxes (San Francisco), Bradamante in Alcina (Opéra Garnier; conductor – Jean-Christophe Spinosi, production by Robert Carsen), Polinesso in Ariodante in Barcelona (conductor – Harry Bicket) and San Francisco (conductor – Patrick Summers, production by John Copley), Bertarido in Rodelinda at London’s Barbican Centre and Vienna’s Konzerthaus (conductor – Alan Curtis), Dardan in Amadis de Gaula at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (conductor – Rinaldo Alessandrini) and Goffredo in the opera Rinaldo at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.
Sonia Prina made her Italian operatic debut at the age of twenty-three, performing the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia under Riccardo Chailly (with Juan Diego Flórez as Almaviva). Recent engagements in Italy include the roles of Smeton in the opera Anna Bolena at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (with Edita Gruberová and Elīna Garanča), Isabella in the opera L’italiana in Algeri at the Teatro Regio in Turin and Clarice in the opera La pietra del paragone at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris under conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi (production by Pierrick Sorin and Barberio Corsetti).
She has also appeared in numerous operas by Monteverdi, in particular the roles of Ottone in the opera L’incoronazione di Poppea under Rinaldo Alessandrini, Penelope in the opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria under Ottavio Dantone and the Female Messenger and La Speranza in L’Orfeo under the baton of William Christie at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
Under Jordi Savall she sang in Vivaldi’s opera Farnace in Madrid (production by Emilio Sagi) and the opera La Senna Festeggiante in Bordeaux.
The singer performs recitals in Europe, South America and Japan. Her concerts are accompanied by acclaimed baroque orchestras including the Accademia Bizantina, Il Giardino Armonico, Le Concert d’Astrée, the Basel Chamber Orchestra and the Ensemble Matheus among others.
The singer’s discography includes recordings of Handel’s oratorios The Triumph of Time and Truth and La resurrezione under Emmanuelle Haïm (Virgin), Vivaldi’s L’olimpiade under Rinaldo Alessandrini (Naïve), Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Handel’s Lotario (BMG) and Handel’s Rodelinda under Alan Curtis (Deutsche Grammophon) as well as DVDs of the operas Ascanio in Alba (Deutsche Grammophon) and La pietra del paragone (Naïve).
Recently released recordings include Handel’s Rinaldo (title role, DVD, Opus Arte), Gluck’s Ezio (Virgin) and Vivaldi’s Ottone in villa (title role) with the orchestra Giardino Armonico (Naïve Vivaldi Edition). She has also recorded a solo disc of music by Vivaldi entitled Arie ritrovate with the orchestra Accademia Bizantina (Naïve) and featured in a recording of a disc after motifs of Handel’s opera Lucrezia (Ludi Musici).
The singer’s recent and future engagements include the lead roles in Gluck’s opera Ezio at the Frankfurt Opera, the opera Aci, Galatea e Polifemo under René Jacobs in Brussels, title roles in Handel’s operas Julius Caesar and Orlando at the Semperoper in Dresden, the role of Polinesso in the opera Ariodante at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and Handel’s oratorio La resurrezione accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Emmanuelle Haïm. In 2017 Sonia Prina will be a regular guest soloist at London’s Wigmore Hall.