Cecilia Bartoli receives Grand Officer honour from Italian President in Monaco
The mezzo-soprano was decorated the day after singing at Opéra de Monte-Carlo with Les Musiciens du Prince for the Italian president, the first visit to the Principality by an Italian head of state.
Cecilia Bartoli has been made a Grande Ufficiale of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, receiving the insignia from President Sergio Mattarella in Monaco on Saturday 3 October.
The ceremony took place at the Hôtel Hermitage during Mattarella’s state visit to the Principality on 2 and 3 October, the first by an Italian head of state. The visit underlined the close ties between the two countries, with culture and music given a prominent place in the programme.
On the Friday evening, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo hosted a concert by Bartoli with Les Musiciens du Prince, conducted by Gianluca Capuano. Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène attended, along with Mattarella, his daughter Laura Mattarella and the Princess of Hanover.
The honour follows two other prominent appearances in Italy this year. Bartoli took part in the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at San Siro on 6 February. On 2 June, she was among the guests at “I Volti della Repubblica”, the evening in Piazza del Quirinale marking the 80th anniversary of the Republic, where she sang Lucio Dalla’s “Caruso” as part of a sequence on the great Italian migrations of the 20th century.
Marking the award, Bartoli said that being honoured by a country she cares about so deeply carried a special meaning for her. “I am deeply convinced that culture is an essential bond between human beings and peoples,” she added.
Bartoli has devoted much of her career to rediscovering Italy’s musical heritage and taking it to the world’s major stages. She has directed the Opéra de Monte-Carlo since January 2023, the first woman to do so since the institution was founded. In the Principality she combines great repertoire works, rediscovered titles and new productions with leading international singers.
Grand Officer is the third of the order’s six grades and broadly comparable to a British damehood or a CBE. Bartoli had previously been named a Cavaliere (Knight).
