One of the most talented mezzo-sopranos on the opera scene today, Isabel De Paoli began studying opera singing at a very young age with Gabriella Rossi. She obtained a diploma in opera singing and a level II degree at the F. Vittadini Conservatory in Pavia. She attended vocal technique masterclasses with Claudio Desderi, Bernadette Manca di Nissa, Rockwell Blake and Luciana Serra.
She has sung at some of the most important Italian theatres, including the Ravenna Festival, the Rome Opera, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro Bellini in Catania, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia, the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona, the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza, as well as abroad at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo and the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
She made her debut in "Cavalleria Rusticana," and Badessa and Aunt Princess in "Suor Angelica", Preziosilla in "La Forza del Destino". In 2015 in "Cavalleria Rusticana" at the Siri Fort in New Delhi, India, in addition to her debut in Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle" in Brescia, she was Maddalena in "Rigoletto", Azucena in "Il Trovatore", with Ravenna Festival under the baton of Cristina Mazzavillani Muti. In July 2016, she took part in the concert "Echi notti degli incantimi verdiani" from Verdi's Roncole house, produced by Ravenna Festival and broadcast on RAI 1, and later in the autumn she made her debut in the role of Mrs. Quickly in "Falstaff" with Ravenna Festival with Maestro Muti.
In 2018 in Palermo she performed in Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony", "Coronation Mass" and Mozart's "Requiem" at the Politeama Theatre and Monreale Cathedral, inaugurating the 55th edition of the International Week of Sacred Music. In 2015, Marcellina in "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome directed by Giorgio Strehler, revived by Marina Bianchi, Mrs. Quickly in "Falstaff" conducted by M.°Riccardo Muti in Ravenna and at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, directed by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti; role also successfully performed in Lucca, Piacenza, Savona, and in the theatres of Reggio Emilia, Ferrara and Ancona. In 2019 Azucena made her debut in "Il Trovatore" at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Puccini's "Trittico" at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma conducted by Damiano Michieletto and directed by Daniele Rustioni. In June she sang "Le Nozze di Figaro" for the Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto live on RAI 5 directed by Giorgio Ferrara and conducted by James Conlon, while in July she was Mrs. Quickly in the performances of "Falstaff" at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. In December she was mezzo-soprano soloist in M. De Falla's "Siete Canciones Populares Españolas". In March, she was contralto soloist in Mozart's 'Requiem' in Sondrio. In July 2018 she is contralto soloist in Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle" in Trapani and, later in August, she debuts in Verdi's "Messa da Requiem" at the Teatro Antico di Segesta. In October 2018, she made her debut in the roles of Zita and Aunt Princess in Puccini's "Dittico" at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, directed by Denis Krief. In May 2019 she makes her debut in the role of Madelon in Andrea Chénier at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, while in July she returns as Marcellina, in concert form, conducted by Riccardo Muti at the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna and at the Amintore Galli Teatro in Rimini to take part in August in the Gala concert at the Kherson Festival and again as Zita and Zia Principessa in Puccini's Dittico at the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna.
She recently took part in a concert of unpublished chamber arias by P. Mascagni in collaboration with the "Festival Mascagni" in Livorno and in December 2021 in the role of Aunt Princess in the diptych staged in Taranto production of the TOF (Taranto Opera Festival). She sang Verdi's "Messa da Requiem" with Maestro Muti at the Ravenna Festival, Milan, Bologna and at the Teatro Galli in Rimini with great success. She will soon sing, again with Maestro Riccardo Muti, Ulrica in "Un ballo in Maschera" in Tokyo, "Verdi Requiem" in Sofia and Sao Paulo, Brazil, and others.
