This week, the Maggio Musicale is set to open its 2019’20 season with an intriguing double bill. The two operas set to be presented will include Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and the world premiere of Riccardo Panfili’s ‘”Noi, due, quattro…” with two very respected artists. But it is Panfili’s opera which will showcase two rising stars in the opera world. Paolo Antognetti will take on the lead role of Niccolò singing his first lead role with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Over the years Antognetti has been performing with some of the greatest theaters throughout the world. He has performed at the Festival Mito, Festival Perigueux, Musikfestuttgart, Festival Mascagni, Villa Cordelina, Teatro Camploy, Festival Santande, Fondazione Arena di Verona, Teatro Regio di Parma, and Teatro La Fenice. Among the roles he has performed are smaller parts like Beppe in “Pagliacci,” Raymond in “Jérusalem,” and Abdallo in “Nabucco” as well as  bigger roles like Don Ottavio in “Don Giovanni” and Nemorino in “L’Elisir d’Amore.”

He is also no stranger to world premieres as he sang the first performance of Filippo Ferocco’s “Aquagranda” at the Teatro La Fenice.

However, this time Antognetti is set to perform his first lead role in a major Italian theater and with the new opera by Panfili being a world premiere, the tenor will likely receive a lot more attention.

For those who are not present in Florence for performances of “Noi, due, quattro…,” Antognetti will also perform at the Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Teatro Reggio Emilia this season.

Recordings

For those not familiar with the tenor here are some selections from performances of his work.

Here he is performing Beppe in “Pagliacci…”

..and here is performing from “Tosca.”