"Leonardo Capalbo sings with unstinting heroic grandeur"
— The Telegraph
Described by Opera News as "a radiant tenor with a clarion top," Italian-American tenor Leonardo Capalbo is a leading interpreter of the lirico spinto repertoire of Verdi and Puccini. Capalbo has garnered international acclaim for his performances throughout the United States and Europe with heavy emphasis on his rich voice, good looks, and exceptional acting ability. Capalbo continues to make impressive appearances in theaters around the globe including The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Teatro Real Madrid, La Monnaie, Berlin State Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, L'Opéra de Lyon, Teatro Regio di Torino, the Canadian Opera Company and the Lyric Opera of Chicago among others. He has worked with some of the world's most influential artists such as Placido Domingo, Richard Bonynge, Gianandrea Noseda, Fabio Luisi, Sir David McVicar, Sir Andrew Davis, Franco Zeffirelli, Jonathan Miller, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Teodor Currentzis, Mariusz Trelinski and Graham Vick.
Significant role debuts and new productions mark Leonardo Capalbo's 2018-2019 season. Leonardo begins the season with his debut at the Bremen Musikfest as the title role in Les contes d'Hoffmann conducted by Marc Minkowski. Next he makes his role debut as Ruggero in a new production of La rondine at Minnesota Opera. He then returns to the Royal Swedish Opera in a new production of Rigoletto. Leonardo joins the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop to mark the Leonard Bernstein centennial with his celebrated portrayal of Candide in December. The spring sees his debut at the San Diego Symphony in Puccini's Messa di Gloria followed by Rigoletto at Calgary Opera. The summer brings two important role debuts; first as the title character in Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera in West Horsely, then as Pollione in Norma at Oper Stuttgart.
In recent seasons Capalbo has starred as the title role in Les contes d'Hoffmann at The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, made his house and role debuts as Gustavo in Un ballo in maschera at The Royal Swedish Opera, debuted at the Baden Baden Festspielhaus in La bohème, and premiered a new production of Gloriana by David McVicar at the Teatro Real Madrid.
Future engagements include his role debuts as Don Carlos (French version), Werther, Pinkerton, and Osaka in Mascagni's Iris.
Other career highlights include Mariusz Trelinski's new production of Powder Her Face at La Monnaie/ De Munt; debuts at The Royal Opera Covent Garden as Ismaele in Nabucco and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in David McVicar's production of La traviata; the title role in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux at the Canadian Opera Company, alongside Sondra Radvanovsky, also at Welsh National Opera in a new production; house and role debuts as Tom Rakewell in David McVicar's new production of The Rake's Progress at the Teatro Regio di Torino; house and role debuts as Hoffmann in Les contes d'hoffmann at L'Opéra de Lyon in the Laurent Pelly production; the Spanish premiere of Daniel Catan's Il Postino at the Teatro Real de Madrid as the title character; Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore at The Glyndebourne Festival, Berlin State Opera and New York City Opera; Don José in Carmen in Warsaw, Athens, Seville, and the Grange Festival; Cavaradossi in Tosca in Minnesota; Nerone in a new Warlikowski production of Poppea e Nerone in Montpellier; Alfredo in La traviata in a new production at Welsh National Opera, also at the Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera, and The Grand Théâtre de Genève; Macduff in Macbeth at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, L'Opéra de Lyon, L'Opéra de Monte Carlo and Berlin State Opera; Duca in Rigoletto in Leipzig, São Paulo Brazil, Toulon, and Montreal; the title role in Candide at the Berlin State Opera and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Strasbourg; Rodolfo in La bohème in Baden-Baden, Bordeaux, Athens, St. Gallen, and Cagliari; Arturo in La Straniera in Amsterdam; Jacopo in I due Foscari in St. Gallen; Leicester in Maria Stuarda in Stuttgart; Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at Teatro São Carlos, Lisbon; Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw in Spoleto; and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at Opera North.
Leonardo trained at The Juilliard School of Music and The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California where he studied with legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.