Join Sony Masterworks' mailing list to stay up-to-date on all the latest news, tour info, contest announcements, and more!

BIOGRAPHY • CONTACT

"There could have been no finer Alvaro than that sung by tenor Salvatore Licitra. He owned the role fromt he moment he walked on stage, with a voice of thrilling power, fire and passion that rang through Music Hall. His Act 3 arioso, explaining his life, was rich with personality, as he communicated the anguish of his impossible situation to the last seat in the house". - The Cincinnati Enquirer

"Salvatore Licitra is a tenor in the grand Italian lyric tradition. His voice is exactly what the role of Turiddu calls for and he sang magnificiently, with great passion and gusto in all of his scenes. He has splendid high notes and there are many to sing in this opera. He stinted on none of them, recalling the heyday of his many predecessors like Giuseppe Di Stefano or Plácido Domingo". - Cavalleria Rusicana, Washington DC, ConcertoNet

The Italian Salvatore Licitra is one of the leading tenors in the beautiful and highly sought - after dramatic Italian repertoire where he shows his 'worthiness of the great Italian tradition ' (The New York Times). A frequent guest at major opera and concert stages in Europe, the United States and the Far East, his repertory includes Verdi's  Aida, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Forza del destino, Ernani, Macbeth, Don Carlos and Il Trovatore as well as Puccini's Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Il Tabarro, Bellini's Norma, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Giordano's Andrea Chenier, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana.

Mr. Licitra's 2008 - 2009 season will include new productions at the Los Angeles Opera, and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Prior to the season opening he sings a concert at the music festival in Singen, Germany, and a recital at the Northshire Performing Arts Festival in Vermont. The summer highlight will be a '3 Tenors' concerts at the National Grand Theater in Beijing aside Marcello Giordani and Ramon Vargas during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He then opens the season at the Los Angeles Opera in a new production of Puccini's Il Tabarro (Luigi) under the baton of James Conlon followed by his return to the Zurich Opera as Radames in Verdi's Aida. In December he will be heard in concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He begins the New Year with recitals at the Cal Performance Series in Berkley - to where he returns on popular demand after his huge success there in 2004 – as well as in Stuart, Florida, followed by performances of Aida for the season opening of the Rome Opera. After Pagliacci in Florence, Italy, he sings at the 125th Anniversary Gala of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Later in the season he returns to Berlin where he will be heard in both the title role of Andrea Chenier and as Radames in Verdi's Aida. In the same role he appears in Munich at the end of the season in a new Aida production at the Bavarian State Opera conducted by Daniele Gatti. The cast of the production by Christof Nel also includes Barbara Frittoli and Ekatarina Gubanova. The last performance on June 30th will mark the opening of the 2009 Munich Opera Festival.

During the summer of 2009 Mr. Licitra sings more Aida performances, this time with Maestro Barenboim at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as well as in Tel Aviv.

For the 2009/10 season, Licitra fans can already look forward to seeing him in a new production of Verdi's Ernani at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as in his role debut as Calaf in Puccini's Turandot at the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Mr. Licitra's engagements have taken him to the Vienna State Opera, Opernhaus Zurich, Munich's Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro alla Scala, London's Royal Opera, Paris Opera Bastille, Staatsoper Berlin, the opera companies of Rome, Naples, Lisbon, Oslo, Turin as well as to the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Opera in North America.

An exclusive artist for Sony/BMG Masterworks, his discography includes Il Trovatore and Tosca (both conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti), two solo albums of Verdi, Puccini and verismo arias and the soundtrack of The Man Who Cried. The Opernhaus Zurich released a DVD of their Aida production.

Salvatore Licitra was born in Bern, Switzerland and studied in Parma where in 1998 he made his debut at the Teatro Regio in Un Ballo in Maschera. He garnered international attention later that year when he unexpectedly inaugurated the 1998 Arena di Verona, again in Ballo. The following year Maestro Riccardo Muti brought him to La Scala for a new production of La Forza del Destino. In May 2002 Mr. Licitra stepped in on short notice for Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera where the legendary tenor was scheduled to sing his operatic farewell in Tosca. A sold - out theater plus 3,000 additional fans watching a live relay on the Lincoln Center Plaza gave the debutante a prolonged standing ovation. AP predicted "For Salvatore Licitra, it's just the beginning" hailing the debut as "the most triumphant" in recent memory."

Further highlight of his career include the Vienna State Opera performances of Norma, Tosca, Andrea Chenier, Aida and recently a new production of La Forza del Destino. He sang in Tosca, Aida, La Forza del Destino and Un ballo in Maschera at the New York Metropolitan Opera where he also gave his role debuts in Il Tabarro and I Pagliacci. At the Met he joined the ranks of few other international tenors by performing both Pagliacci and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana in one evening. He was part of the Met's live broadcast of the new production of Il Trittico into movie theaters in the USA and Europe. He was heard in Aida at the Arena di Verona and at the Zurich Opera where he also sang the premiere of a new production of Andrea Chenier. He gave role debuts as Ernani at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and as Don Carlos at the Los Angeles Opera and sang in Tosca at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. In addition he sang festival and concert performances worldwide.

Mr. Licitra makes his home in Lugano and New York.

Top

CONTACT

MANAGEMENT • PUBLICITY

Alessandro Ariosi

for Italy, Spain and France:

Opera Art
Via Isolalta Forette, 11
I - 37068  Vigasio, Verona
Phone +39.045.6649911
Fax +30.045.6649912
info@operaart.it

for the other countries:

DM Artist Mgmt
Alte Landstrasse, 40
CH - 8702  Zollikon
Phone +41.43.4994363
Fax +41.43.4994364
office@dmartist.com

Back to top

PUBLICITY

Peter Dingens
International Public Relations
Devrientweg 15
12207 Berlin
tel:  +49-30-27582637
fax: +49-30-27582638
mobile: +49-178-6337820
office@peterdingens.com

Silke Zimmermann
Sony Music Classical
E: silke.zimmermann@sonybmg.com

Back to top

REPERTOIRE

Verdi               Ballo in Maschera
                        Trovatore
                        Traviata
                        Macbeth
                        Aida
                        Forza del Destino
                        Don Carlo
                        Requiem
                        Ernani
                       
Bellini              Norma

Cilea                Adriana Lecovreur

Giordano         Andrea Chenier

LeonCavallo    Pagliacci

Mascagni         Cavalleria Rusticana

Puccini                        Tosca
                        Butterfly
                        Tabarro

Dvorak                        Stabat Mater

IN PREPARATION

Piccini             Manon Lescaut
                        Turandot
                        Fanciulla Del West
                        Boheme

Verdi               Otello
                        Rigoletto
                       

Back to top

SEE SALVATORE LICITRA LIVE!

JANUARY • FEBRUARY • MARCH • APRIL • JUNE • JULY

2009