Stage Director
The legendary Renata Scotto continues to add to her activity as stage director, which she began with her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1986, with Madama Butterfly, which she subsequently staged at the Arena di Verona and the Florida Grand Opera in Miami.
Ms. Scotto began her 2007-2008 season at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with a new production of La bohème and revived her La sonnambula for the Michigan Opera Theatre. In 2010-2011 she will return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to stage Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera. In other recent seasons Ms. Scotto returned to Miami staging her new production of La sonnambula and La Traviata, made her directoral debut of Norma in Helsinki, staged her first La Wally in Bern, Switzerland, returned to Thessalonki, Greece with Lucia di Lammermoor, made her Dallas directorial debut with Madama Butterfly, and opened the 2006 season in Genova with a revival of her production of Madama Butterfly. Ms. Scotto staged her first Turandot in Athens in 2008, and in 2009 she returned to Palm Beach Opera to stage La bohème.
In her native Italy, for the opening of the annual Festival Belliniano in Catania in 1993, Ms. Scotto staged Bellini's Il pirata and in 1994 a new production of La sonnambula. In March 1995 Ms. Scotto created a new production of Verdi's La Traviata at the New York City Opera, which was telecast nationally over PBS in the "Live from Lincoln Center" series and for which she won the Emmy Award for “Best Live Musical Event”. Rio de Janeiro heard her in La voix humaine in 1998 and 1999 she appeared in a double bill of the same work and in her own staging of Menotti's The Medium singing the role of Baba (Mme. Flora) for the first time, at the Teatro Regio di Torino.
In 2000-2001, Ms. Scotto made a triumphant debut in the role of Klytamnestra in Richard Strauss' Elektra for the Baltimore Opera. That season she also staged Tosca with Deborah Voigt singing the role for the first time for Florida Grand Opera. In 2002, Ms. Scotto's staging of Madama Butterfly at the Palm Beach Opera won universal critical acclaim as did her performances in Seville of Klytamnestra. Later in the season she created a new production of Madama Butterfly for Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice.
In September 2002 Ms. Scotto created a new production of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in Santiago, Chile with Veronica Villaroel in the title role. Her production of Madama Butterfly inaugurated the New Performing Arts Center in Ancona, Italy in 2003.
In recent years Renata Scotto has established herself as the most sought-after teacher of vocal style and technique on the international circuit. She has presented select master classes at the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, Yale University, the Russian Opera Center in Moscow, Tokyo University, Pittsburgh Opera, Paris Opera Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago's American Artists Program, and the Lindemann Young Artists Program at the Metropolitan Opera. In Italy, Ms. Scotto has presented master classes for the Young Artists Program at La Scala in Milan and for the Santa Cecila Academy in Rome where she is a permanent guest professor. In 1999, she was named the Director of the young artists program at the Verdi Institute in Parma. Her master classes have also been held in Switzerland at the Verbier Festival and Academy. In 1995 Ms. Scotto was elected President of the renowned A.S.L.I.C.O competition in Milan. In July 1997, she opened the Renata Scotto Vocal Academy sponsored by the Italian Government and co-sponsored by the town of Albisola and the Region of Liguria, Italy. The Academy's activities take place each year between July and August on the Italian Riviera. In 2001 she joined the Mannes School in New York as a visiting professor and consultant to the vocal department. In June 2003 Ms. Scotto inaugurated a new branch of her Academy at the Westchester Music Conservatory in New York.