Marina Viotti | |
|---|---|
 Viotti in 2017 | |
| Born | 30 April 1986 Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
Marina Viotti (born 30 April 1986) is a Swiss-French mezzo-soprano opera singer.
Marina Viotti | |
|---|---|
| Viotti in 2017 | |
| Born | 30 April 1986 Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
Marina Viotti (born 30 April 1986) is a Swiss-French mezzo-soprano opera singer.
Marina Viotti was born on 30 April 1986, in Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. [1] [2] A dual French-Swiss national, [3] [4] she is the daughter of Swiss conductor Marcello Viotti and French violinist Marie-Laurence Geneviève Jacqueline Bret, and the sister of conductor Lorenzo Viotti. [5] She has a younger brother, Alessandro, a horn player at the Lyon Opera in France, and a younger sister, Milena, also a horn player at the Munich Opera in Germany. [6]
She spent her childhood in various places, notably in Lorraine, France. Following her father's death in 2005, she moved with her family to Lyon, France. [4]
After graduating with a flute diploma in 2000, [4] Viotti performed in various musical genres, including jazz and gospel. [7] [8]
She would then perform in the metal bands Lost Legacy and Soulmaker. [9] The Belfort-based metal band Soulmaker, which began touring in 2002, was searching for its identity and struggling with the vocals. In 2006, 19-year-old Viotti contacted Soulmaker's members and got them back on track by reorienting them and recording the vocals for five songs in one weekend, based on music the band had composed several months earlier. [10] The band members were influenced by Megadeth and Metallica, while Viotti was more influenced by Pantera. With Viotti, Soulmaker rehearsed at Fort Hatry in Belfort and performed one concert per week. [10]
At the age of 24, with several years of experience in metal music, Viotti discovered Verdi through Simon Boccanegra in Vienna, Austria. [10] She studied literature and philosophy and attended business school in Marseille, France, before moving to Vienna in 2011 to train in opera singing with Heidi Brunner. [4] [11] Wanting to learn opera singing, Viotti nevertheless faced the obstacle of her age, and the opera world did not appreciate either her nose piercing or her gothic look. Brunner nevertheless wanted to hear her and asked her to sing a Soulmaker song rather than perform a piece from the classical repertoire. Brunner "immediately noticed her vocal placement, even on metal". Brunner then trained her in Vienna. [10]
In 2013, she joined Brigitte Balleys's class at the Lausanne Conservatory (HEMU), where she earned a soloist diploma. Viotti then continued her studies with Raúl Giménez in Barcelona. [12]
During her solo career, Viotti was engaged by the opera houses of Munich, as well as Lausanne, Zurich and the Lucerne Theatre in Switzerland. In 2015, she won the Belcanto International Prize at the Rossini Opera Festival in Wildbad, Germany, and, the following year, was awarded Third Prize at the Geneva International Music Competition in Switzerland. She has also received several scholarships, including the Leenaards Scholarship in 2016. [12]
As an opera singer, Viotti, [13] [14] also known as a cantatrice, [15] or "lyrical singer", [16] has a mezzo-soprano voice type. [15] [17]
In 2017, she won First Prize at the Kattenburg Competition in Lausanne. [7]
In 2018, Viotti was named a finalist in the Operalia Competition and was named Young Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards in 2019. [18] [19]
In 2022, she was awarded the Swiss Music Prize by the Federal Office of Culture. [20] [19]
In 2023, Viotti won the Victoire de la Musique Classique in France in the category of "Lyrical Artist of the Year". [21] She performed on the second day of the 36th edition of Un violon sur le sable (lit. 'A violin on the sand') classical music festival in Royan, France, in July 2023. [13]
On 26 July 2024, Viotti participated in one of the opening ceremony acts for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris alongside the band Gojira, [22] performing a metal adaptation of the French Revolution song " Ah! ca ira! ", titled "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)", incorporating an excerpt from " L'amour est un oiseau rebelle ". [23] While Gojira performed on the façade of the Conciergerie , Viotti appeared singing on board a boat in reference to the motto of the city of Paris, " Fluctuat nec mergitur " (Il est battu par les flots, mais ne sombre pas; lit. 'It is battered by the waves, but does not sink'). Juliette de Banes Gardonne of Le Temps described the performance as a "metalo-lyrical tidal wave". [24] As part of the final celebration of the Olympic Games, the collaborative performance was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on the night of 14 September 2024, while Viotti stood before the monument to reprise her part. [14]
On 2 February 2025, Viotti won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)", a collaboration with Gojira and Victor Le Masne, at the 67th ceremony in Los Angeles, United States. [25] [26] She is the first woman to win an award in this category since its inception. [27] On 5 July 2025, Viotti appeared with Gojira at the Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath tribute concert, Back to the Beginning, performing "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)", which took place at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. [28] In September 2025, Viotti was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Government of France. [29]
In 2019, Viotti was diagnosed with cancer. [30] Suffering from a tumour in her thorax, she faced an uncertain prognosis as to whether she would ever be able to sing again, with the possibility of dying. Unwilling to reveal her cancer, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan by concealing her disease, for fear of discouraging her employer. [31] She subsequently achieved complete remission. [30] Her album, Melankhôlia: In Darkness Through the Light, which juxtaposes works by English composer John Dowland with those of Björk, Metallica, Lana Del Rey, [30] Neil Young and U2, is, in her own words, "a bit like the soundtrack to this experience, this journey through darkness and light". [31]