(Credit: Marco Borrelli)

Back in March at the height of the Pandemic, OperaWire stopped writing Artist of the Week profiles as every opera house was shut down. Now with theaters reopening in Europe, OperaWire will resume its Artist of the Week series highlighting one artist a week. This week marks the reopening of the Teatro alla Scala nearly four months after it closed its doors. Famed baritone Luca Salsi will have the honors of reopening the theater in a special recital.

Salsi is no stranger to opening the famed theater as he last opened the 2019-20 season with a new production of Puccini’s “Tosca” and also headlined the opening night production of Giordano’s “Andrea Chenier” during the 2017-18 season. He is a mainstay at La Scala as he has performed in several new productions for the theater since his debut and is still set to open a new production of “La Gioconda” in November.

Aside from reopening the Teatro alla Scala, he will also headline the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s new production of “Rigoletto,” singing his signature interpretation of the title role. That production will reopen the Rome theater after the pandemic; Salsi will also participate in two gala concerts at the Arena di Verona’s reimagined 2020 summer season. The baritone will then participate in recitals at the Teatro la Fenice and Festival Valle d’Itria.

During the pandemic, Salsi appeared in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino’s at-home gala as well as on several panels and promoted numerous live streams that were shown throughout several platforms.

The Italian baritone is an internationally recognized singer who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Teatro Real, Paris Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Gran Teatre del Liceu. He is best known for his interpretations of Verdi and Verismo roles.

Recordings 

For those not familiar with the baritone’s voice, Salsi has appeared on recent releases of “Il Trovatore” and “Simon Boccanegra.” “Il Trovatore” comes from the Arena di Verona, while “Simon Boccanegra” comes from the Salzburg Festival. He is also featured in a recording of “Il Corsaro” and “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.”

Here he is as Baron Scarpia in “Tosca” from La Scala

Check out his Carlo Gerard from “Andrea Chenier.”

And here he is in the title role of “Nabucco.”