Katia Ricciarelli

Katiuscia Maria Stella "Katia" Ricciarelli is an Italian soprano and actress.

Early life and career

Born in Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, Ricciarelli struggled during her younger years. She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in Puccini's La bohème in Mantua in 1969. She appeared as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore in Parma in 1970. In the following year, she won RAI's Voci Verdiane award. Between 1972 and 1975, engagements followed in the major European and American opera houses, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, La Scala in Milan, Royal Opera House in London, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1975. In 1981, she began a decade-long association with the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, thus broadening her repertoire of Rossini's operas.
Beside her many opera performances, Ricciarelli also appeared as Desdemona in Franco Zeffirelli's film version of Verdi's Otello in 1986, alongside Plácido Domingo. In 1991, she founded the Accademia Lirica di Katia Ricciarelli, and, between 2003 and 2005, she was artistic director of the annual summer Macerata Opera festival. In 2005, she won the best actress prize Nastro d'Argento, awarded by the Italian film journalists, for her role in Pupi Avati's La seconda notte di nozze.
In 2006, Ricciarelli participated in the reality show La fattoria on Canale 5. In 2021–2022, she participated in the reality show Grande Fratello VIP 6, getting evicted after 165 days.

In 1986, on her 40th birthday, Ricciarelli married Pippo Baudo, a television personality; she filed for divorce upon their separation in the summer of 2004, with the divorce being finalized in 2007.