Simone Piazzola

Biography

Born in Verona, at the age of 11 he began his musical studies with the soprano Alda Borelli Morgan. In 2004 he took part in various concerts organized by Fondazione Arena di Verona. In 2005 he won the first prize at the Marie Kraja Competition in Tirana and in 2007 he won the Competition Comunità Europea of the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto. Soon he began a career that led him to perform in Giordano's Il Re at the Giordano Theatre in Foggia, Rigoletto conducted by Maestro Bruno Campanella at the Rome Opera House and on tour in Japan, and Il trovatore (Conte di Luna) at the Teatro Nuovo in Spoleto. In July 2008 he made his debut as Marcello in La bohème at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. In 2009 he was engaged as Marcello in La bohème at Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina, Germont in La traviata in Verona and Florence, Cecil in Maria Stuarda and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly in Venice, Beijing and Naples. He also participated in a Gala Concert together with Plácido Domingo at the Arena di Verona. In 2010 he made his debut as Valentin in Gounod's Faust at the Teatro Bellini in Catania and was also engaged in La bohème (Marcello) at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo conducted by Daniele Callegari, La traviata (Germont) in Jesi, Fermo and Treviso, Simon Boccanegra (Paolo) at the Teatro Regio in Parma for the Verdi Festival and at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and La Fanciulla del West (Sonora) at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

He sang in Maria Stuarda (Cecil) conducted by Richard Bonynge and directed by Pizzi at the Megaron in Athens, in La traviata (Germont) in Ascoli Piceno, Palermo, Piacenza, Bolzano, at the Teatro Comunale in Modena, at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival, in Robert Carsen’s production in Venice, at the Ravenna Festival, in Ferzan Özpetek’s production at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and on tour in Hong Kong (conducted by Roberto Abbado). He also sang in Lucia di Lammermoor (Enrico) at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, in Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, in Pagliacci (Silvio) at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples (on tour at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, conducted by Donato Renzetti), in Simon Boccanegra (Paolo) at the ABAO in Bilbao directed by Hugo De Ana and conducted by Donato Renzetti, in La bohème in Rovigo, Padua and Venice, conducted by Maestro Daniele Callegari and directed by Francesco Micheli, in Rigoletto in Jesi and Fermo. He also participated in the Christmas Concert conducted by Riccardo Muti in the Senate and broadcasted via the European Broadcasting Union's Eurovision network, in Don Carlo (Rodrigo) in Modena and Piacenza and at the Verdi Gala with Fondazione Toscanini conducted by Maestro Kazushi Ono.

Among his recent engagements are La traviata at La Fenice in Venice, in Macerata, at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia and in Los Angeles, La bohème in Sao Paulo, Brazil and in Tel Aviv, Il trovatore at the Sferisterio Festival in Macerata, at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, in Naples and in Budapest, La forza del destino at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Simon Boccanegra in Venice, Lucia di Lammermoor in Berlin, Pagliacci in Milan, and Aida at the Vienna State Opera. In August 2013 he won the Second Prize as well as the Audience Award at the Plácido Domingo's Operalia Competition in Verona; in June of that year he won the Abbiati Prize.