Riccardo Massi

Biography

Italian tenor Riccardo Massi has rapidly achieved international recognition as one of the most exciting and accomplished interpreters of the Italian spinto repertoire, earning accolades worldwide for his interpretations of Puccini’s and Verdi’s heroes. As a specialist in the handling of ancient and medieval weapons, before pursuing his passion for opera, Massi enjoyed a career as a stuntman; working in several films including Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York”, ABC’s “Empire”, and HBO’s “Rome”.

Among his performances of the 2018/2019 season are his debut as Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra de Marseille, Manrico in Il trovatore at the Teatro Comunale of Bologna.

In the 2017/2018 season he performed Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Palm Beach Opera and with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Ansan and Seoul, Don José in Carmen for his debut at the Los Angeles Opera, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem for his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Radamès in a new production of Aida at the Sydney Opera House, at the Hong Kong Opera and the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires.

Engagements of the 2016/2017 season included Des Grieux at the Berlin State Opera, his debut at the New National Theatre Tokyo as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, his return to The Metropolitan Opera New York as Radamès in Aida as well as Calaf at the Cologne Opera House, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera alongside Sondra Radvanovsky in a gala performance at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, Don José in Carmen at the Jhihde Hall of Taiwan and Manrico in Il trovatore at the Budapest Summer Festival.

Highlights of recent seasons saw his 2014 Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut as Cavaradossi under the musical direction of Plácido Domingo, where he returned in 2015/2016 and 2017/2018 in the same role, Calaf in Turandot for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (Opera Australia), the Bregenz Festival, the Zurich Opera House and the Royal Swedish Opera alongside Nina Stemme, his role debut as Rodolfo in Luisa Miller at the Melbourne Arts Center (Opera Australia), Milio in Leoncavallo’s Zaza at the London Barbican Hall (recorded for Opera Rara), Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Sydney Opera House and the Semperoper Dresden, Radamès in Aida at the Teatro Regio of Turin, his debut in the title role of Andrea Chénier at the Royal Swedish Opera, a 2014 gala concert with soprano Anna Netrebko at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Un ballo in maschera at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Don Alvaro in La forza del destino at the Sydney Opera House, Don José in Carmen at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Pollione at the Terme di Caracalla, and debuts as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Norwegian National Opera and as Manrico in Il trovatore in Toronto.

Other career highlights include his 2012 Metropolitan Opera debut as Radamès in Aida (the same role with which he also debuted at the Houston Grand Opera in 2013), his debut as Enzo Grimaldi in a concert performance of La Gioconda at the Concertgebeouw opposite Eva Maria Westbroek, and debuts at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera and the Berlin Staatsoper as Cavaradossi.

In 2016 he made his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre as Des Grieux in a new production of Manon Lescaut. In 2019 he performed Riccardo (Un Ballo in Maschera).

Massi developed his vocal technique in Rome with David Holst, who has also been his sole mentor. He was invited to join the Accademia della Scala, after which he made his operatic debut in December of 2009 as Radamès in Aida in Salerno under the baton of Daniel Oren.