Marcello Giordani has a diverse repertoire from the Bel Canto heroes of Donizetti and Bellini to the more dramatic roles of Verdi and Puccini. He opened the Metropolitan Opera's new 2007-2008 season as Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, in a new production by director Mary Zimmerman. He made his debut in Verdi's La Forza del Destino in 2007 with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence under the direction of Zubin Mehta.
Salvatore Licitra, already an emerging star in the leading opera houses of Europe, rocketed to worldwide notice in the spring of 2002, when he stepped in at short notice for Luciano Pavarotti to save a gala Metropolitan Opera performance of Puccini's Tosca. Recent work includes recitals and concerts in the U.S., Japan and China. One critic noted: “Licitra…a great tenor putting his stamp on bel canto ... the first tenor superstar of the 21st century.”
Ramon Vargas has been praised internationally for his appearances in the world's leading theaters. Among his most acclaimed portrayals are Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Rodolfo in La Boheme, the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Traviata, the title roles in Don Carlos and Werther and Romeo in Romeo et Juliette. A prolific recording artist with several complete operas and solo recital discs in his credit, he also appears frequently all over the world in concert and recital.
Two other special guests will appear during the Divas in Beijing concerts.
Internationally acclaimed Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky was born and studied inKrasnoyarsk, Siberia. In 1989, he won theprestigious Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and made his Western operatic debut at the Nice Opera in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame. He regularly appears at the world's major opera houses and international festivals. A celebrated recitalist, he performs in concert with top conductors including Bernard Haitink, Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta and Valery Gergiev.
Born in Munich, tenor Jonas Kaufmann is now internationally acclaimed following sensational debuts in recent seasons in many of the world's leading opera houses including the Royal Opera Covent Garden in La Rondine opposite Angela Gheorghiu. In 2006 he sang his first performances of the title role of Wagner’s Parsifal in Zurich followed by his debut in 2007 there as Don Carlos. In January 2008 his first solo album titled Romantic Arias was released on the Decca label.
Special Guest Stars -- 'Next Generation Two conductors'
Emmanuel Villaume
Born in Strasbourg in 1964, Emmanuel Villaume began his musical education at the Strasbourg Conservatory and continued his studies in Paris, where he received degrees in literature, philosophy and musicology. He was appointed Dramaturg of the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg at the age of 21, and during his tenure there was invited to conduct and narrate Debussy’s Chansons de Bilitis at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, followed by his American debut at the 1990 Spoleto Festival USA with Le Nozze di Figaro.
Since then he has led numerous symphonic concerts and opera performances for Spoleto Festival USA. In recent seasons, his engagements have included La Rondine with Angela Gheorghiu at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and La Bohème with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna for the Los Angeles Opera.
Emmanuel Villaume is currently in his eighth season as Music Director for Opera & Orchestra at the Spoleto Festival USA.
Nicola Luisotti
Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti, recently appointed music director designate of San Francisco Opera, made his international debut in 2002 leading a new production of Il Trovatore at the Stuttgart State Theater. Since then he has made debuts in all the world’s major opera houses, most recently at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera and Madrid’s Teatro Real.
Born in the Tuscan village of Viareggio, Luisotti began studying music as a child, with lessons on the church organ; by age eleven he was the director of the church choir. Luisotti’s debut in Stuttgart was met with ecstatic critical acclaim, and within weeks he was offered a debut engagement at Paris Opera. Other invitations came from the Canadian Opera Company, Genoa, Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, San Francisco Opera the Metropolitan Opera. He has established growing relationships with leading orchestras of Zagreb, Sofia, Genoa, Tokyo, Munich and Rome.
Maestro Luisotti will become music director of San Francisco Opera in September 2009. Luisotti has also recently been appointed principal guest director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
