{{short description|Italian opera singer (born 1967)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} '''Eva Mei''' (born 3 March 1967) is an Italian coloratura soprano.
==Life and career== Eva Mei was born on 3 March 1967 in Fabriano, Italy.<ref name="SL">{{cite encyclopedia|page=3045|first1=K.-J.|last1=Kutsch|author1-link=Karl-Josef Kutsch|first2=Leo|last2=Riemens|author2-link=Leo Riemens|encyclopedia=Großes Sängerlexikon|edition=4th|publisher=K. G. Saur Verlag|others=Hansjörg Rost (co-editor)|entry=Mei, Eva|entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dsfq_5dFeL0C&q=Rost&pg=PA3045|via=Google Books|year=2003|isbn=9783598440885}}</ref> She graduated from the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence in 1989.<ref name="SL"/><ref>[http://en.styriarte.com/de/kuenstler_archiv/eva_mei "Eva Mei"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130203033319/http://en.styriarte.com/de/kuenstler_archiv/eva_mei |date=3 February 2013}}, biography at styriarte {{in lang|de}}</ref> In 1990, at the Mozart Competition in Vienna, she won the Catarina Cavalieri Prize for her interpretation of Konstanze in Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', an award which led to a contract with the Vienna State Opera where she performed later that same year.<ref name="SL"/> She had previously made her professional opera debut in 1989 as Aspasia in Antonio Salieri's ''Axur, re d'Ormus'' at the opera house in Siena.<ref name="Grove">{{Cite Grove|author=Elizabeth Forbes|date=2001|title=Mei, Eva|id=41788}}</ref>
Mei has performed the role of Donna Anna in ''Don Giovanni'' with the Zurich Opera and the Dutch National Opera. She made her debut at the Hungarian State Opera House as the Queen of the Night in ''The Magic Flute'', and her first performance at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa was as Musetta in ''La bohème''. At the Berlin State Opera she performed the role of Violetta in ''La traviata'', and at the Bavarian State Opera she portrayed Norina in ''Don Pasquale''.<ref name="Grove"/>
In 1992 Mei appeared as the soprano soloist in Ludwig van Beethoven's ''Missa solemnis'' at the Salzburg Festival. In 1993 she made her debuts at La Scala as Amenaide in ''Tancredi'', and as the Queen of the Night at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She returned to the latter opera house as Mozart's Konstanze.<ref name="Grove"/> Other theatres she has performed with on the international stage include the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (1996) and the {{ill|Opera Nomori|fr|Tokyo Opera Nomori}} in Tokyo.<ref name="SL"/>
In 1994, Mei performed in ''Norma'' as Adalgisa alongside Jane Eaglen in the title role conducted by Riccardo Muti at the Ravenna Festival.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1994/07/18/muti-ricrea-norma.html |title=Muti ricrea ''Norma''|date=18 July 1994 |newspaper=la Repubblica|first=Angelo |last=Foletto |access-date=5 January 2021 |language=it}}</ref>
In February 2011, she sang the part of Pamina in a new production of ''The Magic Flute'' premiered at the Vorarlberger Landestheater.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.vol.at/groer-erfolg-fr-die-zauberflte-am-vorarlberger-landestheater/1466700 |title=Großer Erfolg für die ''Zauberflöte'' am Vorarlberger Landestheater |date=12 February 2011 |website=Vorarlberg Online |language=de |access-date=5 January 2021}}</ref>
She has worked with the conductors Roberto Abbado, Bruno Campanella, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Zubin Mehta.<ref name="SL"/>
Mei's discography includes the operas ''Don Pasquale'',<ref name="SL"/> ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'',<ref name="SL"/> ''Norma'',<ref name="SL"/> ''Tancredi'',<ref name="SL"/> and ''Il re pastore''.<ref name="SL"/> She has also recorded arias by Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} He concert repertoire recordings include Beethoven's ''Missa solemnis'',<ref name="SL"/> Handel's cantatas,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} and Pergolesi's ''Stabat Mater''.<ref name="SL"/>
==Recordings== *''Thaïs'' by Massenet: Eva Mei, Michele Pertusi. La Fenice, Venice (2004) (video)
==References== <references />
==External links== *{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0002180486|label=Discography}} *[http://www.bruceduffie.com/mei.html Interview with Eva Mei] by Bruce Duffie, 24 January 2000 *[https://web.operissimo.com/triboni/exec?method=com.operissimo.artist.webDisplay&id=ffcyoieagxaaaaabbjrb&xsl=webDisplay "Mei, Eva"], Operissimo (in Italian and German) *[https://www.primafila-artists.com/kuenstler-detail_en.php?id_a=42 Eva Mei], PrimaFila artists *[http://www.inartmanagement.com/?page_id=9039&lang=en Eva Mei], In Art Management
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mei, Eva}} Category:1967 births Category:Florence Conservatory alumni Category:People from the Province of Ancona Category:Italian operatic sopranos Category:Living people Category:20th-century Italian women opera singers Category:21st-century Italian women opera singers