Baritone
World
Roberto de Candia began his musical studies as a cellist, then he studied singing under Lajos Kozma, later working with Sesto Bruscantini. After winning the International Competition “Adriano Belli” in Spoleto in 1990, he made immediately two prestigious debuts: at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and at Teatro Regio di Parma in Massenet’s Manon.
His talents as refined interpreter and skilled musician let him establish an extraordinary international career, performing regularly on the world’s most prestigious stages, including Teatro alla Scala, ROH Covent Garden London, Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Festival, Opéra Comique, New National Theatre Tokyo, Opernhaus Zürich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper of Munich, Monnaie de Bruxelles, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rossini Opera Festival di Pesaro and all other Italian leading theatres.
During his carreer he has worked with the greatest conductors, such as Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti and Giuseppe Sinopoli.
At Teatro alla Scala he he made his debut opening the 1996/07 season as Ubalde in Gluck’s Armide, then he performed in several other productions: Il turco in Italia (Prosdocimo), Linda di Chamounix (Antonio), Manon Lescaut (Lescaut), La forza del destino (Melitone, with Riccardo Muti), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro), L’elisir d’amore (Belcore), L’Italiana in Algeri (Taddeo) and Il dissoluto assolto (Leporello).
After his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1998 as Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon, he was invited back to Metropolitan to sing La cenerentola (Dandini), L’elisir d’amore (Belcore), La bohème, Massenet’s Manon, L’italiana in Algeri and Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac (alongside Placido Domingo and, in 2017, Roberto Alagna).
Among the many titles in his repertoire, we can mention: Falstaff (title role), one of his signature roles that he has already performed at Festival Verdi in Parma, at Teatro Real de Madrid, at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Semperoper Dresden, Hamburgische Staatsoper, NCPA Beijing, Los Angeles, San Diego, Bruxelles, Helsinki, Tokyo, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli; Gianni Schicchi (title role) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Cincinnati Opera, Finnish National Opera of Helsinki and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, La traviata (Giorgio Germont) at Hamburgische Staatsoper, at Semperoper Dresden, at Teatro San Carlo di Napoli and at Macerata Opera Festival; Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro) at Opéra Comique de Paris, New National Theatre Tokyo and Wiener Staatsoper; Don Giovanni (Leporello) at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and at Teatro La Fenice di Venezia; Don Pasquale (title role) at Wiener Staatsoper and at Festival Donizetti; L’elisir d’amore (Dulcamara) at Liceu de Barcelona; Un ballo in maschera (Renato) in Cagliari and in Genoa; Rigoletto (title role) in Novara; Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso) at Teatro Regio in Turin; La bohème (Marcello) at Liceu de Barcelona.
As a renowned performer of Rossinian roles, Roberto de Candia made his debut at Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 1996 as Parmenione in L’occasione fa il ladro, then in the following seasons he was back at ROF in these productions: Il signor Bruschino, Adina, Il viaggio a Reims (Prudenzio), La Cenerentola, Il turco in Italia, Le Comte Ory.
His discography includes Galante’s Corradino, Pacini’s Saffo, Mascagni’s Messa di Gloria, La cenerentola (ROF Edition), Il turco in Italia, with Riccardo Chailly (Decca; Gramophone Award winner), La bohème, again with R. Chailly (Decca).
LATEST PERFORMANCES: Wozzeck (title role, in Italian) at Teatro La Fenice; L’elisir d’amore with Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano and at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Manon Lescaut at Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago; Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro) at New National Theatre in Tokyo and at Teatro La Fenice in Venice; Gianni Schicchi at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and at Teatro Comunale di Bologna; Don Pasquale (title role) at Donizetti Festival Bergamo;Don Giovanni (Leporello) at Teatro La Fenice in Venice; Simon Boccanegra (Paolo Albiani) at Teatro alla Scala Milan; Il barbiere di Siviglia (Don Bartolo) at Semperoper Dresden; La traviata at Macerata Opera Festival.
FORTHCOMING PROJECTS: La Cenerentola at Teatro Regio in Turin; Gassmann’s L’opera seria at Theater an der Wien; Il barbiere di Siviglia (Don Bartolo) at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Le nozze di Figaro (Count Almaviva) in Genoa.
