Frank Lopardo
Frank Lopardo (born December 23, 1957) is an American operatic tenor who was born in Brentwood, New York. He specialized in the repertoire of Mozart and Rossini early in his career and has since transitioned to the works of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, and Bellini.
Early years
Lopardo began his musical training at Queens College, CUNY before moving on to the Juilliard School. At Queens College he first met Dr. Robert White, who currently serves on the staff at the Juilliard School.[1]
Career
Lopardo made his North American debut as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Theater of St. Louis. He has a long-standing relationship with The Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he has performed more than 180 times since his debut in 1989 in the role of Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia.[2] He has appeared there as Tamino, Rodolfo in La bohème, Alfredo in La traviata, the Duke in Rigoletto, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Tonio in La fille du régiment, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Idreno in Semiramide, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, and Fenton in Falstaff. He has made appearances with various North American opera companies, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, and Santa Fe Opera.
In Europe, Lopardo made his debut as Fenton at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He has sung as Edgardo, Rodolfo, the Duke, and Lenski in Eugene Onegin at the Opéra National de Paris. At the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden he has sung as Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri. Other major European theatres where he has performed include the Vienna State Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Comunale in Florence and Teatro Real in Madrid. He has appeared in the Salzburg, Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Glyndebourne Opera Festival, and Aix-en-Provence festivals Aix-en-Provence Festival, and sung with De Nederlandse Opera.
Throughout his career, Lopardo has sung with orchestras throughout the world. He has performed in Verdi's Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Mozart's Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic at La Scala, Berlioz's Requiem and Orff's Carmina Burana with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Dvořák's Requiem with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Awards
In 1983, Lopardo won first prize in the Liederkranz Foundation competition.[3] He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Queens College, Aaron Copland School of Music, in 1992, and in 2005 won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for a recording of the Berlioz Requiem, performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and conducted by Robert Spano.[4]
Discography
- Requiem (Mozart), with Riccardo Muti. EMI Records, 1987
- L'italiania in Algeri (Rossini), with Claudio Abbado. Deutsche Grammophon, 1987
- Don Giovanni (Mozart), with Riccardo Muti. EMI Records, 1990
- Great Mass in C minor (Mozart), with Leonard Bernstein. Deutsche Grammophon, 1991
- Falstaff (Verdi), with Sir Colin Davis. BMG Music, 1991
- Il signor Bruschino (Rossini), with Ion Marin. Deutsche Grammophon, 1991
- Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini), with Claudio Abbado. Deutsche Grammphon, 1992
- Semiramide (Rossini), with Ion Marin. Deutsche Grammophon, 1992
- Carmina Burana (Orff), with André Previn. Deutsche Grammophon, 1992
- Don Pasquale (Donizetti), with Roberto Abbado. BMG Music, 1993
- Idomeneo (Mozart), with James Levine. Decca Records, 1993
- Così fan tutte (Mozart), with Sir George Solti. Decca Records, 1993
- La traviata (Verdi), with (Sir George Solti). Decca Records, 1994
- Requiem (Berlioz), with Robert Spano. Telarc Records, 2003
- Imelda de' Lambertazzi (Donizetti), with Mark Elder. Opera Rara, 2006
- Ninth Symphony (Beethoven), with Franz Welser-Möst. Deutsche Grammphon, 2007