Michael Maniaci

The man with the 300-year-old voice

Michael Maniaci’s unique soprano voice gives him the air of an antique castrato

We are endlessly fascinated by the high male voice, from Jimmy Somerville to Michael Chance, from Pavarotti to Steve Tyler. But the young American singer Michael Maniaci is something else again: a real-life male soprano. “I don’t sound like a counter-tenor or a woman” he explains. “It’s quite unique.”

He does not sing falsetto, n

Michael Maniaci on high singing Idomeneo
Countertenor breaks with tradition by taking on boy's part usually played by a soprano


The world is full of inspirational stories of children growing up in unmusical households and still, somehow, one day finding themselves on the world's greatest opera stages.

But Michael Maniaci's story adds an extra twist or two.

He is one of only a handful of men in the world who can sing in the same vocal range as a soprano, allowing him to perf

MICHAEL
MANIACI
male soprano

2003 ARIA winner

He has a voice like no other,
sings with chilling strength and flexibility.
He's a major gift
of the Baroque opera revival

The young American male soprano Michael Maniaci is rapidly gaining attention for his rare, “thrilling” voice and “sensational” stage presence. Mr. Maniaci “sounds like no other counter-tenor or female sopra

Rising to the occasion – Michael Maniaci saves the day at La Fenice

It is every young opera singer’s dream.

The phone call at midnight, the frantic request to drop everything and “just come–we have a problem, we need you to cover all performances and it’s curtain up in just two weeks……”
Yet that usually happens when the house in question knows that the young singer already has the role in his or her repertoire, and it will just be a matter of polishing up the vocal m

An Interview With Michael Maniaci

Michael Maniaci has a fight on his hands. In the world of baroque opera he’s a young singer who seems to have it all: he’s intelligent, immensely talented, well-trained, committed and surprisingly wise for his 29 years. On top of that he’s already been successful in the USA winning prestigious competitions, and recently gaining significant roles at such proving grounds as Glimmerglass, New York City Opera and Santa Fe.