Fedora Barbieri - Born in Trieste, Fedora Barbieri began her singing studies at a very young age under the guidance of Luigi Toffolo. After only six months of studies she presented herself for the competition held by the Centre for Lyrical Training at the Municipal Theatre of Florence run by Mario Labroca; here she immediately won a scholarship and completed her vocal and theatrical preparation under the guidance of Giulia Tess. On the 4th November 1940 she confronted the stage of the Florence Municipal Theatre for the first time, interpreting, with great success with the public and the critics, the role of Fidalma in the Secret Marriage. The following evening, again at the Municipal Theatre, she was Azucena in the Trovatore, stepping in for Gianna Pederzini who was unexpectedly indisposed. It was a double triumph for Fedora Barbieri and opened the doors of the most prestigious theatres in Italy and abroad, thus imposing her as the most important mezzosoprano-contralto voice of that particular period of time. Even though she dedicated herself to lesser-known works, Fedora Barbieri, in the first years of her career, did not neglect the titles of the great repertory which made her a celebrity in the years that followed: Azucena, Ulrica, Eboli Amneris, Quickly, Carmen, Dalila, Santuzza, etc. In 1942 she made her début at the Scala with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, under the direction of Victor De Sabata. In 1949 she made her first her appearances in Aida and Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Theatre in New York where she regularly returned every season. In 1950 she opened at Covent Garden in London with the Scala ensembles and returned there in 1957, in a memorable production of Don Carlo directed by Giulini and staged by Visconti, and again in 1964. In addition she has performed in Eastern Europe's major theatres and also those in South America. Fedora Barbieri distinguished herself, together with her extraordinary vocal capacity, by her versatile interpretations and her stage artistry. These qualities have gained her the esteem and admiration of the greatest directors and most famous producers of our time. Among the directors we can mention: Arturo Toscanini, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Victor De Sabata, Antonio Guarnieri, Issay Dobrowen, Fritz Reiner, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Arthur Rodzinski, Leonard Bernstein, Vittorio Gui, Carlo Maria Giulini, Tullio Serafin, Gabriele Santini, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Bruno Bartoletti, Lorin Maazel, James Levine, Georges Pretre, Claudio Abbado, Myung-Whun Chung. Among the producers: Luchino Visconti, Gustav Grundgens, Giorgio Strehler, Tatjana Pavlova, Franco Zeffirelli, Wilhelm Pabst, Virginio Puecher, Sandro Sequi, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Jurij Ljubimov. She also dedicated herself with particular frequency to the twentieth-century and contemporary theatrical repertory turning her attention to musical scores of composers such as Stravinsky, Prokof'ev, Denze, Porrino, Malipiero, Chailly, etc. Her discography is abundant and intense presenting her as protagonist in historical recordings under the direction of Maestros such as Serafin, Votto, Toscanini, Karajan, etc. and alongside singers such as Caniglia, Callas, Tebaldi, Gigli, Di Stefano, Corelli, Del Monaco, Gobbi, Bastianini, Panerai, Neri, Siepi, etc. In November 1990 she celebrated fifty years of her career; for the occasion she was awarded prestigious honours in Florence and in Barcellona and was described as an 'evergreen' artist by the national and international press. Fedora Barbieri has a repertory of over a hundred works to her credit, participation in radio and television transmissions and also in great cinematographic events such as the film opera of Rigoletto (produced by Franco Zeffirelli). In addition she is also invited each year to partake in the judging committees of the most important international singing competitions. She is approached every year by major foreign Academies to give singing lessons. Recently, President Ciampi nominated her "Cavalier of Grand Cross". 
Festival editions: August 2001, August 2002. Madame Barbieri died, after a short illness, in Florence on March 5, 2003. She will be missed by all of us.

Anita Cerquetti - An opera singer born in Montecosaro in 1931, she sang in Italy's major theaters and also throughout the world during a brief but intense artistic career which concluded in 1960 at the age of only 29. A dramatic soprano with a distinct Verdi tone, her repertoire consists of the main female roles of Italian operatic productions. Some of her impetuous and yearning interpretations are memorable, such as Norma in 1958 at the Rome Opera where she was called to substitute Maria Callas who had suddenly interrupted her commitments with that theater. Her voice, described as 'magnificent' by E.Gara, remains unmistakable for its quality of emission, care in phrasing and remarkable agility. A substantial discography of the artist remains, with both studio and live recordings, almost all of which have been recently transferred onto compact disc. She has received numerous and important acknowledgements. At present she lives in Rome where she carries out specialization and teaching activities for young opera singers. Recently, American critics recognized her as being the best Norma in the history of opera, ahead of Rosa Ponselle and Maria Callas. On the 5th and 6th August 1997, Ms.Cerquetti was celebrated in Montecosaro, her birthplace. For the occasion an exhibition of her career was staged in the premises of the Collectors' Centre, together with an operatic concert in her honour performed by her students and with the participation of the tenor Pietro Ballo and the presentation of the book Anita Cerquetti, humility and pride, Azzali ed., by E.Trovato. This publication contains stage images, the repertoire, the discography and an interview with the singer.
Festival edition: July 2001.

