Hailed by Opera News as: “ … the greatest leading tenor of his generation …”, Marcello Giordani’s repertory encompasses a wide and diverse range of roles; a list that spans the gamut from the Bel Canto heroes of Donizetti and Bellini to the more dramatic roles of Verdi and Puccini.
In demand by the world’s major opera houses and symphony orchestras, Mr. Giordani added another arena to his career last April, when he sang Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” at the Pre-Mass concert in Yankee Stadium for Pope Benedict XVI, as well as César Franck’s Panis Angelicus at the actual mass before the Pope, fulfilling his life-long dream. This summer, Mr. Giordani will perform in recital at the Centro de Bellas Artes in Puerto Rico, and participate in a performance of the Verdi Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera. The latter, done with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the direction of James Levine, will be a special concert performed in memory of Luciano Pavarotti.
During the 2008/09 season, Mr. Giordani will sing Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at the Wiener Staatsoper, to be followed by the title role in Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera. This will be the first time since 1907 that this work is being performed by the Met, and it will be shown internationally in a live HD performance in November as part of the Met Opera – Live in HD series. Following these performances, Mr. Giordani travels to Barcelona to sing Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Don José in Carmen at the Bao-Olbea in Bilbao.
He then returns to the Metropolitan for performances as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in a production by the late Anthony Minghella. This too will receive a live HD performance in movie theatres throughout the world in March.
r. Giordani’s remaining performances during the 2008/09 season include a concert with orchestra at the Florida Grand Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera’s 125th Anniversary Gala in April.
Mr. Giordani opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2007/08 season for the second consecutive year, in a new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor under the direction of James Levine, and directed by Tony Award-winning director, Mary Zimmerman. Shortly after the opening night Mr. Giordani performed Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette opposite Anna Netrebko on three hours’ notice replacing an ailing colleague at the Met; he had not sung the role since 2003. A short while after that, Mr. Giordani was called upon again on a few hours’ notice, this time replacing another colleague as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. This last performance puts at five, Mr. Giordani’s total roles at the Metropolitan Opera last season, and calls to mind tenors such as Caruso, Corelli, and Domingo, who were engaged by the company for extended periods of time to perform a wide-ranging repertoire. Further performances with the company during the 2007/08 season were Des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut also conducted by Maestro Levine, and his role debut in the title role of Verdi’s Ernani. This production, conducted by Roberto Abbado, marked the first time that this opera was performed at the Met since 1985. In addition to his performances at the Met, Mr. Giordani sang Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” at the tribute to Luciano Pavarotti at the 2007 Columbus Day Parade, performed Andrea Chénier at the Opernhaus Zürich, and made his debut in La Forza del Destino at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The performance of Manon Lescaut was broadcast live from the Met in High-Definition in cinemas throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan as part of the Metropolitan Opera - Live in HD, and later broadcast over PBS as part of Live from the Met. Mr. Giordani’s performance in La Forza del Destino was filmed at a live performance by Emerging Pictures and shown in cinemas internationally as well.
Mr. Giordani also participated in a gala concert for Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall, and performed in Marcello Giordani and Friends in Florida. He made two more role debuts in the title role in Puccini’s Edgar with Opera Orchestra of New York also in Carnegie Hall, and Enée in a series of concert performances of Berlioz’ Les Troyens with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Levine.
In the summer of 2007, Mr. Giordani made his role debut as Paolo il Bello in the premiere production of Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini at the Opernhaus Zürich; he sang La Bohème at the Arena di Verona, and Tosca at the Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago. Mr. Giordani made his Tanglewood debut in Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Levine, and toured this work with the BSO and Maestro Levine in Lucerne, Essen, Paris, and London.
