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Mattia Venni
The Wall Street Journal heralds bass-baritone Mattia Venni as “sensational” for “brilliantly executing the rapid Italian patter and the subtle physical comedy.” In the 2026-27 season, he sings Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Santa Fe Opera. He also makes debuts the Donizetti Festival as the Impresario in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali and Opéra de Lausanne as Masetto in Don Giovanni. He makes further role debuts in returns to Opera Santa Barbara as Don Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia and the Parnassus Society as Colline in La bohème. Future engagements include his debuts with Glyndebourne Opera and Dallas Opera and a further return to Santa Fe Opera, all in role debuts. Last season he joined Teatro Nuovo again to debut Don Geronio in Il turco in Italia and returned to his beloved portrayal of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Amarillo Opera. He also sang Angelotti in Tosca with the Parnassus Society and returned to the Teatro Amintore Galli in Rimini, Italy for his first performances of Il Re in Aida.
His breakout debut came as Crispino in Ricci’s bel canto gem, Crispino e la comare, with Teatro Nuovo and he returned to the organization for solo recitals presented at the Istituto Italiana di Cultura di New York and Van Vleck House and Gardens in New Jersey. He made his role debut as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Sarasota Opera before joining Santa Fe Opera to cover the same role—whilst singing Antonio—and at which he also sang scenes of the title role of Don Pasquale and Mustafà in L’italiana in Algeri. His other performances in his native Italy also include Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro Amintore Galli and and Betto da Signa in Gianni Schicchi at the Teatro Greco Politeama in Lecce and Teatro Sociale di Trento. He has also sung Sulpice in La fille du régiment with Opera Santa Barbara and the Parnassus Society.
Mr. Venni holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of California-Los Angeles at which he sang Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea, Mr. Presto in Les mammelles des Tirésias, and Don Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro. As a guest artist, he sang Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at Azusa Pacific University and Mars in Orphée aux Enfers at Pasadena City College.
He is a decorated winner of numerous prizes in his native Italy, including at the competitions Città di Bellano in Lago Como (Public Award), Arte in Canto in Terramo (Winner and recipient of the Luciano d Pasquale Award and Public Award), Jole de Maria in Rome (Winner and recipient of the Public Award), and Città di Genova (Winner and recipient of the Giuseppe Taddei Award). He has also won the Concerto Competition at Pasadena City College and was the second place winner of the Lynn Reinecke-Horton Award, also in Pasadena, California.
Prior to his shift in career to opera, Mr. Venni worked as a camera operator in the film and television industry in Paris and Los Angeles and holds a degree in Regia e Produzione (Film, Television, and Digital Media) from the Istituto Eurepeo di Design in Milan.
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"Mattia Venni offered one of the evening's most complete performances as Don Geronio. Vocally solid from beginning to end, he dispatched Rossini's rapid-fire passages with ease and displayed instinctive command of buffo timing. Yet he never treated Geronio as merely a ridiculous, cuckolded husband. In 'Vado in travvia d'una zingara' and the increasily heated exchanges with Fiorilla and Selim, Venni revealed the wounded dignitiy beneath the character's bluster, making him both comic and unexpectedly sympathetic." - Seen and Heard International
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