Eva Mei
Festival edition: August 2000.

Bruno Praticò, bass-baritone - Born in Aosta, after studying with baritone Giuseppe Valdengo he attended the specialisation courses of Teatro alla Scala and of Rodolfo Celletti.
Under the baton of such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Bruno Campanella, Riccardo Chailly, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Daniele Gatti, Donato Renzetti and Carlo Rizzi, he sang with success in Falstaff (title role), Don Pasquale (title role), L’elisir d’amore (Dulcamara), Les pécheurs de perles (Zurga), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro/Bartolo), La Cenerentola (Don Magnifico) as well as in Fedora, Le convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali, Linda di Chamounix (Marchese di Boisfleury), Un giorno di regno and I quatro rusteghi.
He sang in the world’s major opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Teatro alla Scala, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, the Grand Théâtre de Geneve, the Teatro Reál in Madrid, the Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Teatro Regio di Parma, the Amsterdam Nederlandse Opera, the Opéra de Lausanne and the New National Theatre and Japan Opera Foundation in Tokyo.
Since 1993 Bruno Praticò has been a regular guest at the Rossini Opera Festival. In 1998, in the occasion of his interpretation of the role of Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, he was awarded the «Rossini d’Oro» Prize. In 1999 he returned to Pesaro for Il viaggio a Reims and for a recital and, more recently, for La Cenerentola, La Gazzetta and L’equivoco stravagante. In the next future he will be again on Rossini Opera Festival stage for a new production of Le comte Ory.
In 1998/9 season he performed in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Il turco in Italia in Naples and at the Teatro Regio di Parma and L’italiana in Algeri in Bilbao.
His 1999/2000 season was marked by successful appearances as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola at the Opernhaus in Zurich, at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and at the Opéra of Montecarlo, in Il convitato di pietra at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, in Le comte Ory in Genoa, in Gianni Schicchi in Messina and Bologna.
In the 2000/1 season he performed in Il viaggio a Reims (staged by Luca Ronconi) and Un giorno di regno (conducted by Maurizio Benini and staged by Pizzi) at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Bartolo) at the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam and at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, followed by successful interpretations of the role of Bartolo at the Baltimore Opera Company, at the Arena di Verona, at the Opéra de Montecarlo, at the Opéra National de Paris and at the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, of Don Magnifico at the Opéra National de Paris and at Bayerische Staatsoper, of Geronimo in Il matrimonio segreto at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées de Paris and in Montecarlo, and of the role of Dottor Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore) at the Teatro La Fenice di Venezia. He has also recently debuted at the San Diego Opera in Don Pasquale, at the Festival Mozart in La Coruna singing in the role of Barone di Trombonok in Il viaggio a Reims, and in Oviedo in Il turco in Italia, and has returned to Bologna in Béatrice et Bénédict.
Among his future engagements are Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, at the Teatro Real in Madrid and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, La Cenerentola (Don Magnifico) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, La fille du regiment and L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Il turco in Italia at the Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli and in Las Palmas, La gazzetta at Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona.
His extensive discography includes Il barbiere di Siviglia (Bartolo) for EMI, L’elisir d’amore (Dulcamara) for Erato, Il signor Bruschino and La cambiale di matrimonio for Claves, Lakmè, Don Quichotte and Leoncavallo’s La Bohème for Nuova Era and L’italiana in Algeri for Bongiovanni. Forthcoming releases include Donizetti’s La romanziera e l’uomo nero for Opera Rara and L’italiana in Algeri on the BMG label.
Festival edition: August 2003, June 2004.

Alberto Zedda - Alberto Zedda was born in Milan, where he completed his humanistic and musical studies. In 1957 he won the RAI International Competition for conductors, which allowed him to conduct symphonic music with the most important Italian orchestras (La Scala, Santa Cecilia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rai Orchestras of Rome, Turin, Milan and Naples) and in major foreign theaters (Germany, United States, Israel, France, Spain, Russia, etc.). His activity in opera productions is also vast: (La Scala, San Carlo, La Fenice, Teatro Massimo, London Covent Garden, Mavrinski, Vienna, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, etc.). Musicological activity plays an important role in his career. He has completed critical editions of operas, oratorios and cantatas, especially from the first half of the 19th century. His latest work in this field is "L'incoronazione di Poppea" by Claudio Monteverdi, which he has conducted at La Scala. He has been director of the Italian repertoire at the Neue Deutsche Opera of Berlin and at the New York City Opera; a member of the Editorial Board of the Rossini Foundation of Pesaro; Musical Director of the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca and artistic consultant for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and artistic director of the Carlo Felice Theater in Genova and La Scala in Milan; director of the Rossini Academy of Pesaro and artistic director of Festival of Baroque Musical in Fano. He has recently been nominated artistic director of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. He has taught History of Music at the University of Urbino and applied musicology at the Accademia of Osimo. He has recorded several albums of symphonic music, chamber music and opera.
Festival edition: July 2001, August 2002, July 2003, July 2004.