Vittorio Grigòlo Born in Arezzo, Italy on February 19, 1977 Vittorio Grigòlo moves to Rome where from an early age he performs as a soloist in the Sistine Chapel Choir. At the age of 13 he makes his debut in the role of the Pastorello in "Tosca" at the Opera House in Rome, conducted by Mo. Daniel Oren. On that occasion he meets Maestro Luciano Pavarotti, who congratulates him praising his vocal and expressive talent. He then begins his professional training, improving with the help of Bass Danilo Rigosa, who still continues to work with him as his tutor. In 1996 he wins a scholarship at the 12th “R. and F. Mecenati” International Song Competition, which leads him to debut at just 19 in Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle". In the same year he is invited in Wien and Split to perform in a production of the opera "Turco in Italia" (The Turkish in Italy), playing Don Narciso. Later that year he is in Italy to perform Count of Almaviva in the "Barber of Seville", at Florence Maggio Musicale and at the Verona Philharmonic Theatre. He comes back either in Rome and Verona in the role of Nemorino in "The Elixir of Love", where he gets very positive reviews and a great appreciation from the audience. At the age of 22 he debutes at the Cagliari Opera Theatre in the role of Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni", proving a huge success. In 2000 , at the age of 23, he debutes at the La Scala Theatre in Milan in the opening concert for the celebration of Verdi's Year, conducted by Riccardo Muti (CD – La Scala Edition). At the Ravenna Festival he plays Tybalt in "The Capulets and the Montagues" , under the direction of Cristina Mazzavillani Muti. He also participates at the Mozart Festival in Rovereto with the Florentine Maggio Musicale Orchestra. At the Bologna Opera House he debutes as Steuerman in "The Flying Dutchman" and, in the following season, plays Fenton in "Falstaff", conducted by Daniele Gatti. He performs in numerous concerts broadcast live on television, including the New Year's Concert attended by the President of the Republic of Italy. One to remember is his performance as the main singer in the first world's performance at the Rome Opera Theatre, in Sergio Rendine's "Romanza". Within just few years he is singing for the major operatic institutions under the batons of Riccardo Muti, Daniel Oren, Myung-Whun Chung, Lorin Maazel, Gianluigi Gelmetti and Daniele Gatti. His repertoire includes operas such as: "The Elixir of Love", "Bohéme" , "La Traviata", "Falstaff", "Rigoletto", "Lucia di Lammermoor", "Don Giovanni", "Così fan tutte", "Lakmé", "Werther" and "Faust". He also sings some of the masterworks of the sacred repertoire, including: "Petite Messe Solennelle" and "Stabat Mater" by Rossini, "Requiem", "Vesprae Solemnes" and "Litaniae Lauretane" by Mozart as well as Verdi's "Messa da Requiem". In the 2003 season he plays the role of Tony in "West Side Story", the very famous musical composed by Leonard Bernstein, at La Scala in Milan, followed by a tour in the main cities of Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and Osaka) as well as in Lebanon, at prestigious Beiteddine Festival in Beirut. For the opening of the opera season at the Massimo Theatre in Palermo he makes his debut in "Lakmè" by L.Délibes, playing the role of the English officer Gérald. Immediately after he is invited to participate in the Concert held in honour of Maria Callas at the new Santa Cecilia's “Parco della Musica” Auditorium in Rome. During the 2004/05 season he debutes in the opera "Candide" at the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genua, performing the peculiar roles of the Governor / Vanderbendur / Ragotzky. In the same season he also debutes in the role of Camille de Rossillon in "The Merry Widow" at the Verona Philharmonic Theatre, directed by Gino Landi. Straight afterwards at the Florentine Maggio Musicale , he performs the "Petite Messe Solennelle" by Rossini. He was then called again to perform in Palermo as Nemorino in Donizetti's opera "The Elixir of Love", conducted by Maestro Maurizio Arena. In the Rome Opera House summer season he performs "Messa da Requiem " by G. Verdi in the wonderful, evocative setting of the Baths of Caracalla, under the baton of Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti. For the opening concert of the