Vivica’s professional stage début was with the Florentine Opera in October 1994 as Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri
. She subsequently sang the rôle with numerous companies, including the Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera, and Turin’s Teatro Regio, among others. Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia is her most-performed rôle, which she has sung with twenty-one companies including the Wiener, Deutsche, and Bayerische Staatsopers, New York’s Metropolitan Opera (where the rôle was the vehicle for her Company début), De Nederlandse, Washington National and Dallas Operas, and at the Dresden Festival. She has portrayed Angelina, the title rôle in La Cenerentola, with twenty-two companies, including the Semperoper, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opera Orchestra of New York (at Carnegie Hall), Washington Concert Opera, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, New Israeli Opera, Japan Opera Foundation, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Among her other bel canto and French grand opéra credentials are the trouser parts of Rossini’s Tancredi (title rôle, which she has sung in Vienna and Budapest); Neocle in Rossini’s L’assedio di Corinto (Baltimore); Malcolm in Rossini’s La donna del lago (Caramoor); Orsini in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia (Caramoor, Minnesota Opera); Falliero in Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero (Washington Concert Opera); Pippo in Rossini’s La gazza ladra (Caramoor); Arsace in Rossini’s Semiramide (Minnesota & Caramoor); Romeo in I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (Minnesota, Pittsburgh); Hassem in Donizetti’s Alahor in Granata (Seville); Urbain in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots (Bilbao), as well as Edemondo in his Emma di Resburgo (Vienna). In the Baroque and early classical repertoires, her Händel rôles are the most varied and numerous: Galatea in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (Berlin, Salzburg/Whitsun); Il Piacere in Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Madrid, Vienna); Bradamante in Alcina (Paris); the title rôle in Ariodante (Dallas, San Diego), as well as Polinesso in the same opera (Paris, London, Madrid, Vienna); the title rôle in Arminio (Solothurn, Siena, Amsterdam); the title rôle in Giulio Cesare (Washington), as well as Sesto in the same opera (San Diego); the dual rôles of Juno and Ino in Semele (Les Talens Lyriques in Paris and London, and at the New York City Opera); and the title rôle in Rinaldo (Montpellier, Innsbruck). She has also worked tirelessly to share her appreciation for the works of Johann Adolf Hasse with audiences, both in her many concerts and on stage as Piramo in Piramo e Tisbe (Salzburg, Montpellier); Marc’Antonio in Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra (Paris, Brussels, Vienna); and Selimo in Solimano (Berlin, Dresden). In the music of Antonio Vivaldi, she has shone in the title rôle of Giustino (Solothurn); as Irene in Bajazet (Vienna, Yokohama, Montpellier, Venice, Krakow, Paris, Madrid, Metz); as Antiope in Ercole sul Termodonte (Krakow, Vienna, Paris); as Gilade in Il Farnace (Ambronay, Lausanne, Strasbourg, Amsterdam); as Vagaus in Juditha triumphans (Krakow); and as Epitide in L’oracolo in Messenia (Caen, Vienna). Additionally, she has made lasting impressions as Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Munich); as San Teologia in Alessandro Scarlatti’s La Santissima Trinità (Palermo, Lyon, Paris); as Nerone in Domenico Scarlatti’s Ottavia restituita al trono (San Sebastián); as Macario in Leonardo Leo’s Sant’Elena al Calvario (Krakow); as Tamasse in Johann Christian Bach’s Zanaïda (Paris); as Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (Los Angeles); and in a pair of Haydn rôles, Costanza in L’isola disabitata (Bamberg) and Ernesto in Il mondo della luna (Vienna).Among Vivica’s many successful concert engagements have been appearances with celebrated period-instrument ensembles including Accademia Bizantina, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Cappella Gabetta, La Cetra, Collegium 1704, Collegium Apollineum, Il Complesso Barocco, Concentus Musicus Wien, Concerto Copenhagen, Concerto Italiano, Concerto Köln, Europa Galante, Freiburger Barockorchester, Kammerorchester moderntimes_1800, Les Paladins, Philharmonia Baroque, Progetto V/Vox, Les Talens Lyriques, Venice Baroque Orchestra, and Les Violons du Roy. She has additionally appeared in concert with the backing of hr-Sinfonieorchester, Kammerorchester Basel, Münchner Kammerorchester, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Festival appearances have taken Vivica to Rome, Prague, Ludwigsburg, Halle, Schwetzingen, Saint Denis, Lanaudière, Montpellier, San Remo, Antibes, Ravello, and Caramoor, as well as the BBC Proms. She has performed with the New York Chamber Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the New York Festival of Song. Vivica has given recitals at the Wiener Konzerthaus, London’s Barbican Center, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel and Weill Halls. A recent tour of South America took her to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires. She has delighted audiences in her native Alaska with appearances in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. She appeared on French television on Les victoires de la musique and Eve Ruggieri’s Musique au cœur 5 étoiles. Vivica is especially proud of her performances on two televised galas in Germany benefiting the German AIDS Foundation.
