Roberto Alagna

Roberto Alagna

Roberto Alagna in 2004
Born (1963-06-07) 7 June 1963
Clichy-sous-Bois, France
Occupation Opera singer (tenor)
Years active 1988–present
Website www.robertoalagna.net

Roberto Alagna (French pronunciation: [ʁɔ.bɛʁ.to a.la.ɲa]; Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto aˈlaɲɲa]) (born 7 June 1963) is a French tenor. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France and obtained French citizenship at age 18, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship.[1]

Early years

Alagna was born outside the city of Paris in 1963 to a family of Sicilian immigrants. As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian cabarets,[2] mostly for tips.[3] Influenced primarily by the films of Mario Lanza and learning from recordings of many historic tenors, he then switched to opera, but remained largely self-taught.[4][5] He was discovered by Gabriel Dussurget, the co-founder of the Aix-en-Provence Festival.[6]

Career

After winning the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, an initiative backed by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, that started in Modena in 1988, Alagna made his professional debut as Alfredo Germont in La Traviata with the Glyndebourne touring company.[7] This led to many engagements throughout the smaller cities in France and Italy, mainly again as Alfredo, a role he would eventually sing over 150 times. His reputation grew and he was soon invited to sing at major theatres such as La Scala in 1990, Covent Garden in 1992 and the Metropolitan Opera as Rodolfo in 1996. His performances of Roméo in Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod at Covent Garden in 1994 (opposite Leontina Vaduva) catapulted him to international stardom.[8]

Alagna opened the 2006/07 season at La Scala on 7 December 2006 in the new production of Aïda by Franco Zeffirelli. During the second performance on 10 December, Alagna, whose opening performance was considered ill-at-ease, was booed and whistled from the loggione (the least expensive seats at the very back of La Scala), and he walked off the stage. The tenor's reaction to his public criticism was denounced as immature and unprofessional by La Scala management and Zeffirelli, who said, "A professional should never behave in this way. Alagna is too sensitive, it is too easy to hurt his feelings. He does not know how to act like a true star."[9] The role of Radames was taken over successfully for the rest of the performance by his understudy Antonello Palombi, who entered on stage wearing jeans and a black shirt.[10]

In 2007 while at the Metropolitan Opera singing the role of Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Alagna replaced the indisposed tenor Rolando Villazon as Romeo in Roméo et Juliette opposite soprano Anna Netrebko for two performances in September and two performances in December. His wife had flown to New York to be with him for the September engagements, and as a result was fired from the Lyric Opera of Chicago for missing her rehearsal dates for La Bohème. Alagna was also engaged by the Metropolitan Opera at the last minute to cover for the indisposed Marco Berti in a 16 October 2007 performance of Aida. After the performance, the audience gave him a standing ovation.[11] The 15 December performance of Roméo et Juliette starring Alagna and Netrebko was broadcast by the Met into 447 theatres worldwide in high definition and seen by about 97,000 people.[12]

Repertoire

In recent years, Alagna has been an advocate of restoring to prominence neglected French operas - Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac, Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame, Lalo's Fiesque, and new works - Vladimir Cosma's Marius et Fanny and his brother David Alagna's Le dernier jour d'un condamné. He has also recorded light music with an homage album to Luis Mariano, Sicilien, and Pasión.

Personal life

Alagna's first wife, Florence Lancien, died of a brain tumour in 1994; they had one daughter, Ornella, who was born in 1992. In 1996, he married Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu.[13] The couple announced a divorce in 2009, but had reunited by 2011. However, in January 2013, the couple mutually agreed on a formal divorce.[14] Alagna and the Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak had begun a relationship, and their daughter, Malena, was born on 29 January 2014.[15]

Alagna has worked together on several projects with his brothers Frédérico Alagna and the stage director and composer David Alagna. The three brothers recorded an album of light music, Serenades, and worked together on the younger brother David's opera based on Hugo's Last Day of a Condemned Man. Alagna has often sung Alfano's Cyrano opposite his sister-in-law Natalie Manfrino as Roxanne. The government of France named Alagna a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2008.

