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Vittorio Grigòlo
Born in Arezzo on February 19, 1977 Vittorio Grigòlo
moves to Rome where from an early age he performs as a soloist
in the Sistine Chapel Choir. At the age of 13 he makes
his debut in the role of the Pastorello in "Tosca"
at the Opera House in Rome, conducted by Mo. Daniel
Oren. On that occasion he meets Maestro Luciano
Pavarotti, who congratulates with him praising
his vocal and expressive talent.
He then begins his professional training, improving
with the help of Bass Danilo Rigosa, who
still continues to work with him as his tutor.
In 1996 he wins a scholarship at the 12th
“R. and F. Mecenati” International Song Competition, which leads
him to debut at just 19 in Rossini's "Petite
Messe Solennelle". In the same year he is
invited in Wien and Split to perform in a
production of the opera "Turco in Italia"
(The Turkish in Italy), playing Don Narciso. Later
that year he is in Italy to perform Count of Almaviva in
the "Barber of Seville", at Florence
Maggio Musicale and at the Verona
Philharmonic Theatre. He comes back either
in Rome and Verona in the role of Nemorino in "The
Elixir of Love", where he gets very positive
reviews and a great appreciation from the audience. At the
age of 22 he debutes at the Cagliari Opera Theatre in the
role of Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni",
proving a huge success.
In 2000 , at the age of 23, he debutes
at the La Scala Theatre in Milan in the
opening concert for the celebration of Verdi's Year, conducted
by Riccardo Muti (CD – La Scala Edition).
At the Ravenna Festival he plays Tybalt
in "The Capulets and the Montagues" ,
under the direction of Cristina Mazzavillani Muti. He also
participates at the Mozart Festival
in Rovereto with the Florentine Maggio Musicale
Orchestra. At the Bologna Opera House
he debutes as Steuerman in "The Flying Dutchman"
and, in the following season, plays Fenton in "Falstaff", conducted
by Daniele Gatti.
He performs in numerous concerts broadcast live on television,
including the New Year's Concert attended by the President
of the Republic of Italy. One to remember is his performance
as the main singer in the first world's performance
at the Rome Opera Theatre, in Sergio Rendine's "Romanza".
Within just few years he is singing for the major operatic
institutions under the batons of Riccardo Muti,
Daniel Oren, Myung-Whun Chung, Lorin Maazel, Gianluigi Gelmetti
and Daniele Gatti. His repertoire includes operas
such as: "The Elixir of Love", "Bohéme"
, "La Traviata", "Falstaff",
"Rigoletto", "Lucia
di Lammermoor", "Don Giovanni",
"Così fan tutte", "Lakmé",
"Werther" and "Faust". He
also sings some of the masterworks of the sacred repertoire,
including: "Petite Messe Solennelle"
and "Stabat Mater" by Rossini,
"Requiem", "Vesprae Solemnes"
and "Litaniae Lauretane"
by Mozart as well as Verdi's "Messa da Requiem".
In the 2003 season he plays the
role of Tony in "West Side Story", the
very famous musical composed by Leonard Bernstein, at
La Scala in Milan, followed by a tour in
the main cities of Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and Osaka)
as well as in Lebanon, at prestigious Beiteddine
Festival in Beirut.
For the opening of the opera season at the Massimo
Theatre in Palermo he makes his debut in "Lakmè"
by L.Délibes, playing the role of the English
officer Gérald. Immediately after he is invited
to participate in the Concert held in honour of Maria Callas
at the new Santa Cecilia's “Parco della Musica” Auditorium
in Rome.
During the 2004/05 season he debutes in
the opera "Candide" at the Carlo
Felice Theatre in Genua, performing the peculiar roles
of the Governor / Vanderbendur / Ragotzky. In the same season
he also debutes in the role of Camille de Rossillon in "The
Merry Widow" at the Verona Philharmonic
Theatre, directed by Gino Landi.
Straight afterwards at the Florentine Maggio Musicale
, he performs the "Petite Messe Solennelle"
by Rossini.
He was then called again to perform in Palermo as
Nemorino in Donizetti's opera "The Elixir
of Love", conducted by Maestro Maurizio Arena.
