Francesco Demuro (born 6 January 1978), is an Italian operatic
tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
who made an international career.
Life and career
Demuro was born in
Porto Torres
Porto Torres (; ) is a (municipality) and a city of the Province of Sassari in north-west of Sardinia, Italy. Founded during the 1st century BC as , it was the first Roman colony of the entire Sardinia, island. It is situated on the coast at abo ...
,
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
. By the age of ten, Demuro made his first stage appearance, and by the age of twelve, he had joined the Minicantadores, a group of young singers of traditional Sardinian songs in the genre known as
cantu a chiterra of which he became a leading representative.
He later studied in
Cagliari
Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
under Elisabetta Scano, and made his opera debut in the role of Rodolfo in Verdi's ''
Luisa Miller
''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play '' Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller.
Verdi's initial idea f ...
'' at the
Teatro Regio in
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
in October 2007.
In 2008 he appeared as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' at the Verdi Festival in Parma, as well as in Dresden, Hong Kong, at the Teatro Regio in Turin. He performed in Verdi's ''
Simon Boccanegra'' in Athens, and as Rodolfo in Puccini's ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' in Bari and Sassari.
In 2009, he made his debut as Nemorino in Donizetti's ''L'elisir d'amore'' at the in Teatro Filarmonico di Verona and also appeared in the opera at
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
in Milan the following year. His US debut took place as Alfredo in Verdi's ''
La traviata'' with the
Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera is an American opera company based in Seattle, Washington. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of eight to ten performances each, often featuring double casts in major roles to all ...
in the
McCaw Hall opera house. In December 2009 " Lucia di Lammermoor" in Sassari.
In 2010 he appeared at
Suntory Hall in Tokyo in Mozart's ''
Così fan tutte
(''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written ...
'', in Donizetti's ''
Lucia di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...
'' in Hamburg, another ''La traviata'' and ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
'' by R. Strauss in Dresden and also at the Wiener Staatsoper. He was featured in ''La bohème'' in Detroit and at the Wiener Staatsoper, in Donizetti's ''
Maria Stuarda'' in Athens, another ''Elixir'', and a new production of ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' at Wiener Festwochen conducted by
Omer Meir Wellber
Omer Meir Wellber (; born 28 October 1981, Beersheba) is an Israeli conductor and composer.
Biography
Wellber began musical studies at age 5, on accordion and piano. He became a composition student of Tania Taler at age 9. He attended the musi ...
and directed by
Luc Bondy.
In 2011 Demuro repeated of Alfredo at the
Arena di Verona
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...
, where he received enthusiastic reviews. His debut at the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
as Rinuccio in ''
Gianni Schicchi'', conducted by
Antonio Pappano, was a success.
"Puccini: ''Il Trittico'' DVD (The Royal Opera)"
, Royal Opera House],
on roh.org.uk
Over the 2012/13 season, he appeared in a variety of new roles, including Nemorino in Donizetti's ''Don Pasquale
''Don Pasquale'' () is a Gaetano Donizetti opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts, with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's oper ...
'' at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...
, in Verdi's ''Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'' in Munich, and as Fenton in Verdi's ''Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
'' at La Scala. In addition, he reprised some roles which included another Duke of Mantua at the San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
, Alfredos at the Berlin State Opers, the Wiener Staatsoper
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...
, and the Oper Frankfurt
The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...
, and as the Rodolfo for the Seattle Opera.
Other appearances included those in ''Maria Stuarda'' staged by the ABAO-OLBE company in Bilbao in April 2013, another ''Così'' in San Francisco in June 2013, as Roméo in Gounod's '' Roméo et Juliette'' in the Arena di Verona, and as Fenton in San Francisco's ''Falstaff''.
Demuro appeared as the Duke of Mantua in January 2014 in Seattle, another Alfredo at the Opéra Bastille, as well as appearances with the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
and Covent Garden.
Personal life
Demuro lives in Lucca
Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
with his wife Vittoria Contini and their daughters. He has retained his strong connection to Sardinia, where he spends holidays and performs Sardinian folk songs in popular festivals.
References
Notes
Sources
Biography on Seattle Opera's website
Biography on the Russian National Orchestra's website
Biographical information on IMG Artists' website
External links
Demuro's ''Facebook'' page
Seattle Opera's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demuro, Francesco
1978 births
Italian operatic tenors
Living people
People from the Province of Sassari
21st-century Italian male opera singers