1st Prize
Franco Fagioli
Argentina, Countertenor, born 1981
Winning first prize of the NEUE STIMMEN 2003 competition, Franco was discovered for several stages throughout Europe - in the summer 2004 he gave his debut at the Händel-Festspiele in Halle, Germany, where in 2005 sang again the role of Lichas in Hercules. During the season 2004/2005 he sang at the Opera Zurich in Monteverdi's Orfeo and under the artistic direction of Nikolaus Harnoncout and the stage direction of Jürgen Flimm he has impressed the audience as Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea. Singing the lead role in Händel's Giulio Cesare, Franco Fagioli has internationally received rave reviews. His stage presence and musicality are being highly praised. The Basler Zeitung put him on an equal level with his leading lady, who is none less than Cecilia Bartoli. In 2005 he also sang the Cardenio in Conti's Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena under the direction of René Jacobs in Innsbruck.
On his first solo-CD, published by Arte Nova, Franco Fagioli sang arias of Händel and Mozart under the direction of Gustav Kuhn.
During the 2005/2006 season, Fagioli performed the role of Ruggiero in Vivaldi’s L´Orlando Furioso at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, and at the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe he sang the role of Idelberto in Lotario. The following season he took on the role of Tolomeo in the opera Giulio Cesare at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris.
In 2007 Franco Fagioli gave his debut performance at the Pfingsten Barock festival in Salzburg in the role of Johannes in Scarlatti’s Oratorio a quattro voci under the direction of Riccardo Muti, who invited Fagioli to perform again in Salzburg in 2008. During the 2007/2008 season he sang the role of Giulio Cesare at Den Norske Opera in Oslo. Franco Fagioli has been performing in the role of Giulio Cesare at the Badisches Staatstheater since February 2008, and his premiere was met with excellent reviews: “On stage in the title role was one of the world’s top countertenors, Franco Fagioli, an outstanding performer and worthy successor to the legendary castrato Senesino, for whom this virtuoso role was written by Handel in 1723. Fagioli’s performance was excellent in every way—he moves with ease from smooth, lyrical euphony to aggressive, dramatic power, as in the acclaimed bravura aria ‘Al lampo dell´armi,’" observed the news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur.
In May and June of 2008, Franco Fagioli can be seen in the role of Athamas in Handel’s Semele at the Aalto Theater in Essen. He has an upcoming engagement at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and in August of 2009 he will return to his home country of Argentina, where he will be performing in Orfeo at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