Mr. Giordani began the 2006/07 season, as Pinkerton in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Madama Butterfly directed by Anthony Minghella; this marked his first opening-night performance. Further performances at the Metropolitan Opera were La Gioconda, Rigoletto, La Bohème, and Simon Boccanegra. He performed at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala and sang Manon Lescaut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Additional performances during this season included Andrea Chénier at the Teatro Massimo Bellini, a performance at the gala concert of that theatre in celebration of their 110th anniversary, a concert for the Rosenblatt Recital Series in London, and Manon Lescaut at the Opernhaus Zürich.
During the 2005/06 season, Mr. Giordani sang Arnold in Guillaume Tell at the Wiener Staatsoper and then repeated the role in a concert with Opera Orchestra of New York. The latter performance proved such a triumph, that when he stopped the show with his rendition of the cabaletta “Amis, amis secondez ma vengeance”, the audience demanded that he sing it again.
He also sang Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Massimo Bellini, made his American debut in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera,
performed Manon Lescaut at the Teatro Regio di Parma, celebrated the 20th anniversary of his debut with a special concert at the Teatro Massimo Bellini, and made his debut in Don Carlo at the Teatro Regio
of Torino. Additional engagements last season featured Turandot at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, his first fully staged La Gioconda at the Teatro Massimo Bellini, Manon in Bilbao and Rigoletto at the Opernhaus Zürich.
Recent highlights in Mr. Giordani’s career include his debut in Andrea Chènier at the Macerata Summer Festival in 2005, and his debut in the title role of Il Trovatore at the Houston Grand Opera in 2004. During the 2003/04 season, Mr. Giordani made his role debut as Enzo in La Gioconda in two concert performances of this opera. The first, was with Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall, where his rendition of the aria “Cielo e Mar” received a four-minute ovation; the second was at the Royal Opera under the direction of Antonio Pappano. Also during this season, Mr. Giordani sang the title role in Berlioz’ Benvenuto Cellini in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere production under the direction of James Levine.
Earlier career highlights include the title role in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere production of Bellini’s Il Pirata, a new production of Les Vêpres Siciliennes at the Opéra National de Paris, and a highly acclaimed performance as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur with Opera Orchestra of New York. In 2001, Mr. Giordani became the first Italian in the history of the Metropolitan Opera to sing the role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin in Russian. That same season, he sang Verdi’s Requiem under the direction of James Levine in Carnegie Hall. Between the years 2000 and 1997, Mr. Giordani made his debuts with Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall in Lucrezia Borgia, and with the Munich Philharmonic in La Damnation de Faust under the direction of Maestro Levine. In addition, he sang Manon at the Metropolitan Opera, and appeared as Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera under the direction of Sir Georg Solti. These were the last operatic performances that Maestro Solti conducted.
Mr. Giordani made his professional stage debut as the Duke in
Rigoletto in Spoleto, Italy in 1986, his American debut as Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Portland Opera during their 1988-89 season, his La Scala debut as Rodolfo in La Bohème in 1988, and his Metropolitan Opera debut as Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore in 1993.
On television, Mr. Giordani has been a frequent guest star on the nationally televised Richard Tucker Gala, and the guest artist at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for their nationally televised Christmas midnight mass. He was also a guest artist in the 2006 Columbus Day Parade.
On record, Mr. Giordani has done the first studio recording of Verdi’s Jérusalem for Philips and has released two solo recordings. The first, on Naxos features tenor arias by Bellini, Bizet, Donizetti, Mascagni, Rossini, and Verdi, among others, and the second on VAI, entitled Sicilia Bella, features songs from Mr. Giordani’s native Sicily. He is also featured on Many Voices, a compilation of songs by composer Steven Mercurio on Sony Classical. On DVD, Mr. Giordani can be seen as Pinkerton in Franco Zeffirelli’s 2004 production of Madama Butterfly from the Arena di Verona, issued on TDK, as Rodolfo in a 2005 production of La Bohème from Zűrich, and as Enzo Grimaldi in La Gioconda from the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Cantania, on KICCO Music.
Mr. Giordani’s website is located at: www.marcellogiordani.com.