Beniamino Gigli Association in Finland
Singers in Concerts

Salvatore Fisichella, tenor

Salvatore Fisichella has born in Catania, Sicily, and studied there singing with sopran Maria Gentile. He had complementary studies in Rome with maestro Luigi Ricci (Gigli's pianist and friend), and with maestro Paoletti. In 1970 he was the absolute winner of the XIV Adriano Belli -competition in Spoleto. He made his debut there in main role of Massenet's Werther. After this he made his debut in Rome in Teatro dell'Opera performing in Rigoletto and in Puritani.

From that day on his career has proceeded without interruptions. He has been the interpeter of the most respected operas in major Opera Theaters, Insitutions, and Academies (Rome, Milan,Turin, Venice, Verona, Genoa, Naples, Bari, Palremo, Catania, London, Edingburh, paris, marseille, Nizza, Avignon, Toulouse, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Essen, Düsseldorf, Sâo Paulo, Montreal, New York, Tokio, Oslo, Peking, Helsinki etc...). In Wilhelm Tell, Pirata and Puritani he is propably without rivals in the whole world.

He made his debut in Puritan in Metropolitan, New York with Joan Sutherland in 1986. He made a strong impression on the press in New York and his success was described exemplary. Further great successes were the inauguration of the Theater Regio in Turin in 1988 (Enzo in La Gioconda), and Cavaradossi in Tosca in Torre del Lago Puccini festivals in 1990. The role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in La Scala in 1992 was also a great success, as well as Bellini concert in Paris in Champs Elysee Theater where the applauses went on for 22 minutes. The French critique said he was the best interpeter of Bellini in his time.

In the end of nineteen nineties Fisichella has carried on his career in different parts of the world with great success, among others: Catania 1995 Fernando in La Favorita, Torre del Lago 1996 Rodolfo in La Bohéme, the memorable Traviata in Tokio with June Anderson (1996). He opened the new millennium with two great concerts in Peking where he was the only European singer. In the jubilee year of Vincenzo Bellini 2001 he performed in the home town Catania of the composer and himself in Pirata with Lucia Aliberti and Roberto Frontal. In October 2001 Fisichella sang as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Finnish National Opera and he was very favorably reviewed.

In additition to operas already cited Fisichella has a large repertoire, among others: Rigoletto, Nabucco, Verdi's Requiem, Madama Butterfly, Roberto Devereux, Lucrezia Borgia, Moses in Egypt, Rossini's Othello, Elisabetta Regina d'Inghiöterra, Rossini's Stabat Mater and Messa di gloria, Las Straniera, Beatrice di Tenda, Cpulets and Montecchis, Faust, Mefistofele, Attila and Macbeth.

In 100 anniversary of Beniamino Gigli he sang in October 1990 in the Arena of Verona in the mega concert of 15 tenors. The newspaper Corriere della Sera classified him as one the best singers in the concert. In Recanati, in the birth town of Gigli, he sang in 1998 in San Vito church and he was awarded with Gigli d'Oro price. In August 1999 he sang in Piazza Leopardi togeteher with Fabio Armiliato and Pietro Ballo. The culmination point of the three tenor -concert was Fisichella's performance in the aria Nessun dorma (Turandot). Fisichella has received many notable rewards, such as Bellini d'Oro in Catania in Teatro Massimo Bellini. The grounds for this reward were his quality and the number of Bellini's roles. This makes him as one of the most grandious interpreters of the "Catania's swan" (Vincenzo Bellini). He can also feel proud of the the international VII Giacomo Lauri-Volpi -prize at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome.

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