Franco Fagioli ARIAS FOR CAFFARELLI

Franco Fagioli is one of the leading countertenors of the new generation. His performances as Handel heroes have been unanimously acclaimed. Born in San Miguel de Tucumán (Argentina) in 1981, he studied the piano in his home town, then singing at the Instituto Superiore de Arte of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 1997 he founded the choir of San Martín de Porres for the adolescents of his region. He then began to specialise in the countertenor register.

In 2003 Franco Fagioli won the prestigious Bertelsmann singing competition Neue Stimmen in Germany, which marked the start of his international career. Since then, he has appeared at the Teatro Colón, the Karlsruhe, Bonn, Essen, and Zurich operas, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, among others. He has enjoyed immense success with his interpretation of the title role of Giulio Cesare in Zurich, Helsinki, Oslo, and Karlsruhe. In 2011 he was awarded the Premio Abbiati in Italy and the Italian magazine L’Opera named him best countertenor of the year for his performance as Bertarido in Rodelinda.

Notable appearances in the past few seasons have included Handel’s Teseo (Staatsoper Stuttgart), Ariodante (Karlsruhe Handel Festival), and Bertarido (Martina Franca), Telemaco/Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (the work’s Argentinian premiere), Gluck’s Orfeo (Teatro Colón), Cavalli’s Giasone with Chicago Opera Theater, and the world premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar at the Teatro Argentino de La Plata. During the 2010/11 season, he sang Nerone/L’incoronazione di Poppea in Cologne and Dresden and Arsace/Aureliano in Palmira at the Festival della Valle d’Itria. His engagements in 2011/12 included revivals of L’incoronazione di Poppea, a new production of Giulio Cesare in Helsinki, Poro in Halle and Basel, and Arbace/Artaserse (Hasse) at Martina Franca.

In November 2009, his first solo recital in Europe, at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, ended with a standing ovation. He has also appeared with Cecilia Bartoli in London and Brussels as the special guest of the prima donna. Franco Fagioli works regularly with such conductors as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alan Curtis, Diego Fasolis, Gabriel Garrido, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Michael Hofstetter, René Jacobs, Konrad Junghänel, Jose Manuel Quintana, Marc Minkowski, Riccardo Muti, and Christophe Rousset.

His discography includes Gluck’s Ezio, Handel’s Teseo and Berenice, the solo album Canzone e cantate, and Vinci’s Artaserse with Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Daniel Behle, and Concerto Köln.