She was born in Milan in 1969. Daughter of maestro Giuseppe Patanè, she spent her childhood in Berlin, where she took her first music lessons at a very young age, under her mother's guidance. Later on, she studied voice in Italy under Maria Carbone and continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music. She won the International Competition for Verdian Voices "Città di Busseto" and attended seminars with Carlo Bergonzi at his Verdian Academy. In 1987 she made her debut in Busseto as Gilda (Rigoletto) in a performance directed by Filippo Crivelli and in 1988 she interpreted the role of Medora (The Corsair/Il corsaro). That same year she performed for the first time in the USA, singing the role of Silvia in Mascagni's Zanetto and Anna in Puccini's The Fairies (Le villi) at the New Jersey State Opera. She participated in opera performances in Cagliari, Italy (Orpheus and Eurydice / Orfeo ed Eurydice),1989), Dayton, USA (1990), Turin (1993: title role in Adriana Lecouvreur; 1994: Leonore in La forza del destino; 1995: title role in Tosca), Chicago (Fedora), and at the Verona Arena (Nabucco). She was acclaimed as Turandot in Stuttgart (1997), Rotterdam, Genoa, Athens (GNO production, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, 1995/96), Taipei, Torre del Lago (Puccini Festival, 2000), Tel Aviv (2000) and Bilbao. She also recorded that Opera with the label Companion. She was also praised for her Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) at the State Operas of Berlin and Vienna, and the Opera Houses of Rome, Las Palmas, Tokyo and Nice (France). She has sung in concerts in Europe and America.