Soprano ROSE GUCCIONE has performed several operatic works by Giuseppe Verdi including the title role in Aïda, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Leonora in La forza del destino, Leonora in Il trovatore and has covered the roles of Elvira in Ernani and Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Her Aïda was a Chicago Tribune Critic’s Choice which declared her “the genuine article of Verdi singers… Guccione’s voice was simply magnificent from top to bottom, beautifully nuanced in all dynamic ranges.”
Beyond the realm of verdian opera, Ms. Guccione has performed the roles of Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème, Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, Madame de la Haltière in Massanet’s Cendrillon, Cinderella’s Stepmother in Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Elvira in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium, Widow Piper in Herbert’s Babes in Toyland, Frau Kneipp and Königin Galatea in Lehár’s Peter und Paul reisen ins Schlaraffenland, Großherzogin Tina in Lehár’s Mitislaw der Moderne, and Mrs. DeRopp in Thompson’s Sredni Vashtar. She has covered the role of Béatrice in Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict for Chicago Opera Theater and has performed in “Fantasy of the Opera” and in supporting roles in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Puccini’s Turandot, Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for Lyric Opera of Chicago.
In recital, Ms. Guccione recently sang Mieczysław Weinberg’s Jüdische Lieder, op. 17 at Teatr Żydowski in Warsaw, Poland. She has sung works by Strauss and Schubert at Ravinia, Mozart at Carnegie Hall and Berlioz and Ravel on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series. Her South African recitals garnered headlines that read “Guccione rare and memorable” and “American soprano delights.” The Mercury’s Sean Schulze wrote “Somehow, Ms Guccione succeeded in casting that spell that characterises a memorable and rare musical event,” and Anthea Johnston of the Sunday Tribune wrote “Her versatility was confirmed with Schumann’s song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben. To sing art songs well takes both vocal control, intelligence and acting skills and these Miss Guccione has in abundance…There were more than a few misty eyes when she finished.”
Stepping in last minute for indisposed Metropolitan Opera star Margaret Jane Wray, Ms.Guccione’s performance at the St. Charles Music Festival, according the to Kane County Chronicle, “brought the house down. It was really an incredible concert, with multiple curtain calls… even got a standing ovation before the intermission.”
Ms. Guccione is the Grand Prize Winner of the Barnett Foundation Voice Competition and a recipient of the Gina Monastero Award. She was a finalist in The Metropolitan Opera Auditions - Central Region; the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Performance International Prize in Voice; and the Bel Canto National Competition. She was one of forty singers chosen worldwide to participate in Plácido Domingo‘s Operalia at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux and one of eight singers to participate in master classes with Niccolai Ghiaurov at the Centro Universale del Bel Canto (C.U.Be.C.) in Vignola, Modena, Italy.
Upcoming performances include the role of Anna Maurrant in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene and Lyric Opera of Chicago season preview concerts.
Ms. Guccione is an Ensemble Member of Salsation Theatre Company, NFP, a voice faculty member of Sherwood Conservatory at Columbia College and Dominican University, and is a Ruth Hanna Scholarship, Music Talent Scholarship, Honors Scholarship and High Academic Achievement Award recipient at Northeastern Illinois University. As owner of OperaGram.com®, Ms. Guccione was featured in the Chicago Tribune, and on NBC5 News Today with Zoraida Sambolin, Rob Elgas and Andy Avalos, The John Landecker Show on WLS AM 890, with John Records Landecker and Paula Griffin on WIMS AM 1420, The Kiki Vale Show on WJJG AM 1530.
