The German-Italian mezzo-soprano Julia Rutigliano has made a name for herself especially in the Wagner repertoire. She made her debut at the Bayreuth Festival in Wagner’s Ring cycle under the musical direction of Kirill Petrenko and the staging of Frank Castorf, performing as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, as well as Siegrune in Die Walküre. This was followed by further engagements as Wellgunde under Marek Janowski at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and the Konzerthaus Dortmund. She was also frequently invited to sing Siegrune – including at the Semperoper Dresden under Christian Thielemann, at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam under Valery Gergiev, at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden under Daniel Barenboim, as well as at the Maggio Musicale in Florence and the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, both under Zubin Mehta.

Additional performances took her to the Opéra Bastille in Paris under Philippe Jordan and to the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples under Dan Ettinger. In the autumn of 2022, she appeared as the Drummer in Viktor Ullmann’s The Emperor of Atlantis at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo under Omer Meir Wellber – a role she later also performed at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Her repertoire now also includes other major Wagner roles such as Venus in Tannhäuser and Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde. She made her debut as Venus in 2011 in Bremen under Markus Poschner (musical direction) and Tobias Kratzer (direction), and went on to great success in the same role at the Mecklenburg State Theatre under Mark Rohde and stage director Martin G. Berger, as well as at the Wartburg in Eisenach. As Brangäne, she performed under Zubin Mehta at the 2014 Maggio Musicale in Florence.

Another focus of her artistic work lies in major roles from the French and Italian repertoire. Particularly noteworthy is her interpretation of Bizet’s Carmen, with which she impressed both in a production directed by Volker Schlöndorff and at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw. Her repertoire also includes roles such as Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Leonor in Donizetti’s La Favorite, and the Mother in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

More recently, Julia Rutigliano has focused increasingly on the Italian repertoire. She thrilled audiences as Amneris in Verdi’s Aida at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg and was celebrated as the “highlight of the evening” for her portrayal of Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Currently, she can be heard once again at the Heidenheim Opera Festival under Marcus Bosch and the direction of Vera Nemirova, singing Zita in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and the Third Maid in Strauss’ Elektra. Afterwards, she will appear once again at the Saarpolygon Opera Festival as the Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

 

She is also regularly active in the concert repertoire, performing under the baton of conductors such as Zubin Mehta – for example, in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Teatro Maggio Musicale in Florence. Her particular passion lies in Romantic oratorios and sacred works such as Verdi’s Requiem, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle, and Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été.

Julia Rutigliano began her musical career in the Würzburg Girls’ Choir, with which she appeared on stage as a child in productions such as Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and Rihm’s Jakob Lenz. While still in high school at a specialized arts grammar school, she began a preparatory program before continuing her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. She graduated with honors and continued her training in the opera studio at the Nuremberg State Theatre.

From 2009 to 2012, she was a permanent ensemble member at the State Theatre in Braunschweig, where she appeared in roles such as Carmen, Suzuki, Mary, Hermia, Olga, Orlofsky, Donna Elvira, Aksinya, and Orpheus.

In recognition of her outstanding achievements, Julia Rutigliano was awarded the Cultural Prize of the City of Würzburg in 2014.