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The Venezuelan-born Italian bass-baritone, Luca Pisaroni, was 4 years old his family moved to Busseto in Italy - the home of Giuseppe Verdi. There, his father owned a car-repair firm and his mother was a teacher, it was in that town where, he notes, "you feel Verdi's spirit all over the place!" and where his love of opera began. While not actually attending the musical academy run by the famous local tenor Carlo Bergonzi - he listened-in to his master classes after school - Pisaroni was influenced by the tenor: He began his training at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, where he was not comfortable, and so continued his studies for a year in Buenos Aires with Renato Sassola and Rozita Zozulya, and also in New York.
After his musical training, he made his professional debut in 2001 in Germany and sang Masetto at the 2002 Salzburg Festival in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It was through his appearance there that he met both the American baritone Thomas Hampson (who was singing the Don) and his daughter Cate. Cate and Pisaroni were subsequently married and now make their home in Vienna. These early appearances led to engagements throughout the world in the major W.A. Mozart operas. Although known for his roles in W.A. Mozart's operas, he has steadily expanded his repertoire into the Baroque as well as moving beyond into Rossini. He has established himself as one of the most charismatic and versatile singers performing today, appearing at the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls, and festivals.
Luca Pisaroni’s diverse operatic repertoire includes performances of Enrico VIII in Anna Bolena at Opernhaus Zürich and Wiener Staatsoper; Alidoro in La Cenerentola and Caliban in The Enchanted Island at the Met; W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Leporello in Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne, the Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, and at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine; Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte at Glyndebourne and the Salzburg Festival; Conte Dorval in Martin y Soler’s Il Burbero di Buon Cuore at Teatro Real; Maometto in Rossini’s Maometto II at the Canadian Opera Company; and Tiridate in Radamisto at Santa Fe Opera. He sang Argante in Rinaldo at Lyric Opera of Chicago; the title role in Cavalli's Ercole Amante with De Nederlandse Opera; Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas for the Wiener Festwochen; and Don Fernando in L.v. Beethoven’s Fidelio with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
In concert, Luca Pisaroni has performed L.v. Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten at the Musikverein Wien, under Nikolaus Harnoncourt; Rossini's Stabat Mater with Franz Welser-Möst; Robert Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Sir Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Robert Schumann’s Faustszenen with Daniel Harding and the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has also been a featured soloist in L.v. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Michael Tilson Thomas; W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; Johannes Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem under the baton of Edo de Waart; J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass (BWV 232) with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; Felix Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall, under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado; Johann Adolf Hasse’s I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore and Cherubini’s Missa Solemnis under Riccardo Muti; Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Daniel Harding; and Testi’s Sacrae Symphoniae under the direction of Daniele Gatti, with the Orchestre National de Radio France.
In addition to his extensive opera and concert appearances, Luca Pisaroni has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia Festival, the Concertgebouw, Edinburgh Festival, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Vancouver Recital Society, and the Dortmund Konzerthaus, among other major international venues.
The 2010-2011 season saw Luca Pisaroni as the Figaro of choice in productions of Le Nozze di Figaro for three new music directors: Nicola Luisotti at San Francisco Opera, Philippe Jordan at Opéra de Paris and Franz Welser-Möst at the Wiener Staatsoper. Gaining renown for his dramatic versatility, the bass-baritone made his house and role debut last spring at Houston Grand Opera as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, this after more than 100 performances in W.A. Mozart's opera as Figaro. About his performance as the Count, The Houston Chronicle said, "With his dashing looks and proud manner, Pisaroni exudes complete authority and magnetism. His potent bass-baritone unfurls with such grandeur and resoluteness that one can easily believe this is a fellow who has spent his entire life getting his way."
Among the highlights of Luca Pisaroni's 2011-2012 season was his Metropolitan Opera role debut as Leporello in the Met’s new production of Don Giovanni, Oct. 13-Nov. 11, 2011. Previously, he played the part at this summer's Baden-Baden Festival in Germany under Yannick Nézet-Séguin - a performance recorded by Deutsche Grammophon - and his star turn as Leporello in an acclaimed 2010 Glyndebourne production of Don Giovanni was documented on an EMI Classics DVD, released this spring. BBC Music magazine praised the DVD as one to have listeners "shivering with the best of them," adding that "Gerald Finley as the Don and Luca Pisaroni's nimble Leporello play a thought-provoking double act." December 2011 and January 2012, saw also Pisaroni perform at the Metropolitan Opera alongside Plácido Domingo and Joyce DiDonato in The Enchanted Island, a freshly conceived Shakespearean pastiche featuring music by George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi and Rameau, conducted by William Christie. And in February and March 2012, he made his CLyric Opera debut, reprising his portrayal of Argante for a new production of Rinaldo.
Luca Pisaroni begins the 2016-2017 season as Leporello in W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Berlin Staatsoper, followed by his role debut as Méphistophélès in Charles Gounod’s Faust at Houston Grand Opera. He will sing the role of Conte Rodolfo in Bellini’s La Sonnambula and Méphistophélès at the Wiener Staatsoper. He returns to the Metropolitan Opera stage to debut as Giorgio in Bellini’s I Puritani, led by Maurizio Benini, and will then make his highly anticipated debut at Teatro alla Scala as Leporello in W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, under the baton of Paavo Järvi.
This season, Luca Pisaroni’s concert appearances include Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Musikverein Wien, G.F. Handel’s Messiah with Les Violons du Roy, L.v. Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis for the Elbphilharmonie Opening, W.A. Mozart’s Concert Arias and Schubert’s Orchestrated Songs with the Wiener Virtuosen and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass (BWV 232) with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet with Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He will also perform a series of recitals with pianist Maciej Pikulski at venues throughout Europe including Wigmore Hall and the Teatro de la Zarzuela. Additionally, he performs alongside Thomas Hampson in several concerts of the duo’s “No Tenors Allowed” program in Lisbon, Istanbul, Vienna, and in Leipzig at the Open Air-Bühne im Rosental.
Luca Pisaroni has recorded for all major labels, and his discography includes Don Giovanni and Rinaldo from the Glyndebourne Festival; Le nozze di Figaro with the Opéra National de Paris; Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro from the Salzburg Festival; and a recording of Don Giovanni with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additional releases include Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, alongside a spectacular cast including Thomas Hampson and Joseph Calleja, and most recently, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Luca Pisaroni lives in Vienna with his wife, Catherine. Their golden retriever Lenny 2.0 and miniature dachshund Tristan are the singer's constant traveling companions. |
