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”… he is, arguably, the greatest leading tenor of his generation” – “Opera News”, March 2008
Marcello Giordani has been hailed by the international press as one of the most important tenors on the opera stage today. He has appeared in all of the world’s major opera houses and has sung with many of today’s most renowned conductors. His exceptional versatility and vocal range have allowed him to encompass a vast repertory, from the Bel Canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini and the lyricism of the French operatic repertoire, to the more dramatic roles of Verdi, Puccini and Berlioz and, most recently, the popular Verismo operas of Mascagni and Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana e I Pagliacci.
Giordani’s schedule for the 2011-12 opera season includes Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Trovatore and Carmen at the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania; and Carmen again at the new Royal Opera House Muscat of Oman. He begins 2012 with Aida at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, followed by Ernani and Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera, Cavalleria Rusticana at the Opéra National de Paris, and Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper. Verdi’s Ernani will be transmitted live in HD from the stage of the Metropolitan to participating cinemas throughout the world on February 25, 2012.
On the concert stage, he will appear with soprano Ildikó Komlósi at the Palace of the Arts in Budapest in September 2011. The following month, he will be joined by soprano Angela Meade and young singers from the Marcello Giordani Vocal Competition for an evening of opera arias to benefit the Marcello Giordani Foundation. In December, he will travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, to participate as a guest artist in Dimitri Hvorostovsky’s “Dimitri and Friends”.
In January 2011, Giordani reprised the role of Ramerrez at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and later in the year he made his debut in three different roles: Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine in a concert version with Opera Orchestra of New York; Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio in Pagliacci, in a Cav/Pag double bill at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. He finished the season as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper.
The Spring of 2011 found him in his native Sicily to preside over the first “Marcello Giordani International Vocal Competition”, promoted and instituted by the “Marcello Giordani Foundation”, and held in Catania, Italy.
Highlights of the 2009-10 opera season were a revival of the 1995 Giancarlo del Monaco’s production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera, where he performed the tenor role of Gabriele Adorno alongside Placido Domingo in the title role; a new production of Tosca by Luc Bondy, also at the Metropolitan, and a new production of Gounod’s Faust at the Teatro alla Scala. The Summer of 2010 also saw Giordani’s debut as Pollione in Bellini’s Norma at the Salzburg Festival, and his appearance in concert at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy. Off the stage, Giordani conducted Master Classes at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and at the Vero Beach Opera in Vero Beach, Florida. In December 2009, he participated as a teacher in a study course for young opera singers developed on his own initiative under the sponsorship of the Teatro Bellini of Catania.
A major event which took place in the Spring of 2010 was the inauguration in New York of the “Marcello Giordani Foundation”, a not for profit organization dedicated to the help and support of young opera singers.
Born in Augusta, Sicily, in 1963, Marcello Giordani began his voice studies in 1983 in Catania, and then in Milan. In 1986, he won the singing competition of Spoleto, and that same year he made his professional debut as the Duke in Rigoletto at the Festival of Spoleto in Italy. His debut in the United States was in the role of Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Portland Opera during the 1988-89 season. Two major debuts followed, Teatro alla Scala in 1988 as Rodolfo in La Bohème and the Metropolitan Opera as Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore in 1993.
Other early milestones of his career include his debuts as Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera of London under the direction of Sir Georg Solti (1997); with the Munich Philharmonic in La Damnation de Faust (1999) under the direction of Maestro Levine; and with Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY) at Carnegie Hall in Lucrezia Borgia (2000). In 2001 he became the first Italian in the history of the Metropolitan Opera to sing the role of Lenski in Eugene Onegin in Russian.
Of his performance as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur with OONY in 2002 the New York Times wrote: “Marcello Giordani sang like a god”. Also to be noted are his performances in the title roles of the Metropolitan Opera's premiere productions of Bellini's Il Pirata (2002) and of Berlioz’ masterpiece, Benvenuto Cellini (2003); his debut in 2004 in the role of Enzo in a concert version of La Gioconda with OONY, where his interpretation of the aria “Cielo e mar” received a four-minute ovation and was declared “sensational” by the New York Times; and his performance in 2006 as Arnold in OONY’s concert performance of Guillaume Tell, where the audience stopped the show following his execution of the cabaletta "Amis, amis secondez ma vengeance".
In the Fall of 2006, Giordani opened the new season at the Metropolitan Opera as Pinkerton in the company’s new production of Madama Butterfly conceived and directed by the late movie director Anthony Minghella. He opened the Met season again in 2007 as Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, in a new production by Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman, and that same year he made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance of La Damnation de Faust conducted by James Levine. The following year saw his debuts in the title role of Verdi's Ernani at the Metropolitan; in the challenging role of Enée in a series of concert performances of Berlioz’ Les Troyens with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Levine; and in Puccini’s Edgar with Opera Orchestra of New York.
On April 20, 2008, Marcello appeared before Pope Benedict XVI to sing "Panis Angelicus" by César Franck during the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York. “A day I will never forget,” he declared.
During the 2008-09 opera season at the Met, Giordani participated in a pre-season performance of Verdi’s Requiem conducted by James Levine in memory of Luciano Pavarotti; sang the title role in Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust in a new production by Canadian director Robert Lepage; and reprised the role of Pinkerton in Minghella’s production of Madama Butterfly which was broadcast as part of the the Met’s “Live on HD” series. On November 22nd, after singing the title role in the matinee performance of La Damnation de Faust, he appeared as Pinkerton in the evening performance of Madama Butterfly, adding his name to those handful of singers who have sung two leading roles on the same day at the Met. Appearances in Europe during the same season included La Forza del Destino and Roméo et Juliette at the Vienna Staatsoper; Simon Boccanegra at the Gran Teatre del Liceo in Barcelona and in a concert performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Andrea Chénier at the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa; Turandot at the Hungarian State Opera of Budapest; Ernani at the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania; and a performance of Verdi’s Requiem in Rome with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala. He concluded the season as Cavaradossi in a production of Tosca at the Royal Opera House.
In addition to his appearances on the opera stage, Giordani has frequently appeared in concerts and recitals both in Europe and in the U.S. He has been a frequent guest star on the nationally televised Richard Tucker Gala, and was the guest soloist at St. Patrick's Cathedral’s midnight mass on Christmas Eve. He sang for two consecutive years (2006 and 2007) at the Columbus Day Parade held in New York City and broadcast by the major TV stations in the US and Italy.
Marcello Giordani's discography includes the first studio recording of Verdi's Jérusalem for Philips, and 3 solo recordings: Tenor Arias (Naxos), featuring arias by Bellini, Bizet, Donizetti, Mascagni, Rossini, and Verdi, among others; Sicilia Bella (VAI) a collection of songs of authors from his native Sicily; and a new CD of Neapolitan and Italian songs titled of Ti voglio tanto bene dedicated to the great Italian tenors of the past and featuring classical Italian and Neapolitan songs. He is also featured on Many Voices, a compilation of songs by composer Steven Mercurio on Sony Classical.
On DVD, Giordani can be seen in Franco Zeffirelli's 2004 production of Madama Butterfly from the Arena di Verona (2004); in La Bohème from the Opernhaus Zürich (2005); in La Gioconda, from the Teatro Bellini of Catania (2006); in La Forza del Destino by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, filmed live in HD from the stage of the Teatro Comunale of Florence, Italy, in 2007; and in four Metropolitan Opera productions filmed in HD and broadcast live on the HD international network, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Simon Boccanegra and Turandot.
[Updated September 23, 2011 ]
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