Monica Benvenuti

Biography

Born in Florence, and a graduate of humanistic studies and philosophy.

From 1993, the year of her debut as the protagonist in L’incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa and at the Teatro Sociale di Mantova, and in Zanetto by Mascagni at the Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago, she has performed (always as the lead roles) operas by: Monteverdi, Peri, Emilio de' Cavalieri, Purcell, Blow, Rossi, Haendel, Pergolesi, Cimarosa, Mozart, Salieri, Spontini, Humperdinck, Wolf-Ferrari.

Frequent incursions in chamber and symphonic repertoires, with works by Mozart, Rossini, Beethoven, Wagner, Mahler, Messiaen, Dallapiccola.

Subsequently, she has developed a specific interest in music from the 19^th century as well as contemporary which has brought her to explore the potential of the human voice in relation to various musical languages and also to electronic experimentations. Laborynthus II and Cries of London by Luciano Berio mark the beginning of her collaboration with the Centro Tempo Reale of Florence, and particularly with the composer Kilian Schwoon, of which she performed Le Poumon Oxigéne on different occasions – among them a live broadcast from EURORADIO and a concert at the Hochschüle in Stuttgart.

She has sung, often in the opening premieres, music from: Roberto de Simone, Bruno de Franceschi, Gian Carlo Menotti, Paolo Furlani, Pier Luigi Zangelmi, Steve Reich, Luigi Nono, Riccardo Luciani, Andrea Nicoli, Sylvano Bussotti, Hidehiko Hinohara, Giacomo Manzoni, Ivan Vandor, Gianpaolo Testoni, Roberto Lupi, Bruno Bettinelli, Luciano Berio, Toru Takemitsu, Roman Vlad, Dario Maggi, James Newton.

For the past few years, after extensive experience as a singer-actress – including a performance of theater-music arranged by Milena Vukotič based on the opera, Lo Sguardo di Antigone, by Sofocle, she has dedicated herself to a repertoire of theater music which includes operas such as, La voix humaine by Poulenc, Mahagonny Songspiel by Weill, La tragèdie de Carmen by Bizet, along with works specifically composed for her.

In 2007, she played the role of the protagonist in the first production of Beards. This opera, by the Belgian playwright, Stefano Oertli, was an original revisit in of the Barbablù fable and performed, most notably, at the Theater de la Place in Liegi, at the Bozar in Brussels and at the Rennes Festival.

In 2000, she was among the founders of the association, Elastiko – Spazio Sonoro Contemporaneo, with whom she performed various concerts and was invited to Tokyo (Suntory Hall) and in Colonia to perform music which was expressly designated for her. In addition, she sang in France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Brazil.

She collaborated with the Nuovo Contrappunto ensemble directed by Mario Ancillotti, many times with whom she performed the opera “Pierrot Lunaire” by A. Schönberg; and in 2004 performed the first production of Alla Terra by Giacomo Manzoni in Ancona.

In 2004 was invited by Sylvano Bussotti to star as the protagonist, Justine/Juliette in the production of “Passion selon Sade” at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid under the direction of Arturo Tamayo. In 2005, she resumed her collaboration with Bussotti in Berna, performing together with him, in a unique version of “Passion”, entitled Pianobar pour Sade.

In 2007 she performed Bussotti’s work again in the opera Silvano-Sylvano, at the Accademia di S. Cecilia, in a role specifically considered for her. Subsequently, she played the protagonist in the live musical performance for the Rara film by Bussotti, restored as of late and will soon be released on DVD.

She was a guest of the 67° Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the production of Il Volo di Notte by Luigi Dallapiccola conducted by Bruno Bartoletti and directed by Daniele Abbado (Awarded the “Franco Abbiati” prize for Performance of the Year).

In 2006 she debuted as an actress in the monologue Non io by Beckett, which was within a Trittico beckettiano directed by Giancarlo Cauteruccio -awarded by the Italian Theater Critics as the Best Innovative Performance of 2006 – gaining wide acclaim by the public and critics alike, also during the following tournée, which is still in progress.

Also in 2006 she participated in Mantova’s Festival della Letteratura, in the performance of the opera, Il canto delle Sirene, more precisely whose music was written by James Joyce, with Luca Scarlini and Massimiliano Damerini, which after the preview, at the Teatro Bibiena, met with a wonderful series of responses.

She was a guest at the Opera di Roma in 2007 for the ballet, Georg Trakl e la sorella Grete, rivelazione e declino, directed by Beppe Menegatti, as a singer and actress, by the side of Roberto Herlitzka.

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