CÁTIA MORESO

Cátia Moreso studied at the Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she obtained with distinction degree in Singing and a Master’s degree in Opera Performance (Opera Course) with Susan Waters.

Her operatic repertoire has a wide range of dramatic and lyric mezzo-soprano roles, including Amneris (Aida), Azucena (Il Trovatore), Avó Burya (Jenufa), Ulrica (Un ballo de Maschera), Madelon and Comtesse de Coigny (Andrea Chenier, TNSC), Siébel (Faust, TNSC), Aglaonice (Orphée, CCB), Madame Flora (Médium, Operafest), Preziosilla and Curra (La Forza del Destino, TNSC), Mme Giry (The Phantom of the Opera), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi, CCB), Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte, Fundação Gulbenkian), 3rd Maid (Elektra, TNSC), Jocasta (Oedipus Rex), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly), and La baronesa (Lidane e Dalmiro, TNSC).

She has also appeared as Ježibaba and 3rd Nymph (Rusalka, Valladolid), Mother Goose (The Rake’s Progress), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Eva (Comedie on the Bridge), Clotilde (Norma), 2nd Witch and Spirit (Dido e Eneias, TNSC), Maddalena and Giovanna (Rigoletto), Eboli (Don Carlo), La cieca (La Gioconda, Valladolid), Giano (Il Trionfo d’Amore), Dianora and Elisa (La Spinalba by F. A. de Almeida), Hanna Wilson/Tracy (The Losers by Richard Wargo), 3rd Lady (A Flauta Mágica, Wexford Festival), Baronesa (Chérubin by Massenet), Madame de Croissy and cover for Mère Jeanne (Dialogues des Carmélites), Zanetto (Zanetto by Mascagni, Opera Holland Park), Carmella (La vida breve, Tanglewood Festival), Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro, Fundação Gulbenkian), Carmen, Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Mrs. Quickly (Falstaff, Woodhouse, London), Tulipa (O Rapaz de Bronze by Nuno Côrte-Real), Mother (The Monster in the Maze by Jonathan Dove), Severa (Opera do Malandro by Nuno Côrte-Real), Lucia (La Gaza ladra, TNSC), Emilia (Otello, Dias da Música 2019), Clori (A ninfa do Tejo by A. Scarlatti), Desinganno (Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Desinganno), Zita and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), and Tia Principessa (Suor Angélica).

Her concert repertoire includes Mass in B m (Bach), Das Lied von der Erde (Mahler), The Child of Our Times (Tippett), L’enfance du Christ (Berlioz), Misa Tango (Palmeri and Bacalov), Missa Solemnis (Beethoven), Elias (Mendelssohn), Saint John’s Passion (Bach), Amor Brujo (Falla), Te Deum (Marcos Portugal), Messiah and Te Deum (Händel), Te Deum (Zelenka), 9th Symphony (Beethoven), Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen (Bach), Requiem (Verdi), Requiem (Duruflé and Mozart), Nelson Mass (Haydn), Gloria and Magnificat (Vivaldi), Stabat Mater and Magnificat (Pergolesi), Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio and Easter Oratorio (Bach), Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini), Mass No. 3 (Philippe Herreweghe), Te Deum (Bruckner), 2nd Harlot Solomon (Händel), St. Paul (Mendelssohn), and Requiem (Bomtempo).

A passionate interpreter of contemporary music, she has performed Folksongs (L. Berio), the role of Mezzo in Lady Sarashina (Peter Eötvös), Aventures (G. Ligeti), and appeared as soloist in the world premiere of Cicero Dixit (C. Bochmann).

Her discography includes Dianora in La Spinalba and Gianno in Trionfo d’Amore by Francisco de Almeida, as well as As Canções Húngaras and other works by Fernando Lopes-Graça with pianist Nuno Vieira de Almeida — all released under the Naxos label.

Season 2025/2026

“Cátia Moreso, as Santuzza, is Portuguese—a dramatic soprano, almost a mezzo in fact—highly gifted, with talent, flexibility, and an excellent instrument. She had recently, in Sarah Schinasi’s staging, given a notable Madelon in Andrea Chénier. She has ample breath support, a well-developed technique, and a strong grasp of the character. Dressed suitably for the occasion—elegant, all in black—the only break in the noir c’est noir was a beautiful pendant with a turquoise stone and matching fan-shaped earrings. With deep accents in the lower register and bright, effortless top notes, she was the most applauded performer of the evening.”
Alicia Perris

"This woman, as embodied by Cátia Moreso, is portrayed in a wholehearted, monolithic way—less a seductress than a kind of fierce Amazon. Her singing matches that image, projected with aplomb, and it delivers moments of striking theatricality (her Habanera, of course, but also the beguiling then mocking duet with Don José in Act II, and the terrifying final scene)."
Pierre Brévignon

“Cátia Moreso was a first rate Azucena, both vocally and dramatically. Thankfully she avoided the histrionics resorted to by too many Azucenas. Yet, she was able to portray a traumatized woman who had burnt her own child and raised her nemesis’s offspring instead. One can imagine the state of mind of such a woman. Her “Stride la vampa” was impassioned with impressive low notes yet without any uncouth chest notes.”
Ossama el Naggar

"Manrico gives the opera its title, but the true dramatic protagonist is the Romani woman Azucena (who raised a child that was not her own). Verdi, in fact, even considered naming the work after her. I confess it was a most delightful surprise to hear and see Moreso seize a difficult role, transform herself as a singer-actress, and cross the finish line in triumph. Yet another singer who has had the (Portuguese) misfortune of having to sing everything she should and shouldn’t (Siebel?) to make a living. I hope—and despair—that some international agent, passing through Lisbon as a tourist, heard her; she was certainly better than Jamie Barton in the same role on the same day, in the Royal Opera’s new production in London."
Jorge Calado in Expresso (Portugal)

"The unquestionable star of the evening, however, was the world-class Azucena of Portuguese mezzo soprano Catia Moreso, who in her outstanding prise-de-rôle had an unqualified triumph. A frequent performer at the São Carlos, many regular house patrons often feel that Moreso is perhaps too prolific in her choice of repertoire, but if that’s indeed the case, this Azucena certainly shows this artist in a role genre type that Moreso clearly has mastered. She created a unique imprint with her hypnotic, pungent delivery of “Stride la vampa,” and the urgency in her protagonism within the various duets and ensembles, Moreso offered visceral stage-worthy characterizations both luscious and vocally powerful."
Ching Chang, Operawire