Soprano Laura Ansaldi to Close Winners' Recital at Harvard

Italian soprano Laura Ansaldi will close the Winners' Recital on Oct. 17 at Memorial Church at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. She holds the First Prize of the Special Venue Music Award, and the Harvard date marks her debut there.

Pianist Shizue Sano will accompany her in the 12 p.m. performance. The program includes two arias: "Da tempeste il legno infranto" from Handel's "Giulio Cesare" and "Vissi d'arte" from Puccini's "Tosca."

The recital forms part of "Tell me a story," a series curated by Carlo Donadio, the former artistic director of the Rome Opera House. Since his retirement, Donadio has partnered with Ansaldi on new classical music projects.

For the soprano, the venue carries particular weight. "Performing in Harvard, that is one of the most renewed places in the world when it comes to education, culture and history, means a lot to me, and receiving an award for my career makes this debut even more special," Ansaldi told OperaWire.

She framed the recital as a response to a technological moment. "We are living in a time when AI can perfectly reproduce the human voice as well as any musical instrument, and also can perfectly reproduce any piece of music, even the most difficult. It is a challenge for us artists," she said. "But there is one thing that AI will be never able to do: to tell a story. A recital is not just performing some pieces, but it is a storytelling. It is my way to tell you the story of my life."

The pairing of a Handel showpiece with Puccini's defining aria gives Ansaldi room to make that case in two contrasting styles — baroque virtuosity and verismo confession — within a single midday program.

The collaboration with Donadio, built on new classical music projects since he left the Rome Opera House, suggests the Harvard recital is one step in a longer partnership rather than an isolated appearance.