Marcello Giordani has been hailed by the international press as one of the most important tenors of his generation. He has appeared in all of the world’s major opera houses and has sung with many of today’s most renowned conductors. He has a vast repertory, from the Bel Canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini and the lyricism of the French operatic repertoire, to the more dramatic roles of Verdi, Puccini and Berlioz and, most recently, the popular Verismo operas of Mascagni and Leoncavallo. Born in Augusta, Sicily, in 1963, Marcello Giordani began his voice studies in 1983 in Catania, and then in Milan. In 1986, he won the singing competition of Spoleto, and that same year he made his professional debut as the Duke in Rigoletto at the Festival of Spoleto in Italy. His debut in the United States was in the role of Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Portland Opera during the 1988-89 season. In 1988 he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala as Rodolfo in La Bohème, and at the Metropolitan Opera as Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore in 1993. Early milestones of his career include his debuts as Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera of London under the direction of Sir Georg Solti (1997); in La Damnation de Faust (1999) with the Munich Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Levine; and in Lucrezia Borgia with OONY at Carnegie Hall (2000). So far he had sung over 200 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. During his career he performed at the Opernhaus Zürich, Vienna State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Houston Grand Opera, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio di Parma, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Arena di Verona, the Verbier Festival, and the Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago. In 2010, he created the Marcello Giordani Foundation to help young opera singers at the beginning of their career. His discography includes the first studio recording of Verdi’s Jérusalem and 3 solo recordings: Tenor Arias (Naxos), featuring arias by various Italian composers; Sicilia Bella (VAI) a collection of songs of authors from his native Sicily; and Ti voglio tanto bene, a CD of Neapolitan and Italian songs dedicated to the great Italian tenors of the past. He is also featured on Many Voices, a compilation of songs by composer Steven Mercurio. On DVD, Giordani can be seen in Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Madama Butterfly from the Arena di Verona (2004); La Bohème from the Opernhaus Zürich (2005); La Gioconda, from the Teatro Bellini of Catania (2006); La Forza del Destino by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (2007), and in five Metropolitan Opera productions: Manon Lescaut (2008), Madama Butterfly (2009), Turandot (2009), Simon Boccanegra (2010), and La Fanciulla del West (2011). He was also featured in two additional Met Opera productions broadcast live to participating cinemas worldwide as part of the Met’s “live in HD” series: Verdi’s Ernani and Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini.