In the Rome Opera House summer season he performs
"Messa da Requiem " by G. Verdi
in the wonderful, evocative setting of the Baths of Caracalla,
under the baton of Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti.
For the opening concert of the symphonic season at the Santa
Cecilia Auditorium in Rome, he is invited by Maestro Myung
Whun Chung to perform the role of Arbace in Mozart's "Idomeneo".
On the occasion of the celebrations of the "Mozart
Year" at the Rome Opera Theatre he is conducted
by G. Gelmetti in the role of Ferrando
in the opera "Così Fan Tutte",
gaining a huge success either among the audience
and the media also on an international level.
In July 2005 he is invited by Maestro
Daniel Oren to perform at the International
Operetta Festival at the Verdi Opera Theatre in Trieste,
playing the role of Count Camille de Rossillon in "
The Merry Widow" by F. Lehár,
showing his strong temperament and passion in romantic roles.
In the same season, he debutes in the role of the Duke of
Mantova in Verdi's "Rigoletto",
at the Hamburg Staatsoper.
For the opening of the operatic season he performs
at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona,
playing the role of Cassius in " Othello"
by G. Verdi. In this role, the critique highlights
his scenic power praising his character,
technique and timbre.
2006 is the year when his first album
entitled “In The Hands of Love” is released,
a collection of songs of Pop Opera genre.
Vittorio enters the British Top Ten charts achieving
a record in sales which confirms him as the leading
classical solo artist.
He also makes his live debut in the UK
with a concert held at prestigious Royal
Albert Hall in London, where he returns one
month later to perform some of the arias from
the Tenor's repertoire along with singers such as Placido
Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa at the "Classical Brit
Awards”, the prestigious British 'Oscars' Ceremony for the
Classical Music.
During 2006 his album is also released in Holland
, the United States and Australia,
in some countries with just the title "Vittorio",
with very positive results in terms of sales.
In the summer of 2006 Vittorio is in the
wonderful setting of the ancient Villa Adriana
in Tivoli (Rome) to record the album repertoire
in the TV special for PBS, the Public American network,
performing many of the songs included in his album "Vittorio".
On April 20, 2007 he opens the
season at the Opera House in Rome singing "Traviata"
under the baton of Mo. Gianluigi Gelmetti
and directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
The cast also features Angela Gheorghiu
and Renato Bruson.
In May he flies to Sydney, Australia to perform "Stabat
Mater" by Rossini at the Opera House together
with Mo. Gelmetti as the Conductor.
In June he starts the collaboration with a new Manager,
Michele Torpedine.
On July 30 "West Side Story"
is released on CD, to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the famous musical.
Hayley Westenra, the young and very talented Artist, is
Maria on the recording. With her he performs the most famous
songs of the musical in a unique concert outside London
broadcast by Classic FM , the prestigious
British radio network. The album has been nominated
at the 50th edition of the Grammy Awards in the “Best
Musical Show Album” category.
On September 15 he opens the season at the Washington
National Opera in the role of Rodolfo in "La
Bohéme" by Giacomo Puccini. For this debut,
years after his first meeting in Rome, Vittorio has the
occasion of finalize the role of Rodolfo under the advice
of Maestro Luciano Pavarotti.
Critics and audiende acknowledge him a great success.
On October 13 he participates in the 32nd Niaf Gala
(National Italian American Foundation)
in Washington performing "Nessun Dorma"
as tribute to Luciano Pavarotti at the presence of Laura
Bush, Rudolph Giuliani, Nancy Pelosi, Martin Scorsese as
well as many other prestigous members of the Italian American
community.
The year ended with "The Merry Widow"
conducted by M° Daniel Oren at the
Opera House in Rome.
2008 opens up with a new role, Rinuccio in "Gianni
Schicchi" by Puccini which Vittorio has debuted
at the prestigious Teatro alla Scala in
Milan, under the Conduction of M° Riccardo Chailly,
directed by Luca Ronconi and sharing the
stage with Leo Nucci.
Vittorio is presently in Valencia to perform Verdi's "Requiem"
conducted by M° Lorin Maazel. The rest
of the year will see him busy with new operas, besides the
release on Decca of his new pop album in the next months.
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