The Milanese bass-baritone Giovanni Romeo performs at renowned opera houses worldwide. His engagements have taken him to venues such as La Scala, Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the ABAO Bilbao Opera, the Opéra Grand Avignon, the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the Atlanta Opera, the Royal Opera House Muscat and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
He received his operatic vocal training from the soprano Cristina Domínguez and went on to become a member of the Accademia of La Scala, Milan. He began his career in productions of the Laboratorio Teatro Musicale del Settecento at the Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, where he performed Uberto in Paisiello’s La serva padrona and Geronimo in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto in productions directed by the famous buffo bass Enzo Dara, with whom he specialized in comic roles, and whose artistic heir he is widely considered to be.
Numerous role debuts followed in operas by Mozart and Donizetti, in both bass and baritone roles. He also participated in several prestigious training programmes for young singers, including the 2014 Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival.
Giovanni Romeo achieved his breakthrough as Rossini’s Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia) — a role that he has already sung many times at the great opera houses of Italy and further afield, including in the legendary Ponnelle production at La Scala, Milan, sharing the stage with Leo Nucci and Ruggero Raimondi.
His other signature buffo roles include Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Leporello (Don Giovanni), Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), the title role of Don Pasquale and Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore). His repertory also encompasses roles such as Schaunard (La bohème), Sacristan (Tosca) and Sancho Panza in Massenet’s Don Quichotte.
Giovanni Romeo has performed under the baton of many important conductors, including Antonello Allemandi, Marco Armiliato, Riccardo Bisatti, Gianluca Capuano, Riccardo Chailly, Arthur Fagen, Gabriele Ferro, Gérard Korsten, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Renato Palumbo, Carlo Rizzi, Federico Maria Sardelli, Speranza Scapucci and Tugan Sokhiev. The directors with whom he has collaborated include Grischa Asagaroff, André Barbe & Renaud Doucet, Jean-Louis Grinda, Gino Landi, Mario Martone, Evgeny Pisarev, Mario Pontiggia, Emilio Sagi and Gabriele Salvatores.
