Raffaele Feo and Giuseppina Perna: New talents for the opera “Il Colombo”

Following the success of the eleventh edition of the Principe Francesco Maria Ruspoli International Competition, the Centro Studi e Ricerche Santa Giacinta Marescotti is pleased to present the talented winners of the Baroque Singing section. Let’s discover the career paths and achievements of tenor Raffaele Feo and soprano Giuseppina Perna, the artists chosen to perform the main roles in the first modern performance of the opera “Il Colombo” by Bernardo Pasquini.

Raffaele Feo

Born in Imperia, Raffaele Feo showed a particular predisposition to music from an early age. At the age of 11, Maestro Gianfranco Brizio and his wife, soprano Josella Ligi, invited him to begin studying opera singing after noticing his natural aptitude.

Studies and training:

He began his singing studies with mezzo-soprano Paola Pittaluga; in 2013, he participated in the “Santa Cecilia Opera Studio,” having the opportunity to study and be praised by soprano Renata Scotto.

In 2015, he obtained his First Level Academic Diploma with top marks under the guidance of mezzo-soprano Gloria Scalchi, at the “Nicolò Paganini” Conservatory in Genoa.

In May 2016, he attended the Academy of High Specialization of the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, while in 2017 he entered the Rodolfo Celletti Academy in Martina Franca, where he studied with masters such as Antonio Lemmo, Sherman Lowe, Chris Merrit, Stefania Bonfadelli, Domenico Colaianni, Carmen Santoro, Luca Gorla, and Antonio Greco.

In February 2019, selected through an audition with maestro Leone Magiera, he had the opportunity to enter the academy for “High Operatic Specialization and Career Launch” at the “L. Pavarotti” theater in Modena.

In recent years, Raffaele has had the opportunity to be heard and advised by renowned singers and teachers, such as Mariella Devia, Leone Magiera, Nicola Martinucci, Michele Pertusi, and Roberto Scandiuzzi.

Given his strong musicality, he is currently also deepening his Baroque repertoire with contralto Sonia Prina, while he relies on the guidance of tenor Ercole D’Aleo to perfect his technical aspects.

Work experience:

In 2011, he debuted at the Teatro dell’opera Giocosa in Savona in Il Signor Bruschino by Rossini (La Malfa/Courir). From 2012 to 2015, he participated in various minor opera festivals in Liguria, Piedmont, and Tuscany, where he had the opportunity to debut in numerous secondary roles, collaborating with various conductors and directors (Romani, Zambelli, Galli, Beltrami, Giaroli, Bonajuto, Paloscia).

In 2015, he was Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata during the summer season of the opera Giocosa in Savona (Sisillo, Monti), alongside soprano Saioha Hernandez, among others.

In 2016, also in Savona, he participated in the productions of Verdi’s Rigoletto (Romani, Bertolani) and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (Rolli, Brokehaus/Escobar).

In the autumn of the same year, he was chosen for the Opera-Workshop project of baritone Leo Nucci for the production of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (Renzetti, Nucci) with repeat performances in Ferrara and Ravenna.

In 2017, he sang for the Valle d’Itria Festival in Martina Franca in the project dedicated to Monteverdi entitled Altri Canti d’Amor (Greco, Eco di Fondo) and in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (NAGELE, Garattini), as well as in various concerts dedicated to the operatic figure of Orlando.

In the same year, he debuted the role of Oebalus in Mozart’s youth opera, Apollo et Hyacinthus, in Forlì (Raspanti).

In April 2018, he sang again at the Teatro Municipale of Piacenza in Verdi’s Il Corsaro, with repeat performances in Modena (Beltrami, Pugelli/Pulvirenti), and in May of the same year, he sang in the Modena Cathedral in Bach’s Magnificat (Bononcini).

In December 2018, he was again Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata in Piacenza, with repeat performances in Rimini for the reopening of the A. Galli theater (Morandi, Nucci).

In February 2019, he was called for a sudden replacement in Busoni’s Rondò Arlecchinesco, performing at the Venetian theater La Fenice and at the Pollini auditorium in Padua, under the direction of Marco Angius.

In June, he sang in the end-of-course show at the Pavarotti in Modena under the direction of Silvia Spinnato and the stage direction of Enrico Stinchelli.

In July, he had the good fortune to perform again in Savona in Madama Butterfly under the direction of Jacopo Brusa and the stage direction of Ms. Renata Scotto, receiving numerous accolades from renowned colleagues and critics for his stage and vocal presence.

He has just debuted the role of Pang in Puccini’s Turandot at the Cilea theater in Reggio Calabria, directed by Manuela Ranno, with stage direction by Renato Bonajuto.

Among his future engagements to note is his participation in the contemporary opera La Notte di Natale by Alberto Cara, with performances in Savona and Modena.

Giuseppina Perna

Giuseppina Perna, born in 1992, is a soprano from Irpinia who graduated with honors in opera singing in 2015 from the “Domenico Cimarosa” Conservatory in Avellino under the guidance of maestro Enrico Turco.

From 2007 to 2015, she played in the conservatory orchestra and collaborated with the youth orchestra of the Carlo Gesualdo theater as a violist (in 2013, they performed at the American embassy and executed “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake” at the aforementioned theater).

Since 2005, she has been a member of several vocal groups, which perform in a sixteenth-century madrigal repertoire, managing to place in the 2013 International Competition in Arezzo and to perform at Winchester Cathedral in England.

In early 2019, she obtained a Master’s degree in Specialization in Practice and Performance of early repertoire under the guidance of M° Antonio Florio at the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatory, graduating with honors and special mention, performing on several occasions with the Scarlatti Association of Naples.

Her repertoire includes collaborations not only in the opera field but also in projects ranging from early music (in March 2014 she performed an unpublished manuscript by Niccolo’ Porpora at Palazzo Zevallos in Naples and Monteverdi’s “Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda”) to contemporary music (“El Retablo de Maese Pedro” by De Falla and “Concerto per la notte di Natale” by Luigi Dallapiccola at the Teatro Eur in Rome in 2015).

Also in 2015, she performed Mahler’s Fourth Symphony conducted by the American conductor Phil Nuzzo, and in 2016, she performed in concert with the Filarmonica di Benevento Orchestra, directed by M° Ciampa.

In 2017, she debuted at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in the Zilberkant/Laca Concert.

In 2018, she was Cleonte in Albinoni’s opera Zenobia regina de’ Palmireni, performing at the Malibran theater of La Fenice and the Mario del Monaco theater in Treviso.

Recently, she was the protagonist of the show “Shakespeare in Venice” at the La Fenice theater and performed as a solo soprano in Austria in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Magnificat, directed by M° Gianluca Capuano.