In June, Giordani will appear at the Arena di Verona, the site of one of the most prestigious European summer opera festivals, to sing one of his signature roles, Caravadossi in Tosca. On August 28, he will travel to Puerto Rico for a solo recital. The recital, which will take place at the Centro de Bellas Artes in San Juan, is part of a very prestigious recital series, and will include selections from Puccini, Tosti, Leoncavallo and Bizet. Giordani will be accompanied by pianist Kathy Olsen.

Giordani will begin the new 2008-2009 opera season on the stage of the Vienna Staatsoper as Alvaro in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino. He made his debut as Alvaro in November 2007 at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The performance was recorded in high-definition video and digital audio to be presented in movie houses throughout the U.S. and Europe. A DVD of the opera is scheduled for release later in the year. In the new production of the opera by the Vienna Staatsoper, Marcello will be joined by soprano Nina Stemme as Leonore and baritone Carlos Alvarez as Don Carlos.

He will return to the Staatsoper later in the month to sing Romeo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, a role which has been in his repertory since the beginning of his career, and which he sang as recently as October 2007 at the Metropolitan, replacing, on very short notice, an ailing colleague. A review of this performance can be found on the October 8 issue of ”The New York Times”

"Simply as a feat of memory, you have to give Mr. Giordani credit: he moved confidently through this three-hour work with no rehearsal, scarcely glancing at the prompter’s box…. [He] saved his most powerful work for the tomb scene, which he sang with a wrenching intensity and a solid, ringing top." (“Whofore Art Thou, O Tenor?”, The New York Times, October 8, 2007)

In between his two appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper, Giordani will make a quick stop in NY to sing in a pre-season performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Met on Thursday, September 18. The performance, conducted by James Levine, will mark the anniversary of the death of Luciano Pavarotti last September, and will be free to the public, but tickets are required. (Details for ticket distribution will be announced on the Metropolitan Opera website in September.) Singing with Giordani will be soprano Barbara Frittoli, mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, and bass James Morris.

Giordani returns to New York in November to assume the role of Faust in one of the highlights of the Met’s 2008-09 season: La Damnation de Faust by Berlioz, conducted by James Levine.

La Damnation de Faust is one of many musical compositions in the 19th century based on Goethe’s Faust. The work is not an opera, as it was written for the concert stage, and it’s often referred to as a Dramatic Legend involving 3 principal singers who represent the 3 main characters of the story: Faust (tenor), Méphistophélès (bass), and Marguerite/Gretchen(mezzo-soprano), and also featuring a chorus and a large orchestra. Of all the major works inspired by Goethe’s poem, La Damnation de Faust is deemed to be the greatest, and is also considered to be Berlioz’ masterpiece, displaying a modern and innovative orchestration and dramatic as well as lyric vocal writing.

Giordani sang the work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine in Tanglewood in September 2007, and then in a worldwide tour which included Switzerland, Germany, France and England. In an interview published in ”MusicalCriticism.com” in August 2007 (click on the link for full review),
he spoke of his admiration for Berlioz’ vocal writing: “I admire the simplicity of the melodic line, which is almost like Bellini…. It proves that sometimes, the more simple music is, the more beautiful it becomes.”

The Met’s performance of Saturday, November 22, 2008, also featuring Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Méphistophélès, will be simulcast in theaters around the world as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Live in HD” series of opera transmissions.

On November 28, 2007, Marcello made his debut as Don Alvaro in Verdi’s La Forza del destino, at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, with Violeta Urmana as Leonora and Carlo Guelfi as Don Carlo, under the direction of Zubin Mehta, (for additional information see “Recent News” below). The performance was recorded in high-definition video and digital audio by Rai Trade, a division of Italy’s state broadcasting network, as part of an agreement between Rai Trade and La Scala for the recording and broadcasting of opera productions. Currently, seven productions have been selected for live broadcasting via satelline and for presentation in movie houses throughout the U.S. and Europe. Rai 3, which broadcast La Forza del destino live on opening night, will broadcast it again on Saturday, 15 December at 20.00 local time. (Click here for Rai 3 announcement of this event).

