Raffaele Pe

The Italian countertenor Raffaele Pe is a tireless champion of Baroque culture. He has worked with renowned conductors such as Jordi Savall, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, William Christie and Giovanni Antonini and with distinguished directors including Robert Carsen, Claus Guth, Damiano Michieletto, Pier Luigi Pizzi and Graham Vick. He has performed at leading opera houses such as the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, La Fenice, Venice, the MusikTheater an der Wien, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

He is one of the most versatile Handel interpreters of our time, and has sung iconic roles such as Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo, Orlando, Serse, Nero, Arbace, Acis and Disinganno. He also focuses on the music of Monteverdi, Cavalli and little-known composers of the late 17th century and has performed in modern premieres, including of Cavalli’s Hipermestra at the Glyndebourne Festival, Melani’s L’empio punito and Marazzoli’s Amore malato at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa and Cavalli’s Veremonda at the Spoleto Festival USA.

His wide-ranging musical repertory reaches from recitar cantando to contemporary opera. The Lebanese composer Zad Moultaka wrote his opera Hémon (with a libretto by Paul Audi) specifically for his voice. The world premiere took place in 2021 at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, and involved Raffaele Pe singing first in the baritone and later in the soprano register.

As a concert singer he has worked with renowned orchestras and performed at prestigious concert halls including the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and the Wigmore Hall in London.

In 2014 he founded the Baroque ensemble La Lira di Orfeo, a collective of musicians, artists and researchers that has already released several albums, and which he frequently conducts.

Raffaele Pe’s recording Giulio Cesare, a Baroque Hero with La Lira di Orfeo was awarded the Abbiati Prize in 2019.