Giuseppe Filianoti, Tenor

 

Giuseppe Filianoti is one of the preeminent lyric tenors of his generation. The beauty of his voice, the passionate lyricism of his artistry, and the dramatic fervor of his approach to the stage have won him widespread critical and popular praise.

Since his professional debut in 1998, Mr. Filianoti has emerged as a beacon of style and nuance in a wide-ranging repertoire. While the majority of his performances have centered on the bel canto and later 19^th-century lyric Italian and French works, he has also successfully essayed roles by Cherubini and Mozart through those of such 20^th century masters as Strauss, Debussy, and Stravinsky.

Among the tenor’s engagements in the 2012-13 season are: a guest appearance by the Teatro alla Scala at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater in Don Giovanni (September); the Verdi Requiem in Strasbourg (September); both La clemenza di Tito (November/December, including a “Live in HD” performance) and La rondine (January) at the Metropolitan Opera; Rigoletto with Lyric Opera of Chicago (March); La clemenza di Tito for his company debut at Trieste’s Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi (April); and Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Bayerische Staatsoper (May/June).

Born in Reggio Calabria in 1974, the Italian tenor first obtained a degree in Literature, a background he considers to be essential to his operatic foundation and discipline. In 1997, he graduated from the “F. Cilea” Conservatory, studying under Anna Vandi. Mr. Filianoti won a highly-coveted two-year scholarship to Milan’s Accademia del Teatro alla Scala. During this period of intensive fine-tuning of his voice, he met Alfred Kraus, who became his mentor and the decisive influence in helping the young singer develop his artistic style, technique and virtuosity.

Mr. Filianoti made his debut in 1998 at Bergamo as Dom Sébastien. In 1999, after singing Argirio in Tancredi at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, he was engaged by Riccardo Muti to sing in Paisiello’s Nina, o sia pazza per amore. In 2003, again under Mo. Muti, he opened the season of La Scala with Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon. He made his Covent Garden debut in 2000 as Alfredo in La traviata, returning there in the title role of Donizetti’s Dom Sébastien in 2005 and more recently as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore. He is a frequent guest at La Scala, where he has performed in Falstaff, Rigoletto, Lucrezia Borgia, Gianni Schicchi, Un giorno di regno, and Lucia di Lammermoor. At Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera he has sung Faust, Gianni Schicchi, Die Zauberflöte and Werther, and made his debut with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in a concert version of Idomeneo.

In 2005 he made his widely celebrated American debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. In subsequent seasons he returned to the Company as Edgardo, as well as in many of his other signature roles, including Nemorino, Il duca di Mantova, Ruggero (La rondine) and Hoffmann. In addition to the Met, in the U.S. he has also appeared to great acclaim at the San Francisco Opera as Edgardo and at New York’s Carnegie Hall as Federico in Cilea’s L’Arlesiana. Nemorino was the role of his debut at the Los Angeles Opera in 2009, as well as at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2010, where he returned in 2011 for Edgardo. The vehicle for Mr. Filianoti’s debut with Washington Concert Opera was the title role in Werther, one of his favorite operas. His US recital debut took place on the Harriman Jewell Series in April 2012.

Additionally, Mr. Filianoti has performed in the major European opera houses: with both companies in Berlin (Faust / Deutsche Oper); the Verdi Requiem (at the Philharmonie) and Don Giovanni, for the Staatsoper, both under Daniel Barenboim; Vienna (Traviata, Elisir and Lucia); Barcelona (Traviata, Rigoletto, Elisir and Lucia); Florence (Traviata, Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni); Hamburg (Idomeneo, Hoffmann La bohème and Faust); Madrid (Traviata, Werther and Celos aun del aire matan); Paris (Rondine, Elisir, Hoffmann and Manon).

In 2004, Giuseppe Filianoti was awarded the Franco Abbiati Italian Critics´ Prize as Best Singer of the Year.

The tenor regularly expands his diverse discography and videography. Among the CDs are: on the Bongiovanni label, Giuseppe Sarti’s Giulio Sabino (Ottavio Dantone, cond.) and Lucrezia Borgia (Mariella Devia, Marianna Pizzolato, Marco Guidarini, Cond.); on ROF, Tancredi (from Pesaro, with Daniela Barcellona; Gianluigi Gelmetti conducting); on Opera Rara, Donizetti’s Dom Sébastien (with Vesselina Kasarova and Simon Keenlyside, Mark Elder, Cond.), for Naxos, Boito’s Mefistofele (with Dimitra Theodossiou and Ferruccio Furlanetto, led by Stefano Ranzani); on the BMG/Ricordi label, Paisiello’s Nina (Anna Caterina Antonacci, Juan Diego Flórez, Michele Pertusi, Riccardo Muti/La Scala.) Among his performances preserved on DVD are: Cherubini’s Medea (Hardy Classics) with Ms. Antonacci and Sara Mingardo, Evelino Pidò, Cond. from Torino; Rossini´s Moïse et Pharaon (on the TDK & ARTHAUS MUSIK labels), with Barbara Frittoli, Ildar Abdrazakov & Erwin Schrott, Mo. Muti/La Scala); La traviata (on La Voce) with Mariella Devia and Renato Bruson; Mefistofele on the Dynamic label (same cast as the previously-listed CD); and a 2007 New Year’s Gala Concert from the Teatro La Fenice with Ms. Theodossiou and Roberto Frontali). This season, a live recording of Cilea’s L’arlesiana will be released by CPO, including previously unperformed music.

This text is published under CC by 3.0.

 

Short Version

 

 

Giuseppe Filianoti is one of the preeminent lyric tenors of his generation. The beauty of his voice, the passionate lyricism of his artistry, and the dramatic fervor of his approach to the stage have won him widespread critical and popular praise.

Since his professional debut in 1998, Mr. Filianoti has emerged as a beacon of style and nuance in a wide-ranging repertoire. While the majority of his performances have centered on the bel canto and later 19^th-century lyric Italian and French works, he has also successfully essayed roles by Cherubini and Mozart through those of such 20^th century masters as Strauss, Debussy and Stravinsky

Among the tenor’s engagements in the 2012-13 season are: a guest appearance by the Teatro alla Scala at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater in Don Giovanni; the Verdi Requiem in Strasbourg; the Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s Gala (televised on the “Live From Lincoln Center” series); both La clemenza di Tito (including a “Live in HD” performance) and La rondine at the Metropolitan Opera; Rigoletto with Lyric Opera of Chicago; La clemenza di Tito for his company debut at Trieste’s Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi; and Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Additionally, Mr. Filianoti has also enjoyed frequent engagements at many of the world’s other leading opera houses, including the Wiener Staatsoper, Covent Garden, Opéra National de Paris, and both the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper Berlin, among many others.

Many of the tenor’s performances of both rarely-heard and popular works have appeared on CD and DVD on such labels as Opera Rara, Naxos, BMG/Ricordi, Bongiovanni, ROF, TDK, Arthaus Musik, La Voce, Dynamic, Hardy Classics and CPO.

 

 Last update: 16 November 2012

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.