Domenico Colaianni, bass-baritone
Claudia Urru, soprano
Gregorio Goffredo, piano
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
from “La Cenerentola”: Don Magnifico’s aria “Sia qualunque delle figlie”
(baritone)
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
from “Don Pasquale”: Norina’s aria “Quel guardo il cavaliere”
(soprano)
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
from “L’elisir d’amore”: Dulcamara “Udite, udite”
(baritone)
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
from “Il barbiere di Siviglia”: Rosina’s aria “Una voce poco fa”
(soprano)
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
from “L’elisir d’amore”: Adina/Dulcamara duet “Quanto amore...”
Nino Rota (1911–1979)
from “Il cappello di paglia di Firenze”: Beaupertuis’s aria “È una cosa incredibile”
(baritone)
Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)
from “Gianni Schicchi”: Lauretta’s aria “O mio babbino caro”
(soprano)
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
from “Il barbiere di Siviglia”: Figaro/Rosina duet “Dunque io son…”
(baritone/soprano)
Domenico Colaianni completed his musical studies at the “N. Piccinni” Conservatory of Music in Bari, his hometown, graduating in voice with highest honors under the guidance of A. M. Balboni. In 1989 he won the AS.LI.CO. competition and attended preparatory courses led by Magda Olivero, Graziella Sciutti and Maria Luisa Cioni. He made his debut as Mengotto in Piccinni’s “La Cecchina, ossia la buona figliola” and as Papageno in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”.
He then began a brilliant career that took him to major theatres in Italy and abroad. At Teatro alla Scala he sang Benoît in “La Bohème” and the Sacristan in “Tosca”. At Teatro Regio in Turin he performed roles in “Don Pasquale”, “The Medium”, “Le Nozze di Figaro”, “Candide” and “Die Teufel von Loudon”. At the San Carlo in Naples he distinguished himself in works by Cimarosa, Paisiello and Jommelli, while at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna he took part in world premieres and in the celebrated Rossini farces.
He has collaborated with the Rome Opera in productions including “Prova d’orchestra”, “Tosca”, “Il Tabarro” and “Gianni Schicchi”. At La Fenice in Venice he sang in Petrassi’s double bill, while at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari and Teatro Massimo in Palermo he appeared in productions of “Turandot”, “Capriccio” and “La Fanciulla del West”. He has also been a regular presence at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, where he recorded numerous rare works by Leo, Piccinni, Cimarosa, Donizetti, Paisiello and Rota.
His international career has taken him to the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Tokyo and Osaka, the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg, as well as Australia, Budapest and Prague. He took part in the reopening of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari with “Turandot” as Ping and returned for successful productions including “La muette de Portici” and “Il cappello di paglia di Firenze”.
He has worked under conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Jeffrey Tate, Daniele Gatti and Gustavo Dudamel, and with directors including Franco Zeffirelli, Luca Ronconi, Pier Luigi Pizzi and Mario Martone. He currently holds the Chair of Voice at the “N. Piccinni” Conservatory in Bari.
In 2025 she completed her two-year postgraduate degree at the N. Piccinni Conservatory in Bari with highest honors, distinction and an honorary mention, under the guidance of soprano Maria Grazia Pani. In 2017, at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, she made her debut as Susanna in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” and Rosetta in M. Tutino’s “La Ciociara”. She attended the prestigious “Alberto Zedda” Rossinian Academy in Pesaro, at the end of which she performed the role of Madama Cortese in “Il viaggio a Reims”.
At the Luglio Musicale Trapanese she performed Elisetta in Cimarosa’s “Il matrimonio segreto”. This was followed by her debut as Königin der Nacht in “Die Zauberflöte” at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman, and subsequently at the theatres of Ferrara and Piacenza, and as Giulia in Rossini’s “La scala di seta” at the Belcanto Festival in Wildbad, with a live recording released by Naxos. She has also performed Adina in “L’elisir d’amore” at the Teatro dell’Opera Giocosa in Savona and in Taranto, and Musetta at the Teatro Zandonai in Rovereto.
In 2024 she performed Gilda in “Rigoletto” at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari and Princess Badr-al-Budur in Nino Rota’s “Aladino e la lampada magica” at the Festival della Valle d’Itria. She has performed Violetta Valery in “La traviata” and Micaela in “Carmen” at the Greek Theatre of Taormina. She has also made her debut in several contemporary operas, including the role of Cinderella in C. Carrara’s opera of the same name, the Princess in N. Scardicchio’s “Il gatto con gli stivali”, Isabella of Aragon in A. di Pofi’s “Le nozze di Leonardo” at Teatro Lirico Verdi in Trieste, and Anne Frank in G. Frid’s work at Teatro Regio in Turin.
She has an extensive concert career, performing works including “Carmina Burana”, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Fauré’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the Requiems by Mozart and Verdi. She has collaborated with conductors including D. Renzetti, S. Montanari, D. Fasolis and R. Palumbo, and directors including L. Muscato, J. Miller, F. Zambello, D. Livermore and J. Turturro.
In 2022 she won the role of Violetta Valery at the Gino Marinuzzi Opera Competition. She won First Prize at the “Valerio Gentile” Opera Singing Competition and, in 2024, took first place at both the Traetta Competition and the Città di Brescia Competition – Tribute to Maria Callas.
He studied piano, composition and conducting in Bari at the N. Piccinni Conservatory and in New York at the Juilliard School. He made his debut as a pianist in 1978 at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari with S. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by S. Friedmann; at the same theatre, in 1987, he performed G. Gershwin’s “Concerto in F” and “Rhapsody in Blue”, conducted by S. Lipkin.
After making his conducting debut in 1988 with G. Donizetti’s opera “Lucrezia Borgia”, he conducted P. Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “L’amico Fritz”, “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” by both G. Rossini and G. Paisiello, G. Verdi’s “Rigoletto”, “Traviata” and “Trovatore”, G. Puccini’s “Tosca”, “Boheme” and “Butterfly”, N. Piccinni’s “La Cecchina”, G. Donizetti’s “Elisir d’amore” and “Don Pasquale”, and I. Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella”, as well as symphonic concerts and piano recitals in prestigious theatres and concert halls in Turin, Milan, Genoa, Rome, Rovigo, Bari, Mantua, Cagliari, Linz, Sydney, Monte Carlo, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul and Abu Dhabi.
On January 27, 2011, he conducted a concert for “La Primavera della memoria” with the Orchestra of the Fondazione Petruzzelli in Bari; on February 20 of the same year, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. On October 30 of that year, at the reopened Teatro Petruzzelli, he performed as pianist in L. van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Op. 56. In December 2013 he conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, and in 2014 he conducted I. Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” at Teatro Kismet. In 2015 he opened the Barletta Piano Festival with a recital devoted to F. Chopin.
For more than a decade he was guest conductor of the ICO in Bari, achieving success conducting the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” (2002), pianist Aldo Ciccolini (2006), and the celebrated singer-actress Ute Lemper (2007). From 2000 to 2006 he worked as Assistant Conductor and “Chef de Chant” at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
From October 2006 to June 2011 he served as “Consultant for Musical Services” at the Fondazione Lirico-Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari. At the same Foundation, during the 2011/12 opera season, he was Assistant Conductor to Maestro Lorin Maazel for “Carmen” and “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”. Following this collaboration, he was personally invited by Maestro Maazel to hold the same position in Virginia, USA, at the 2012 Castleton Festival. Since 1977 he has taught Piano at the “N. Piccinni” Conservatory in Bari.