symphonic season at the Santa Cecilia Auditorium in Rome, he is invited by Maestro Myung Whun Chung to perform the role of Arbace in Mozart's "Idomeneo". On the occasion of the celebrations of the "Mozart Year" at the Rome Opera Theatre he is conducted by G. Gelmetti in the role of Ferrando in the opera "Così Fan Tutte", gaining a huge success either among the audience and the media also on an international level. In July 2005 he is invited by Maestro Daniel Oren to perform at the International Operetta Festival at the Verdi Opera Theatre in Trieste, playing the role of Count Camille de Rossillon in " The Merry Widow" by F. Lehár, showing his strong temperament and passion in romantic roles. In the same season, he debutes in the role of the Duke of Mantova in Verdi's "Rigoletto", at the Hamburg Staatsoper. For the opening of the operatic season he performs at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona, playing the role of Cassius in " Othello" by G. Verdi. In this role, the critique highlights his scenic power praising his character, technique and timbre. 2006 is the year when his first album entitled “In The Hands of Love” is released, a collection of songs of Pop Opera genre. Vittorio enters the British Top Ten charts achieving a record in sales which confirms him as the leading classical solo artist. He also makes his live debut in the UK with a concert held at prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, where he returns one month later to perform some of the arias from the Tenor's repertoire along with singers such as Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa at the "Classical Brit Awards”, the prestigious British 'Oscars' Ceremony for the Classical Music. During 2006 his album is also released in Holland , the United States and Australia, in some countries with just the title "Vittorio", with very positive results in terms of sales. In the summer of 2006 Vittorio is in the wonderful setting of the ancient Villa Adriana in Tivoli (Rome) to record the album repertoire in the TV special for PBS, the Public American network, performing many of the songs included in his album "Vittorio". On April 20, 2007 he opens the season at the Opera House in Rome singing "Traviata" under the baton of Mo. Gianluigi Gelmetti and directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The cast also features Angela Gheorghiu and Renato Bruson. In May he flies to Sydney, Australia to perform "Stabat Mater" by Rossini at the Opera House together with Mo. Gelmetti as the Conductor. In June he starts the collaboration with a new Manager, Michele Torpedine. On July 30 "West Side Story" is released on CD, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the famous musical. Hayley Westenra, the young and very talented Artist, is Maria on the recording. With her he performs the most famous songs of the musical in a unique concert outside London broadcast by Classic FM , the prestigious British radio network. The album has been nominated at the 50th edition of the Grammy Awards in the “Best Musical Show Album” category. On September 15 he opens the season at the Washington National Opera in the role of Rodolfo in "La Bohéme" by Giacomo Puccini. For this debut, years after his first meeting in Rome, Vittorio has the occasion of finalize the role of Rodolfo under the advice of Maestro Luciano Pavarotti. Critics and audiende acknowledge him a great success. On October 13 he participates in the 32nd Niaf Gala (National Italian American Foundation) in Washington performing "Nessun Dorma" as tribute to Luciano Pavarotti at the presence of Laura Bush, Rudolph Giuliani, Nancy Pelosi, Martin Scorsese as well as many other prestigous members of the Italian American community. The year ended with "The Merry Widow" conducted by M° Daniel Oren at the Opera House in Rome. 2008 opens up with a new role, Rinuccio in "Gianni Schicchi" by Puccini which Vittorio has debuted at the prestigious Teatro alla Scala in Milan, under the Conduction of M° Riccardo Chailly, directed by Luca Ronconi and sharing the stage with Leo Nucci. Vittorio is presently in Valencia to perform Verdi's "Requiem" conducted by M° Lorin Maazel. The rest of the year will see him busy with new operas, besides the release on Decca of his new pop album in the next months. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.