Opera singing
Fabio Armiliato, opera singer and actor. Born in Genoa, he has been one of the most important tenors on the international opera scene for over three decades, acclaimed by the public thanks to his particular vocality, his impressive high register and his innate musicality, without forgetting his qualities as an actor, his instinct drama and the great charisma he instills in his characters. Born in Genoa, he graduated from the "Niccolò Paganini" Conservatory and after having participated in the "Laboratorio Lirico di Alessandria" in 1980, singing the role of Dr. Cajus in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff, in 1984 he debuted at a very young age in his first leading role, as Gabriele Adorno in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra with the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, moving to Savignone (GE), starting a rapid career that led him to tackle the most important roles of his vocal register in the most prestigious theaters in the world. In 1988 he achieved his first great international success at the Wexford Festival in Giordano's La Cena delle Beffe, continuing with his participation in the "Puccini Cycle" by director Robert Carsen at the De Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, playing the major roles in the seasons from 1990 to 1996 in Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Fanciulla del West and La Bohéme . In 1992 he participated in the inaugural season of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa again with La Bohéme . His important debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York dates back to 1993 with Il Trovatore, a theater where he will later return with Aida, Cavalleria Rusticana, Don Carlo, the new production directed by Giancarlo Del Monaco of Simon Boccanegra conducted by James Levine and then again Tosca, Carmen and Madama Butterfly. In 1997 he also participated in the MET's Japan tour with Cavalleria Rusticana and Tosca. In his long artistic career he debuted in 1995 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan with Boito's Mefistofele conducted by Riccardo Muti, subsequently returning with Madama Butterfly, Adriana Lecouvreur and Tosca and has sung in all the most important theaters in the world such as the Opéra de Paris, the San Francisco Opera, the Chicago Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Liceu in Barcelona, the Royal Opera House in London, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the NHK and the Bunka Kaykan in Tokyo, the Staatsoper in Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and then the Wiener Staatsoper , the Deutsche Berlin Opera , Rome Opera, Genoa, Florence, Turin, Venice, Naples and Bologna: theaters to which he regularly returns to participate in titles such as: Turandot, Tosca, Carmen, Don Carlo, Pagliacci or Andrea Chénier. Precisely his interpretation of Giordano's work in Nice, Barcelona, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Palermo, Madrid and Seville earned him the proclamation by critics as "the best Chénier of our times". Since 2000 he has formed with the soprano Daniela Dessì, to whom he was linked in art and life until her untimely death in 2016, one of the most important artistic couples in the history of opera of all time, obtaining memorable triumphs in titles such as Manon Lescaut, Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, Otello, La Forza del Destino, Francesca da Rimini, Norma, La Fanciulla del West, Madama Butterfly and above all Tosca. Of great importance were the successes in La Bohéme at the 60th Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago directed by the great Master of Cinema Ettore Scola, and that of Giordano’s Fedora at the Carlo Felice Theater in Genoa. Often the protagonist of various television programs dedicated to the dissemination of operatic art, he was awarded the "1st International Tito Schipa Prize" in 2011 in the splendid setting of the city of Ostuni and, already winner in 1999 of the prestigious "Gigli d'Oro", he was proclaimed Honorary citizen of the city of Recanati in the name of the great tenor Beniamino Gigli. He has also received countless other awards together with Daniela Dessì, including the "Premio Ginestra 2013", the "Pavarotti d'Oro 2014" and the "Premio Enrico Caruso 2015" and recently the "Premio Eccellenza" - Portofino Int. Festival and the “Thomas Schippers Award” for lifetime achievement from the Menotti Art Festival in Spoleto (27/9/2021). Thanks to his memorable interpretations of all the roles of the Puccini tenor repertoire, he was awarded the Torre del Lago "Giacomo Puccini Award" for lifetime achievement in 2014.
Since 2012 he has been a permanent and active member of the Italian National Football Singers team, actively taking part in many charity matches and events.
