Italian Soprano Celestina Casapietra has Died, Aged 85

Casapietra’s decades-long career saw her perform with the Berlin State Opera among other opera companies

Born in 1938, Celestina Casapietra attended the Milan Conservatory, studying with the acclaimed soprano Gina Cigna and Costaguta. In 1963, Casapietra was a prize winner at the singing competitions in Milan and Rome.

In 1961, she made her debut at Milan’s Teatro Nuovo; subsequently, she performed in cities across Italy including Genoa, San Remo, Pisa, and Venice, plus France’s Opera de Lyon. 

After being discovered by the conductor Otmar Suitner, Casapietra joined the Berlin State Opera as a member in 196, where she sang in multiple roles including Elsa in Lohengrin, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Agathe in Freischütz, Mimi in La Bohème, Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen, and the title role in Strauss’ opera Daphne. 

As a guest performer, she made appearances at the Teatro Fenice Venice, Bolshoi Theater Moscow, Wiener Staatsoper, and other companies in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Chicago, and Paris. From 1969 to 1971, she frequently performed at the Salzburg Festival.

Throughout the 1980s, she sang in Hamburg and Amsterdam, plus appeared at the Festival of Las Palmas. In 1993, Berlin State Opera terminated her contract with them — this resulted in a long legal dispute that Casapietra eventually won. 

Her discography includes performances in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Masses, Carmina Burana, and Trionfi on labels such as Eterna and Ars Vivendi.

Casapietra was married to the conductor Herbert Kegel from 1966 to 1983 — they had one son together, the acclaimed tenor Björn Casapietra, who was born in 1970.

Our condolences to Ms. Casapietra’s family, friends, and colleagues.