Luca Pisaroni

Luca Pisaroni (born 1975) is an Italian operatic bass-baritone, known for his roles in Mozart's operas, but who has steadily expanded his repertoire into the Baroque as well as moving beyond into Rossini.

Early life Although born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, Pisaroni's family moved to Busseto in Italy – the home of Giuseppe Verdi — when he was four years old. There, his father owned a car-repair firm and his mother was a teacher; it was in that town where he noted "you feel Verdi's spirit all over the place!"

He began his training at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, where he was not comfortable, Pisaroni sang Masetto at the 2002 Salzburg Festival in Mozart's Don Giovanni. These early appearances led to engagements throughout the world in the major Mozart operas.

Pisaroni has since appeared in major opera houses and festivals across Europe and America. In 2002, he debuted at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival with Haydn's Nelson Mass, and at the Salzburg Festival as Masetto in Don Giovanni, where he has performed every summer since.

Opera Apart from the aforementioned roles, Pisaroni also has an extensive list of onstage performances to his credit. These include many Mozart roles such as Publio (from La Clemenza di Tito) for the Salzburg Festival at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera. Leporello (from Don Giovanni) at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Opéra Bastille followed, then Figaro again at The Santa Fe Opera as well as at the Met. At the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées he performed once more as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Guglielmo (from Così fan tutte) for the Netherlands Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and the Salzburg Mozart Week were additions to his Mozart portrayals.

Pisaroni appeared as Alidoro in La Cenerentola in Santiago, Chile, and, in 2012, as the title character in Maometto II at The Santa Fe Opera, which presented the world premiere of the new critical edition prepared by Philip Gossett from the 1820 edition.

His Puccini roles have included Colline in La bohème.

Pisaroni's appearances in Handel roles such as Tiridate in Radamisto at the Houston Opera, in addition to Achilla in Giulio Cesare for Opera Colorado and Melisso from Alcina, have been distinguished, but regarding his attitude to singing more Baroque opera and, specifically, in response to a question as to whether he might do some Cavalli or some Vivaldi in addition, he stated: To be honest with you, I find the Baroque very interesting both dramatically and vocally, but it is something that you need to let go after a while, if you want to develop your voice to do a certain "heavier" repertoire. Many Baroque singers only sing Baroque and this is not what I want to do. I enjoyed doing Baroque; [in addition to the roles named above] I did Rinaldo, Cavalli's Ercole Amante, and I did Ariodante but there is a moment when you say "if I want my voice to develop I need to explore other repertoire". He returned to the Met in 2015 as Leporello in the company's production of Don Giovanni.

Concerts In concert performances, Pisaroni has sung Zebul in Händel's Jephtha with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

He has also performed Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor under Ivor Bolton, and Mozart's Mass in C Minor under Marc Minkowski, both at the Salzburg Festival.

Furthermore, Pisaroni also has Niccolò Piccinni's Iphigénie en Tauride with the Orchestre National de France, Mozart's Coronation Mass at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso in Toulouse and Brussels under his belt, the last two with Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

He has a keen interest in lieder, and has linked his living in Vienna with his love of Schubert. Among other composers represented in his song recitals are Beethoven, Reichardt, Brahms and Liszt. .

Discography

Cavalli – Ercole Amante – Bolton, Netherlands Opera, Amsterdam (DVD) Haydn – Requiem – Bolton Handel – La Resurrezione – Haim Handel – Rinaldo (DVD) Martin y Soler – Il burbero di buon cuore – Rousset (DVD) Mozart – Cosi fan tutte – Fischer – Glyndebourne (DVD) Mozart – Cosi Fan Tutte – Metzmacher, Netherlands Opera (DVD)

Mozart – Don Giovanni – Harding – Salzburg (DVD) (Masetto) Mozart – Don Giovanni – Jurowski – Glyndebourne (DVD) (Leporello) Mozart – Le nozze di Fígaro – Jacobs – París (DVD) Mozart – Le nozze di Fígaro – Metzmacher – Amsterdam (DVD) Mozart – La clemenza di Tito – Harnoncourt – Salzburg (DVD) Mozart – Mass in c minor – Langrée Rossini – La cenerentola – Zedda