Complete Biography - Opera Studio School

MICHELE PERTUSI
Bass
Grammy Award for the best opera recording in the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Colin Davis (LSO LIVE; Feb 2005).
As acclaimed Bass Michele Pertusi performed in the world's most important concert halls and opera houses, such as Opéra National de Paris,
Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, New York Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, Liceu de
Barcelona, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Opernhaus in Zürich, La Monnaie in
Bruxelles, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Barbican Centre in London with a repertory including the leading roles in such
titles as Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Semiramide, Il turco in Italia, L’italiana in Algeri,
Le siège de Corinthe, Guillaume Tell, Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Verdi’s Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio,
Attila, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Falstaff and also symphonic works as Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Petite Messe solennelle, Mozart’s
Requiem and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.
He collaborated with such important conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Colin Davis,
Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Jurowski, James Levine, Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti.
He opened the 2014/15 season performing La forza del destino for the opening season of Festival Verdi in Parma, followed by Rossini’s
Semiramide at Opéra de Lyon, Messa da Requiem by Verdi at Teatro Regio di Torino, Maria Stuarda at Liceu de Barcelona, Don Pasquale in
Valencia and Requiem by Mozart with Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
His future plans include Don Pasquale and La Cenerentola at Wiener Staatsoper, Messa da Requiem by Verdi in Palermo, at Festival de St. Denis
and with London Symphony Orchestra, Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini at Teatro San Carlo in Napoli, Norma at Salzburg Festival and in
Savonlinna, L’elisir d’amore at Teatro alla Scala, Stabat Mater by Rossini and Messa da Requiem at Salle Pleyel in Paris, Zelmira at Opéra de
Lyon, Maria Stuarda in Avignon, I Puritani at Opernhaus in Zürich, Simon Boccanegra in Hong Kong, Anna Bolena in Marseille, Ernani in
Toulouse, Lucia di Lammermoor at Covent Garnden in London and at MET in New York.
His recent engagements have also included I Puritani at Opéra National de Paris and and at New York MET, La Sonnambula at al Liceu di
Barcelona and at New York MET, Così fan tutte at Teatro alla Scala, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Norma (Oroveso) at Salzburg Festival
Petite Messe Solennelle at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées de Paris, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Sonnambula, Lucrezia Borgia and L’italiana in
Algeri at the Wiener Staatsoper, Guillaume Tell, Carmen and Mosè in Egitto at the Opernhaus in Zürich, LAttila, Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio
and L’italiana in Algeri at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano, L’italiana in Algeri at the Teatro Real in Madrid, La Sonnambula at the Opéra National
de Paris, , Guglielmo Tell at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Lucrezia Borgia at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Falstaff at the Staatsoper in
Berlin and at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Maometto II, La gazza ladra and Petite Messe Solennelle at the Rossini Opera Festival di Pesaro.
Since 1992 Michele Pertusi has been a regular guest at the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro, where he made his debut in Graham Vick’s new
production of Moïse et Pharaon (1997; conducted by Vladimir Jurowski). In the next seasons he returned to Pesaro for productions of Il viaggio a
Reims, Petite Messe Solennelle, Le Siège de Corinthe, Torvaldo e Dorliska and La gazza ladra. For his achievements there, he was awarded the
“Rossini d’oro Prize”.
Since 1998 he has been also a regular guest of the Teatro alla Scala, where he performed in several productions including Lucrezia Borgia, Le
nozze di Figaro (Conte d’Almaviva) and Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni) with Riccardo Muti, Nina, o sia la pazza per amore (Il conte), Il turco in
Italia (Selim) conducted by Riccardo Chailly, as well as La Sonnambula, Lucrezia Borgia, L’italiana in Algeri, La Cenerentola (Alidoro, led by
Bruno Campanella) and Marco Tutino’s Vita.
His discography includes, among others, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Stabat Mater, Cantata per Pio IX and La Cenerentola conducted by
Riccardo Chailly (Decca), Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte conducted by Georg Solti (Decca), Le nozze di Figaro under Zubin Mehta’s baton
(Sony), Semiramide and Maometto II (Ricordi), Don Giovanni conducted by Daniel Barenboim (Erato), Il turco in Italia conducted by Riccardo
Chailly (Decca) and Falstaff conducted by Colin Davis (LSO live).
In 1995 he was awarded the “Abbiati International Prize”. His recording of Il turco in Italia conducted by Riccardo Chailly for Decca was recently
awarded the Gramophone Award. In February 2005 has won the Grammy Award for the Best Opera Recording in the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff,
with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Colin Davis (LSO LIVE). Recently he has been the recipient of the Golden Medal as Cultural
Benemeritus from the President of the Italian Republic.
Born in Parma, he studied singing with Arrigo Pola, Carlo Bergonzi and Rodolfo Celletti. For the preparation for the roles he collaborates with the
Prof. Hisako Tanaka.
March 2015
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