Fabio Armiliato made his debut as a leading actor in Woody Allen's film entitled “To Rome with Love”, released in cinemas around the world in 2012, acting alongside the director himself and Italian and international actors such as Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Jessie Eisenberg , Ellen Page, Roberto Benigni and many others, receiving a surprising unanimous and extraordinary consensus from the public and critics which earned him the special "Oscar della Lirica 2012". An eclectic artist, he created the project " RecitaL CanTANGO" together with the pianist Fabrizio Mocata in 2013, dedicated to the Tango Canciones of Carlos Gardel and their link with Belcanto, Italian Melodrama and, in particular, to the figure of the great tenor and composer Tito Schipa, author of some interesting Tango Songs little known to the Italian public. The project is continuing to enjoy countless successes in international theaters and festivals, also receiving important recognition from the Accademia Nacional del Tango of Buenos Aires. We remember the standing ovation on the opening evening of the prestigious Amiata Piano Festival 2016, then the one at the MAIPO Theater in Buenos Aires, at the Sala Zitarrosa in Montevideo, at the Royal Opera House in Muscat (Oman), at the Summer Festival in Varna (Bulgaria), at the of the Parks of Nervi and at the Porto Antico of Genoa under the patronage of the Municipality and of the Carlo Felice Theater of Genoa and recently at the Bellini Theater of Catania and with the Vratsa Orchestra in Bulgaria.
Since 2016 he has been the founder and administrator of the "Daniela Dessì Foundation", created to remember the great Genoese soprano and with the aim of promoting education and prevention and protection against cancer. Fabio Armiliato with the Foundation organized the musical event "Gala Dessì" which over the years has involved many artists of international level in the 3 concert dates held so far at the Teatro Grande in Brescia (2017) at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (2018) and at the Cathedral of Gussago (2019) events broadcast on Rai channels.
In December 2017 he added his operetta debut to his repertoire, playing the role of Danilo in La Vedova Allegra by F. Lehar, at the Bellini Theater in Catania and the role of Luciano di Chablis in the operetta Si by Pietro Mascagni at the Teatro Goldoni of Livorno. Among the recent successes, we remember the Pagliacci at the "Ruggero Leoncavallo" Festival and at the Festival of the Reggia di Colorno (PR) and in 2019 the Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Filarmonico of Verona and Carmen at the Arena of Verona, always receiving a great unanimous success with audiences and critics. Again with the role of Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur returns in February 2020 with a triumphal success on the stage of the theater of his hometown, strengthening a relationship with the Genoese public who has seen him as the protagonist in 12 productions since the beginning of his career . The triumph in Norma at the Ferrara Theater was very recent. In addition to the already mentioned important recognitions, in 2018 he was also awarded the honor of "Diplomatic Correspondent of Malta" for international artistic and humanitarian merits and the position of "Ambassador of Genoa in the World" for culture, giving rise in recent years to several cultural collaboration initiatives such as the agreement signed on 6 October 2021 between the municipalities of the city of Genoa and Recanati, and the renewal of a historic twinning between the city of Genoa itself and the city of Varna in Bulgaria which took place in June 2020 on the occasion of his special participation as guest of honor at the “Caruso Gala” concert for the celebrations of the centenary of the great Neapolitan tenor. In his impressive artistic career, there have been many occasions in which Fabio Armiliato found himself performing together with great artists, not only from opera but also from world pop, also taking part in three editions of the traditional prestigious "Christmas Concert in the Vatican" where, he had the opportunity to be together on stage with artists of the caliber of Lionel Ritchie, Patti Smith, Elisa and many other Italian and foreign artists on live global television. His continuous desire to explore and approach other musical territories also meant that several important and prestigious collaborations were born in 2020 which led him to interpret the song "Genova Vita" by Maurizio Martellini, a true homage and hymn to his hometown, created on the occasion of the opening of the "Nuovo Ponte San Giorgio" and the most recent and very successful collaboration with Manuela Villa, daughter of the great Claudio, duetting with her in the beautiful song "Sei nell'aria" enriched by a very suggestive.
For years he has also worked as a teacher of vocal technique and advanced training for the lyrical repertoire, participating in competitions, courses and conferences on the subject and as a Masterclass teacher. Since 2016, the "Daniela Dessì Foundation" has been promoting an annual scholarship: the recognition has already been awarded to talents such as Benedetta Torre (2018), Andrea Tabili (2021), Filomena Fittipaldi (2019) and to very young Margherita Bingrossi and Simone Fenotti (2020), bass Andra Tabili (2021) and mezzo-soprano Giada Venturini (2022). All the events of the Daniela Dessì Foundation were made in collaboration with RAI5 and broadcast many times in the television program schedules.