Italian baritone Riccardo Novaro trained at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, studying with Claude Thiolas and Alessandro Corbelli. He made his professional debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte in Cagliari with great success, and since then he has been offered Mozart roles such as Figaro, Conte, Guglielmo, Papageno, Don Alfonso and Masetto all over Europe.

Riccardo is a fine interpreter of Rossini and Donizetti operas. Recent engagements include Haly L’italiana in Algeri for Opéra Nationale de Paris, Taddeo L’italiana in Algeri for Opera de Lausanne and Opera Nationale de Bordeaux, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte for Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Count Le nozze di Figaro for Opéra de Rouen, Opéra Royal de Versaille and New Zealand Opera, Dandini La Cenerentola in Nancy, Gaudenzio Il signor Bruschino in Milan. Other roles include Raimbaud Le comte Ory, Don Alvaro Il viaggio a Reims, Germano La Scala di Seta, Prosdocimo Il Turco in Italia, Malatesta Don Pasquale, Belcore L’Elisir d’Amore and Moralés Carmen.

As a notable performer of Baroque repertoire, highlights include Argante Rinaldo for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opera de Lausanne, Achilla Giulio Cesare in Modena, Ferrara, Ravenna and Milan, Testo in Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda for the Berlin Staatsoper and Florian Gassmann’s L'opera seria at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, both under René Jacobs and Giove Il ritorno di Ulisse in Patria in Lausanne.

Riccardo also makes frequent apperances at major festivals. He sang in Don Carlo under Lorin Maazel for Salzburg Festival, Marco Gianni Schicchi (DVD released by OpusArte) and Schaunard La Boheme for Glyndebourne Festival, Papageno Die Zauberflöte, Malatesta Don Pasquale and Macrobio La Pietra del Paragone for Garsington Opera, and Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte and Argante Rinaldo for Festival de Beaune. He works with leading conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Vladimir Jurowski, Ottavio Dantone, Jérémie Rhohrer and Mark Wigglesworth.

Recordings include Charpentier’s Te Deum with the Accademia of Santa Cecilia in Rome conducted by Myun-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon), Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade with Rinaldo Alessandrini (Naïve), Handel’s Floridante under Alan Curtis (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv), and Mercadante’s I Normanni a Parigi (Opera Rara).

During the 11-12 season, Riccardo will perform Pallante Agrippina for Opera de Dijon and Opera de Lille, Dandini La Cenerentola for Opera Nationale de Paris, Figaro for Ancona, Argante Rinaldo for Ravenna and Clistene L’Olympiade for Garsington.

Riccardo Novaro is represented worldwide by Intermusica.
October 2011 / 393 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.

Dandini In Rossini La Cenerentola / Opera National De Paris
Cond. Bruno Campanella / Revival Dir. Grischa Asagaroff
“Riccardo Novaro (Dandini) is a dynamo on stage. His rich baritone timbre and impeccable diction also brought great intensitity to much of the ensemble singing.”
Jeffrey Grice, GBOpera, December 2011

“All the protagonists were perfect in their roles. Riccardo Novaro (Dandini) has an excellent voice for this repertoire, and is an excellent actor.”
Altamusica.com, 1st December 2011

“The light-footedness, rhythm and humour of the production owed a lot to Riccardo Novaro’s Dandini. He was elegantly light-hearted, his comic timing was tremendous, he smiled like a cheeky little boy, and he articulated the words with a contagious intelligence and intelligibility. He was simply radiant in this role.”
Qobuz, 29th November 2011

“Riccardo Novaro confirmed the good impression he made as Taddeo in Bordeaux. His get-up-and-go, his style and his thorough preparation of the role made Dandini more than just a valet.”
Forum Opera, 28th November 2011

“Riccardo Novaro’s Dandini was very assured, at ease both in the coloratura and the syllabic declamation, never over the top as the valet dressed as his master.”
Concertonet, 29th November 2011

“Riccardo Novaro’s Dandini was perfect.”
Concert classic, November 2011

Mercadante: I Normanni a Parigi (highlights) (Opera Rara ORR 249)
Cond. Stuart Stratford / Philharmonia Orchestra
“(…) a smooth, nimble Italian baritone, Riccardo Novaro, the only cast member who does not over-sing.”
David J. Baker, Opera News, November 2011

Argante / Handel Rinaldo / Opera de Lausanne
Cond. Diego Fasolis / Dir.Louise Moaty
“Baritone Riccardo Novarro (Argante) redeemed the male cast with his beautifully resonant voice and admirable vocal and dramatic presence. His first aria, 'Sibillar gli angui d'Aletto', was a wake-up call in an otherwise sleepy staging.”
Resmusica.com, May 2011

Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro
New Zealand Opera / cond. Lionel Friend / dir. Aidan Lang
“Riccardo Novaro was an excellent Count; severe and aloof but totally confused when outside his comfort zone. He was impressive with his razor-sharp singing and concise acting.”
National Business Review, June 2010

“Riccardo Novaro, a slim and menacing Count, made the most of Act 3’s ‘Vedrò, menr’io sospiro’.”
Nicholas Tarling, Opera, October 2010

Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte
Glyndebourne Touring Opera / cond. Patrick Lange / dir. Nicholas Hytner
“This production has been searching for its ideal Don Alfonso — and in Riccardo Novaro it comes pretty near to finding him. Mozart and Rossini are his specialities, so it’s stylishly and powerfully sung — and with a brooding darkness that nicely matches the stern reality of this Despina."
Hilary Finch, The Times, October 2009

“A pair of remarkable performances from Riccardo Novaro and Simona Mihai as the two connivers. Novaro's charismatic, beautiful-sounding Alfonso is very much the disillusioned sensualist who gets vicarious pleasures from preying on the lives of others.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, October 2009

Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte
Festival de Beaune / Le Cercle de l’Harmonie / cond. Jérémie Rhorer
“Riccardo Novaro's Don Alfonso was perfect: he is a crafty actor and a powerful singer.”
Christian Merlin, Le Figaro, July 2009

“The character of Alfonso was in fine vocal form and articulated wonderfully at the Beaune Festival, incarnated by the Italian baritone Riccardo Novaro.”
Compte-Rendu, July 2009

Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo
Festival de Beaune / Accademia Bizantina / cond. Ottavio Dantone
“His may be a young voice, but it is perfectly structured and full of potential: Riccardo Novaro sang Argante with a dark and poisonous bite.”
Ronald Duclos, Breves, July 2009

Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte
Garsington Opera / cond. Stuart Bedford / dir. John Cox
“This year’s version is an absolute triumph. Not only were the four principals divinely wonderful, but Riccardo Novaro was superb as Don Alfonso. He played the part not at all as a genial educator, but as an altogether more sinister, Iago-like figure, unsmiling, inwardly tortured. Here was a man wreaking his revenge for delight.”
Andrea Hopkins, Daily Info, Oxford, June 2008

Achilla in Handel’s Giulio Cesare
Opéra de Lausanne / cond. Ottavio Dantone / dir. Emilio Sagi
“Achilla was sung by Riccardo Novaro, who was to be heard last year in Nancy. He demonstrated a generous sonority and a comfortably homogenous projection across the whole tessitura.”
Bertrand Bolognesi, Anaclase.com, April 2008

Taddeo in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri
Opéra de Lille / cond. Pascal Verrot / dir. Sandrine Anglade
“…the outstanding Riccardo Novaro balanced both depth of emotion and a sense of the burlesque with great agility. His beautifully placed voice and perfect tuning confirmed him as a perfect Rossinian singer, and a talent to be followed.”
Alexandra Diaconu, ResMusica.com, November 2007

Il Conte in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro
Opéra de Bordeaux / cond. Jane Glover / dir. Robert Carsen
“Particular praise must go to Riccardo Novaro’s Count Almaviva. He had an exceptional presence on stage and his vocal quality was faultless. Watching him on stage, he came across as a vastly experienced singer, but in fact he’s still a very young man, whom I had the opportunity to congratulate at the stage door. Bravo for a most impressive performance!”
Vocalises.net, July 2007

Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro
Opéra de Lausanne / cond. Juanjo Mena / dir. Marco Arturo Marelli
“Riccardo Navaro sang with a marvellous timbre, and was perfectly at ease in the role of Figaro, making even Se vuol ballare into an imposing and dark proposition. Novaro was one of the big successes of this production, sticking closely to the original intentions of the libretto.”
Anaclase.com, April 2007

Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore
Opéra National de Montpellier / cond. Patrick Davin & Ariane Matiakh / dir. Davide Livermore
“Baritone Riccardo Novaro (Belcore) sang faultlessly with a superb timbre – he is worth keeping an eye on!”
François Jestin, Scènes Magazine, February 2007

“Sergeant Belcore – Riccardo Novaro – didn’t hold back: he performed pull-ups, press-ups and arm-wrestling in order to impress the peasant girls searching for a husband. Happily, his physical prowess didn’t affect the homogeneity of his voice.”
December 2006

Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola
Tours Grand Théâtre / cond. Cyril Dietrich / dir. Elsa Rooke
“Riccardo Novaro made a hilarious Dandini. Showing great mastery of the Rossinian style of singing, the Italian baritone played up to the part and sang with homogeneity and a beautiful timbre. He made light of the role, singing with the greatest of ease.”
Scène Lyrique, January 2007