Opera roles

Role Work Composer
Alfredo La traviata Verdi
Manrico Le trouvère Verdi
Don José Carmen Bizet
Rodolfo La bohème Puccini
Roméo Roméo et Juliette Gounod
Edgardo Lucia di Lammermoor Donizetti
Edgar Lucie de Lammermoor (French adaptation) Donizetti
Fritz L'amico Fritz Mascagni
Hoffmann Les Contes d'Hoffmann Offenbach
Mario Cavaradossi Tosca Puccini
MacDuff Macbeth Verdi
Nemorino L'elisir d'amore Donizetti
Paolo Francesca da Rimini Zandonai
Roberto Roberto Devereux Donizetti
Cyrano Cyrano de Bergerac Alfano
Don Carlos Don Carlos Verdi
Don Carlo Don Carlo (Italian adaptation) Verdi
Werther Werther Massenet
Le Chevalier des Grieux Manon Massenet
Jean Le jongleur de Notre-Dame Massenet
Faust Faust Gounod
Hoffmann Les contes d'Hoffmann Offenbach
Ruggero La rondine Puccini
Orphée Orphée et Eurydice Gluck
Pinkerton Madama Butterfly Puccini
Turiddu Cavalleria rusticana Mascagni
Canio Pagliacci Leoncavallo
Duc de Mantoue Rigoletto Verdi
Fiesque Fiesque Lalo
Marius Marius et Fanny Cosma
Radamès Aida Verdi
Rodrigue Le Cid Massenet
Ulysse Pénélope Fauré
Enée Les Troyens Berlioz
Nadir Les pêcheurs de perles Bizet
Riccardo Un ballo in maschera Verdi
Calaf Turandot Puccini
Des Grieux Manon Lescaut Puccini

Discography

Albums

Year Album Credits Charts Certification
BEL
(Wa)
FR ES SWI MEX
1996 Chants sacrés 19
2001 Puccini: Tosca Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Ruggero Raimondi 89
2002 Donizetti: Lucie de Lammermoor Natalie Dessay, Roberto Alagna, Ludovic Tézier and Evelino Pidò 150
2003 Bizet: Carmen Gheorghiu & Alagna 59
2005 Chante Luis Mariano 14 4 89
2006 Tenor 86 40
Viva Opéra! 29 43
2007 Credo - Airs sacrés 56 18
2008 Sicilien 4 2 71
2009 Le jongleur de Notre-Dame 198 94
Sicilien - Live 72 56
2010 Hommage à Luis Mariano - C'est magnifique! 53 27
Les stars du classique 191
2011 Pasión 5 4 34 100
2012 Pasión Live 80
2013 Robertissimo 24 11
2014 Little Italy 71
Ma vie est un opéra 50 33
2016 Malèna Yvan Cassar, London Orchestra & Roberto Alagna 50

Singles

Year Album Charts
FR
2003 "Petit Papa Noël" 91

References

  1. R. Alagna, Je ne suis pas le fruit du hasard, Paris, Grasset, 2007, Chapter "Canonnier Alagna !", ISBN 978-2246685418.
  2. Clare Colvin (2012-11-11). "Roberto Alagna: I want to sing everything but there is no time". Daily Express. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  3. "Current Biography – Roberto Alagna". H.W. Wilson Company. 1997: 8.
  4. "Matinee Idol". The Metropolitan Opera News. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  5. Duffy, Martha; Denbigh, Dorrie (29 April 1996). "So Happy Together". Time. pp. 83–84. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  6. Aix-en-Provence Historical Society: Gabriel Dussurget
  7. Cummings, David M. (2003). International Who's Who In Classical Music 2003. London, England: Europa Publications. p. 9. ISBN 1-85743-174-X.
  8. Waleson, Heidi (18 November 1995). "Alagna Slated For Tenor Stardom". Billboard. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  9. Owen, Richard (12 December 2006). "Tenor who stormed off La Scala stage vows he will return". The Times. UK. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  10. "Booed tenor quits La Scala's Aida". BBC News Online. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  11. Deseret Morning News, 21 October 2007, page E9, Associated Press/Verena Dobnik, "Once-booed tenor wows the Met"
  12. "Metropolitan Opera's broadcast is a digital gift." Newport News Daily Press, 23 December 2007
  13. Fuller, Amanda E. "Alagna, Roberto, and Gheorghiu, Angela". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  14. Harriet Alexander (2013-07-02). "Opera's most famous couple divorce: Angela Gheorghiu accuses Roberto Alagna of violence". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  15. Judith Hecht (2014-09-20). "Roberto Alagna: "Es ist schlecht, über jemanden zu urteilen"". Die Presse. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
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