SALVATORE LICITRA, tenor
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There could have been no finer Alvaro than that sung by tenor Salvatore Licitra. He owned the role from the moment he walked onstage, 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
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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.
Engagements of the 2009-2010 season include opera and concert performances in Europe, the United States and Japan. Season highlights will be a new Ernani production at the Lyric Opera Chicago and his role debuts as Calaf in Turandot at the New York Metropolitan Opera and as Dick Johnson in a new production of La fanciulla del West at the San Francisco Opera.
In September he also sings Ernani at the Zurich Opera aside Daniela Dessi and Thomas Hampson conducted by Nello Santi. He then starts rehearsals with Sondra Radvanovsky and Giacomo Prestia for the new Ernani production by Jose Maria Condemi in Chicago. The all November performances at the Lyric Opera will be conducted by Renato Palumbo.
December sees Salvatore Licitra’s return to the New York Met where he first can be heard as Luigi in Il Tabarro. After concerts at Carnegie Hall as well as at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach, Florida, he starts the new year back at the Met with his role debut as Calaf in the spectacular Zeffirelli production of Puccini’s Turandot aside Maria Guleghina and under the baton of Andris Nelsons.

Back in Europe he sings the role of Riccardo in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the ABAO in Bilbao, Spain. Thereafter he travels to Japan where he enjoys a great popularity. He sings concerts in Tokyo, Hyogo and Nagoya followed by Radames in Verdi’s Aida at the Met and later Tosca with the Rome Opera.
In May he will be back at the Munich State Opera for more performances of Aida in the production by Christof Nel which he premiered in June 2009. At the end of the season he looks forward to his highly anticipated role debut as Dick Johnson in a new production of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West at the San Francisco 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.

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 LincolnCenterPlaza 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 including a ‘3 Tenors’ concerts at the National Grand Theater in Beijing aside Marcello Giordani and Ramon Vargas during the 2008 Summer Olympics

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