Luca Pisaroni Enjoys Success in Houston Debut as Almaviva, Before Heading to Dallas for Beethoven and Glyndebourne for Rinaldo

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“Pisaroni exudes complete authority and magnetism.” – Houston Chronicle

The fast-rising Luca Pisaroni was a hit at Houston Grand Opera in his house and role debut last month as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. After opening night, the Houston Chronicle reported: “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.” The singer has another engagement in the Lone Star State this month, singing in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (May 19-22). His next operatic engagement is another key role debut, when he returns to the U.K.’s Glyndebourne Festival to sing Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo (July 2 – Aug 22). Pisaroni also appears in a newly released EMI Classics DVD of Don Giovanni, starring as Leporello alongside the Don of Gerald Finley, Donna Elvira of Kate Royal, and Donna Anna of Anna Samuil. The DVD documents Glyndebourne’s first new production of Mozart’s iconic opera in ten years, with stage direction by Jonathan Kent and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Pisaroni reprises his Leporello in a live Don Giovanni at Germany’s Baden-Baden Festival conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin (July 18-24).

More praise for Pisaroni’s debut as Count Almaviva for Houston Grand Opera came courtesy of CultureMap Houston, which echoed the Chronicle, declaring that the singer’s performance made for “a definitive, vastly funny interpretation.” Pisaroni sang the Count in Houston’s Le nozze after more than 100 performances in the opera as Figaro. The bass-baritone made a name for himself in the latter role, being the Figaro of choice for three new music directors this season: Nicola Luisotti at San Francisco Opera, Philippe Jordan at Opéra de Paris, and Franz Welser-Möst at the Vienna State Opera. Switching parts in Mozart’s subversive comic masterpiece – from working-class hero Figaro to his upper-crust nemesis – was a “thrilling opportunity,” Pisaroni explained, adding: “I see this debut as the first stone in my process of building the bridge between roles like Figaro, Leporello, and Guglielmo – which are closer to my personality – and the ultimate goal, which is Don Giovanni.”

After appearing with the Dallas Symphony under Jaap van Zweden in Beethoven’s Ninth this month, Pisaroni sings in Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst on May 26 and 28. And before reprising his Leporello at the Baden-Baden Festival, Pisaroni returns to Glyndebourne on July 2, when he unveils his portrayal of another new “bad guy,” Argante in Rinaldo.

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