Salvatore Fisichella
During this time he listened to Mario del Monaco, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Franco Corelli, Carlo Bergonzi and Gianni Raimondi and began performing in small concerts.
[6] Fisichella won the XXIV Concorso Lirico Adriano Belli - the prestigious competition held in Spoleto, for his performances of the opera pieces I puritani, La favorite and Rigoletto.
Prior to touring all of Italy, Spoleto was also the venue for Fisichella's debut performance in the leading role of Massenet's Werther conducted by Ottavio Ziino.
A year later, he was called upon again by the Opera di Roma, this time to work with Mirella Freni and Ghiaurov in Gounoud's Faust conducted by Georges Prêtre.
In 1984, he sang with Bruna Baglioni, Giorgio Zancanaro and Bonaldo Giaiotti at the State Theatre of Bern in Donizetti's La favorite conducted by Nello Santi.
In 1985, he once again played Arturo in I puritani (this time singing alongside the soprano Edita Gruberova and baritone Giorgio Zancanaro, with the conductor Masini at the Bregenz Festival.
[8] Fisichella's vocal range, flexibility and incisive phrasing have led the singer to branch out beyond the bel canto repertoire into verismo, as, for example, in his 1988 performance of La Gioconda at the inauguration of the Teatro Regio di Torino.
Fisichella was one of the performers at the Megaconcert held in Verona Arena (Concert of Tenors) to commemorate the centenary of Beniamino Gigli's birth, (Corriere della Sera 29/8/1990).
On the occasion of the inaugural concerts for the newly restored Teatro Massimo in Palermo, he performed together with Gasdia, Casolla, and Peterson in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Neschling.
He also performed in Teatro Massimo Bellini's production of Rigoletto in Catania (with Nucci and Pace, conducted by Nello Santi) and in the Concerto Dei Grandi Tenori Siciliani organised by the same theatre.
This was the period in which Fisichella was presented with the Gigli D’Oro award at the second Una vita per la Musica event held in Recanati, the native town of the tenor himself.
The same year saw Fisichella, together with two fellow performers, in a memorable open air Concerto Sotto Le Stelle in Recanati, singing in the same square where Gigli had so often entertained his home public.
2000 continued with performances of Macbeth at the Teatro Massimo in Catania, Madame Butterfly at the Puccini Festival, and a production of La bohème at the Den Norske Opera in Oslo.
In November, he gave two performances of I puritani in a Bellinianino Concert at the Grand Theatre, Łódź, La bohème and Madama Butterfly at the Hungarian State Opera House's Puccini Festival together with Ilona Tokody and Tamas Busa.
In the months of March, April and May 2004, he was contracted to play as Pollione in Norma, together with Gabriella Morigi, Riikka Rantanen, Serena Farnocchia, Ilkka Vihavainen and Hannu Forsberg.
[11][12][13][14]Admirable descendant of a plethora of great voices, Fisichella's refined singing and generous sensitivity play their part in the worldwide repute of Italian bel canto.
With top notes that are both clear and bright and a solid mid range, Fisichella holds the standard of bel canto singing high, performing scores that are often little heard due to their demanding nature.