In Italy the productions will be shown in cinemas of the Microcinema network, the first European circuit of digital movies via satellite. In the U.S., the operas will be distributed by Emerging Pictures to theaters, museums and cultural centers.

A list of all participating theaters in the U.S. (more are being added regularly) is available at “www.emergingpictures.com/opera_venues.htm”. Since each theatre can schedule its opera showings independently, please contact the individual venues for dates and times for each presentation.

A DVD of the opera is scheduled for release in the near future.

Click on the title to read the following articles:

Soloist took an unconventional path to success
David Weininger
The Boston Globle – April 20, 2008

Tenor Giordani Sings for Pope at Yankee Stadium: Interview
Manuela Hoelterhoff
Bloomberg.com – April 11, 2008

Lyrically Speaking
Philipp Brieler
The Metropolitan Opera – October 2007

Giordani, il genio della versatilità
Gina di Meo
America Oggi/Oggi7 – 4 March 2007

A Tenor Cashes In on His Money Notes
Matthew Gurewitsch
The New York Times – January 21, 2007

Q and A: Marcello Giordani on Minghella, Masterclasses and Vocal Crisis
Vivien Schweitzer
PaybillArts - 25 Sep 2006

Tenor of the times - Marcello Giordani hits his stride at the Metropolitan Opera
Marion Lignana Rosenberg
Time Out New York – September 2006

• Berlioz’ Les Troyens with the BSO

In April and May 2008, Marcello Giordani will sing for the first time the role of Aeneas in a concert performance of Berlioz’ epic masterpiece, Les Troyens, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus conducted by James Levine.

This marks the first time the BSO has presented a complete performance of this epic, five-act opera, which was never performed in its entirety during Berlioz’ lifetime. It is also the only major Berlioz work the BSO has never previously performed.

The opera is four and a half hours long and will be presented in two parts: Part I, The Capture of Troy on April 22 and 26, and Part II, The Trojans at Carthage on April 30 and May 2. It will then be presented in its entirety on Sunday, May 4, with Part I at 3 p.m. and Part II at 6:30 p.m. It will be sung in French with English supertitles.

An illustrious cast, which includes mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter as Dido, mezzo-soprano Yvonne Naef as Cassandra and baritone Dwayne Croft as Chorebus, joins Marcello Giordani in presenting Berlioz’ rarely heard masterpiece to the public.

Based on the 2nd and 4th books of Virgil’s The Aeneid (adapted by Berlioz himself ), Les Troyens is a grand opera of epic proportions. Part I of the opera recounts the capture and destruction of the city of Troy by the Greeks. At its center stands the majestic figure of Cassandre, whose prophetic vision of the fall of Troy in Act I, becomes reality in Act II of the opera. Part II deals with the escape of Aeneas from the burning city, his arrival in Carthage, the love which develops between Aeneas and Dido, the widowed Queen of Carthage, and Aeneas final departure for Italy and abandonment of Dido to fulfill the destiny that the Gods have chosen for him.

Les Troyens is reputed to be Berlioz’ greatest musical achievement. In a letter written in 1861, Berlioz declared: “I am sure that I have written a great work, greater and nobler than anything done hitherto.”

• Marcello Giordani to sing for the Pope

On the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to New York in April, Marcello Giordani will sing "Panis Angelicus" by César Franck, at the Papal Mass in Yankee Stadium, on Sunday, April 20th. He will also sing "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot at the pre-Mass show at noon.

Singing for the Pope is an honor to which Marcello has aspired all his professional life: "As a Catholic, he said during a recent interview, one of my greatest dreams has been to sing for the Pope, and I am profoundly honored to have been asked to participate in Pope Benedict XVI's first Mass open to the general public in New York."

The mass is scheduled to begin at 2:30PM and will be broadcast on a global pool feed, enabling any news station to carry it live. For more information on the proceedings of the Pope's visit, check the Archidiocese of New York's website. For ticket information click here or call 212.371.1011 Ext. POPE (7673).

Last update: 6 May 2008