Roberto Alagna

French tenor Roberto Alagna made his Royal Opera debut in 1992 as Rodolfo (La bohème). He has since appeared regularly with The Royal Opera and in gala events at the Royal Opera House. His most recent roles for the Company include Nemorino (L’elisird’amore), Radames (Aida), Manrico (Il trovatore), Faust, Don José (Carmen), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Calaf (Turandot), the title role in Andrea Chénier and Canio (Pagliacci). He has performed more than 100 times with The Royal Opera.

Alagna was born in the Parisian suburbs to Sicilian parents in a musical family. He first honed his voice through listening to recordings and studying opera under Rafael Ruiz while singing in cabarets. In 1988 he entered and won the Pavarotti International Competition. Later that year he sang Alfredo (La traviata) with Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and his debuts at the world’s leading opera houses followed shortly after. In 1995 he won an Olivier Award for his performance of Roméo (Roméo et Juliette). Alongside his Royal Opera roles his current repertory includes Samson (Samson et Dalila), Otello, Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana), Canio (Pagliacci), Rodolfo (Luisa Miller), Eléazar (La Juive), Rodrigue (Le Cid), Vasco da Gama, Cyrano (Cyrano de Bergerac), Lancelot (Le Roi Arthus), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Maurizio (Adriana Lecouvreur) and Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut). 

Alagna has championed lesser-known repertory, including Lalo’s Fiesque, Massenet’s Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame and Le Cid, Chausson’s Le Roi Arthus and Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac. He was an exclusive artist with EMI 1993–2004, with Deutsche Grammophon 2005–17 and currently records exclusively with Sony Classical. In addition to his extensive discography he appears widely on DVD. He was appointed a Chevalier de la légion d’honneur in 2008.