Vivica’s discography and videography continue to grow steadily. In addition to the two previously-mentioned recordings slated for release during the 2013-14 season, recent recordings featuring Vivica include A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni
with Cappella Gabetta on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and Vivaldi’s L’oracolo in Messenia with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi on Virgin Classics. Released by Oehms Classics in 2010, Vivica’s performance in Hasse’s Sanctus Petrus et Sancta Maria Magdalena, led by Michael Hofstetter, was recorded at the 2008 Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiel. Her performance in the Vienna production of Haydn’s Il mondo della luna, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, was recorded and released by DVD in 2010 on the Unitel Classica/C Major label. Recorded in 2010 and 2011 by Virgin Classics, Vivaldi’s Ercole sul Termodonte combined Vivica’s sterling technique and fiery delivery of Vivaldi’s music with the singing of stars Rolando Villazón, Diana Damrau, Patrizia Ciofi, Joyce DiDonato, and Philippe Jaroussky. Ercole was honored with the 2011 EchoKlassik Prize for ‘Opera Recording of the Year (17th / 18th Century)’, the third time such an honor has been bestowed upon Vivica’s collaborations with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi. Also receiving EchoKlassik awards, Vivica’s 2009 disc Pyrotechnics - Vivaldi Opera Arias was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for ‘Best Classical Vocal Performance,’ and the 2005 complete recording of Vivaldi’s Bajazet was also GRAMMY®-nominated. Both were Virgin Classics releases. Among her other recordings are the world-première recording of Vivaldi’s L’Atenaide with the Orchestra Barocca Modo Antiqua and Maestro Federico Maria Sardelli on Naïve; Händel / Hasse - Arias and Cantatas with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie on Virgin Classics (2006); Scarlatti’s La Santissima Trinità with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi (Virgin Classics, 2004); and her first recording on the Virgin Classics label, Bel Canto Arias, a recital of music by Rossini and Donizetti with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Maestro John Nelson (2003). For Harmonia Mundi, Vivica recorded the title rôle in Händel’s Rinaldo under the direction of René Jacobs (2003) and Arias for Farinelli (2002), a barnstorming recital also conducted by Maestro Jacobs that garnered a GRAMMY® nomination. Recorded live in 2001 by Virgin Classics, Händel’s Arminio, conducted by Alan Curtis, was awarded the 2002 International Händel Prize. Other ‘live’ recordings featuring Vivica include Donizetti’s Alahor in Granata on the Almaviva label, Rossiniana with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi on the Agorà label, and An Evening of Arias and Songs by Gioacchino Rossini with accompanist Martin Dubé. Fracture, a feature film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling in which Vivica made a cameo appearance, had its cinematic release in 2007 and is now available on DVD.In May 2008, Pittsburgh Opera honored Vivica with their Maecenas Award, and in 2007 she garnered the New York City Opera’s Christopher Keene Award. She is also the recipient of other distinctions, including the Premio ‘Opera CD Classics – Città di Mondovì’ and the Florentine Opera’s Marie Z. Uihlein Artist Prize. She has also been recognized by several other musical organizations, including the Fort Worth, Baltimore, and Palm Beach Operas. In 1997, she won a prestigious ARIA Award and was lauded as the 1999 Artist of the Year by the Dresden Music Festival. Vivica makes her home in Italy and studies with Claudia Pinza, continuing her long-time association with EPCASO (Ezio Pinza Council of American Singers of Opera).
