QIANG RAO

The Chinese bass Qiang Rao, born in 1999, completed his undergraduate studies at the China Conservatory of Music and is now a master’s student at the Venice Conservatory of Music. He studied with bass Carlo Colombara and soprano Silvia Dalla Benetta. In China, he performed as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro and Colline in a concert of La bohème. In 2025, he won second prize and a special award at the Italian Opera Florence competition. He has also received special awards at several competitions and won the role of Gran Sacerdote in Nabucco at the Enzo Sordello competition, in which he will make his debut at the Teatro Toselli in Cuneo.

The program outlines a stylistic journey from Rossinian bel canto to Ponchielli’s Verismo, with homages to the French and Verdian repertoires. The first round combines Ralph’s aria from Bizet’s La jolie fille de Perth, a moment of great lyricism where the character expresses the torments of love, and Banco’s aria from Macbeth, a scene of premonition and profound drama. The semi-final offers a strong contrast: Don Basilio’s famous aria from Il barbiere di Siviglia, a piece of great agility and buffo bravura, and Alvise’s aria from La Gioconda, where the character prepares to carry out a bloody revenge, a moment of solemn grandeur.