Leonardo Caimi

Biography

Italian tenor Leonardo Caimi will make his debut at the National Theatre Opera as Don José (G. Bizet: Carmen) in August 2023. Celebrated for a velvety beauty of tone and elegant musicality as well as for his excellent acting, Leonardo Caimi has established himself as one of the most acclaimed tenors of his generation, singing at prestigious venues and festivals .

Engagements in the 2018/ 2019 season include his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Don José in Carmen, Calaf in Turandot and Don José in a new production of Carmen at the Leipzig Opera, Roberto in Puccini’s Le Villi at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, Gustavo III in a new production of Un ballo in maschera at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, Henri in a new production of Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes at Theater Bonn, Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Aalto-Theater Essen, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Villamarta in Jerez.
Other recent engagements have included his role debut as Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv; Calaf in Turandot at the Oper Köln and at the Opernfestspiele St. Margarethen; Cavaradossi in Tosca and Hoffmann in a new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, a new production of Les vêpres siciliennes in Munich and Bonn; La Rondine in Daegou; Carmen in Madrid, Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Cavalleria Rusticana at La Monnaie in Brussels, Turandot at the Opera Wielki in Warsaw, Un ballo in Maschera at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, and Tosca at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile; Palla de' Mozzi, Die Lustige Witwe, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and Mozart's Requiem in Cagliari; Nabucco in Munich; Werther in Warsaw; La Traviata in Naples; Don Carlo in Bonn; Madama Butterfly in Cardiff; Les vêpres siciliennes in Palermo; Aida and Carmen in Tel Aviv; Manon Lescaut in Cagliari.
Further career highlights include Carmen at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and a very successful debut of the role Calaf at the Leipzig Opernhaus and in Cologne, as well as La Bohème (Rodolfo) at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Madama Butterfly in Seoul and at La Monnaie, Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires, a concert performance of Le Villi for the RTVE at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid, Tosca at the Frankfurt Opera and La Rondine at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.
Mr. Caimi has worked with many of the world’s most esteemed conductors and directors, including R. Muti, L. Maazel, G. Gelmetti, D. Oren, C. Rizzi, E. Pidò, S. Ranzani, Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez, Jean-Claude Cadadesus, Alain Lombard, M. Stefanelli, E. Queler, R. Brignoli; and directors F. Zeffirelli, R. Lepage, S. Vizioli, W. Pagliaro and M. Scaparro, L. Mariani, M. Martone, D. Michieletto, W. Decker, and Ettore Scola.
He graduated in singing from the Conservatorio «A. Corelli» in Messina and in clarinet from the Conservatorio «F. Torrefranca» di Vibo Valentia, where he also studied composition. Leonardo Caimi also obtained a degree with highest honors in Philosophy at the University of Messina.

Photo: Davide Caimi