SAIMIR PIRGU
Tenor
Saimir Pirgu's whirlwind advance from conservatoire in Italy to theleading roles on the worlds’ premier opera stages sees him alreadypositioned as the new generation lyric tenor of choice for leadingconductors such as Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, NikolausHarnoncourt, James Conlon, Lorin Maazel, Daniele Gatti.From theoutset, he was identified as a major future talent.
In the past seasons he sang: Don Giovanni (Opèra National deParis, Arena di Verona), L'Elisir d' amore (Vienna,Rome), LaTraviata (Royal Opera House Covent Garden,London), GianniSchicchi (Metropolitan Opera New York and Los Angeles Opera-Woody Allen conducting), Idomeneo at the Styriarte Festival inGraz, Die Zauberfloete (La Scala in Milan); Riccardo Muti chosehim for Verdi's Requiem at the Salzburg Festival.Amongst Saimir Pirgu’s past seasons successes it is worthmentioning : a new production of La Traviata by Deborah Warnerat the Wiener Festwochen followed by Dvorak’s Stabat Mater inGraz with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Styriarte Festival and thenat the Salzburg Festival for Berlioz’s Messe Solennelle withRiccardo Muti. After those he sang L’Elisir d’amore againat theWiener Staatsoper; I Capuleti e I Montecchi in San Francisco; IDue Figaro in Buenos Aires, with Riccardo Muti ; La Bohème at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona;
Schubert’s Mass N.5 with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich again under Muti.
Mr.Pirgu starred also in La Traviata for the opening night season (2013 )at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoliand at the New Year’s Day concert at the Teatro La Fenice di Venezia under Sir Gardiner, and he wasengaged at the Zurich Opernhaus for the new production of Rigoletto. After his recent successes as Alfredo in LaTraviata besidePlacido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in Bach’s Mass in B minor with the ChicagoSymphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti, in the Petite Messe Solennelle in Paris and Vienna under DanieleGatti, as Macduff in Macbeth at the Teatro alla Pergola di Firenze, James Conlon conducting and GrahamVick directing, as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Ravinia Festival (Conlon conducting), ad Duke ofMantua in London and as Rodolfo in La Bohème in Washington, Saimir Pirgu returns to thesymphonic field performed Verdi’s Requiem at the Enescu Festival with Pappano and in Munich underMariss Jahnsons, La Traviata in San Francisco and Vienna, Verdi’s Requiem again under the batonof Riccardo Muti at the Ravenna Festival then on tour in Slovenja. He also starred as Tito in LaClemenza di Tito at the Opéra in Paris, as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Los Angeles under JamesConlon, Rigoletto under Maurizio Benini at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and a recital at theWigmore Hall in London, La Traviata in Vienna, then he performed Berlioz’s Messe Solennelle with the
Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna under Muti and the Aids Gala Concert in Berlin. Mr. Pirgu continues hiscollaboration with Riccardo Muti, who has just conducted him in Mozart’s Requiem in Chicago with theChicago Symphony Orchestra.Among his future plans it is worth mentioning: Rigoletto, La Traviata, King Roger (Royal Opera House) inLondon; Macbeth and La Bohème at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Lucia di Lammermoor and LaClemenza di Tito in Toulouse; La Traviata in Berlin; Un Ballo in maschera in Tel Aviv; Don Giovanni atthe Arena in Verona and in Vienna at the Wiener Staatsoper; Rigoletto in Vienna and Toulouse; L'Elisird'Amore in Vienna; Falstaff in Chicago, Muti conducting. On the concert side Mr. Pirgu will sing Requiemop.5 by Berlioz with the Orchestre du Capitole of Toulouse on tour in Vienna, Mozart’s Requiem in Amsterdam and a series of concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Saimir Pirgu started hiscareer making his debut in Così fan tutte in Ferrara under the baton of Claudio Abbado.
At the Arena di Verona he debuted in 2012 asDon Ottavio in Don Giovanni.
In the 2013 televised Gala della liricapresented by Antonella Clerici and for the Opera Festival of the same year,he sang in Rigolettoas the Duke of Mantova.
He returns to the Arena di Verona for the 2015 Festival asDon Ottavio in Don Giovanni.
LEONARDO CORTELLAZZI
Tenor
Leonardo Cortellazzi was born in Mantua and graduated in Economics and Commerce in Parma and attended the Arrigo Boito College of Music in Parma where he specialized in singing under Lelio Capilupi.
In 2006 Mr. Cortellazzi won the “Primo palcoscenico” competition at the Cesena College of Music as the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and the XIII Edition of the Giuseppe Di Stefano International Competition for the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte by Mozart. He has also performed at the Rossini Festival in Wilbad in the title role in Don Giovanni by G. Pacini.
He later spent a period at La Scala with the Accademia d’arti e mestieri, during which he took part in a concert of works by Puccini conducted by Riccardo Chailly (Prunier in La Rondine), in Così fan tutte (Ferrando) conducted by Ottavio Dantone and in Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by Giovanni Antonini. Last seasons’ engagements included the Vesperae solennes de confessoreby Mozart conducted by Myung Wung Chung, Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria, Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro (Conte Alberto) and Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali by Donizetti at Teatro alla Scala, Lucia di Lammermoor (Arturo) at the Opera House in Sassari, Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) and Così fan tutte at La Fenice in Venice, Verdi’s Rigoletto (Borsa), a major adaptation for television by Andrea Andermann and broadcast worldwide live from Mantua with Plácido Domingo in the title role, Zubin Mehta conducting the RAI Symphony Orchestra, Die Zauberflöte (Tamino) and Rota’s Il Cappello di pagliadi Firenze on the Lombardy opera house circuit, Don Giovanni and Ferrero’s Risorgimento in Bologna and Anna Bolena (Percy) at Engandin Opera Festival in St. Moritz.Recents engagements have included Don Pasquale at Teatro alla Scala, Rossini’s Petit messe solennelle at Les Chorégies d’Orange, L’Elisir d’amore at Opera Massy, Vec Makropulos (Vitek) and La Traviata (Alfredo) in Venice, Don Giovanni in St. Moritz, Falstaff(Fenton) at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Don Pasquale for Opera Rouen Haute Normandie and Opera Theatre de Limoges, Pagliacci in Avignon, Mozart’s Requiem and L’Elisir d’amore at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Traetta’sArmida at Martinafranca Festival, La Traviata at La Fenice in Venice, L’incoronazione di Poppea (Nerone) at Teatro alla Scala, Dido and Aeneas at Teatro Comunale in Firenze. Upcoming engagements include Le Toreador by Adams at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, and Il diario di uno scomparso by Janacek at La Fenice in Venice.
With the Fondazione Arena di Verona he interpreted the main role in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, a title staged at the Teatro Ristori in 2013; in the same year he debuted at the Teatro Filarmonico singing in Elisird’amore by Donizetti.
He makes his debut at the Arena di Verona for the 2015 Opera Festival, singing the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and as Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette by Gounod.