In a career spanning almost 40 years, French-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna has added more than sixty roles to his repertoire: Alfredo, Calaf, Canio, Cavaradossi, Don Carlo(s), Des Grieux, Don Jose, Faust, Lohengrin, Manrico, Maurizio, Nemorino, Otello, Pinkerton, Radames, Rodolfo, Romeo, Ruggero, Samson, Turiddu, Werther… all in performances which have made him the most famous French tenor in the world.
Also, his flair for discovery is evident in his love for lesser-known repertoire, which he established through productions, concerts and recordings such as Massenet's Le jongleur de Notre-Dame, Le Cid or La Navarraise, Lalo's Fiesque, Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Chausson's Le Roi Arthus or L’Enfant prodigue by Debussy.
He also sang in Meyerbeer's Vasco da Gama, a very rarely staged critical edition of L'Africaine and a vivid Cyrano de Bergerac by Alfano in its original version of 1935, revived at the Met Opera in 2017. Two contemporary operas have even been composed especially for him, Vladimir Cosma's Marius et Fanny, after Marcel Pagnol, and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné, after Victor Hugo, composed by David Alagna and first staged in France in 2014.
With recordings for Erato, Sony, EMI, Warner, Deutsche Grammophon, his discography covers a wide range, one of the richest in existence: complete editions, duets, oratorios, operas, anthologies of great works, religious and popular songs. Credo, Viva Opéra, Airs de Berlioz, Bel canto, Robertissimo, Luis Mariano, Sicilian, Pasión — these are just a few of the many albums that reflect the eclecticism of his career. The album released at the end of 2014, My Life is an Opera, a moving recital of arias and duets illustrating his career and his life, received enthusiastic praise. In the fall of 2016, the album of songs Malèna was released, offering both original works and reimaginings of great neapolitan classics. in october 2018, Warner released a complete recording of Massenet’s opera La Navarraise, and Sony released his first album of duets entirely dedicated to Puccini, recorded with soprano Aleksandra Kurzak. His most recent albums released on Sony Classical are Caruso 1873 — a tribute to the legendary tenor Caruso and The Singer — a record fully dedicated to great French Chanson, to which a recording of Arvo Pärt's Stabat Mater made for the Aparté label, was added in October 2022.
Alagna also features extensively on DVD. He was attracted by the filmed version of Tosca (directed by Benoît Jacquot) or Romeo et Juliette (directed by Barbara Willis Sweete). Going off the beaten path, constantly exploring new territories and ideas — for discs, stage appearances or tours — Alagna clearly reveals his desire to give his audience more and at the same time satiate his drive for constant discovery and creativity. He has repeatedly proven his expertise in creating brand-new concert programs around the world, blending various genres and demonstrating his unique ability to remain vocally and stylistically true to what he sings. He also appears regularly on French TV, in special programmes or musical shows, in the preparation of which he takes an active part. In 2018, he even took his own pen to write his « Personal Dictionary ».
At the end of January 2023, completing his artistic experience beyond the opera stages, he makes his debut at the beautiful and legendary ‘Folies Bergère’ in Paris, playing the famous Al Capone in the title role of a musical, specially composed for him by Jean-Félix Lalanne.
On the operatic stage, over the last years, he has expanded his repertoire with several new roles, e.g. Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut), Azaël, Eleazar or Rodolfo in Luisa Miller in concert in Monte-Carlo. He made his debut as Samson in Saint-Saëns‘s Samson et Dalila in Vienna in 2018, opened the Metropolitan Opera’s following season with it and took it again at the Chorégies d’Orange in 2021.
After having sung his 100th performance at the Opera de Paris as Otello, Roberto Alagna sang as well his 100th performance at the Royal Opera House as Andrea Chenier in May 2019. In early 2020, he returned to the Metropolitan Opera with a highly successful revival of La Bohème — 24 years later and 30 years after his debut as Rodolfo.
At the end of 2020 is his great debut in the Wagnerian repertoire in Berlin, as the title role in Lohengrin, which he performs there again with brio in April 2022. In August 2021 he appeared for the first time at the Arena di Verona for two double performances as Turiddu and Canio. He returns at the Arena in August 2022 in Carmen.
Early 2022, he performed in Paris in solo recitals at the Salle Gaveau and for the opening of the UNESCO Week of Sound 2022 of which he was the patron, then in duo recitals at the Bozar Brussels and at the Philharmonie de Paris. At the same time, he was called on by the Opéra National de Paris to substitute in Massenet's Manon and accepted the challenge to return to the role of Chevalier des Grieux, which he had not performed for 11 years.
In March 2022, he continued in New York with Tosca, and in July 2022, he was invited by the Royal Opera House to sing 3 performances as Canio in Pagliacci. Alagna began the 2022/2023 operatic season brilliantly with a debut as Loris Ipanov in Giordano’s Fedora. This debut marked his grand return to Teatro Alla Scala, before the singer headed to New York to star in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Tosca.
In early 2023, he plays Al Capone for 45 performances at the Folies Bergère in a musical by Jean-Félix Lalanne. After a series of solo and duo opera concerts in Zürich, Sofia, Tours, Athens, Las Palmas and Toulouse, Roberto Alagna appeared in summer 2023 on the open stage of the Arena di Verona in Tosca and Madama Butterfly. His plans for the next season include among others: Cavalleria Rusticana at the Royal Opera House, Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera, Tosca at the Chorégies d'Orange and various concerts, including a French Church Tour dedicated to sacred and love songs.
