Editing Roberto Alagna

{{short description|French opera tenor (born 1963)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Roberto Alagna
| image        = ALAGNA-24x30-2004b.jpg
| caption      = Roberto Alagna in 2004
| birth_date   = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1963|6|7}}<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roberto-Alagna "Roberto Alagna"] by Amanda E. Fuller, ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref>
| birth_place  = [[Clichy-sous-Bois]], [[Seine-Saint-Denis]], France
| citizenship  = {{hlist|Italian|French}}
| years_active = 1988–present
| occupation   = Opera singer ([[tenor]])
| spouse       = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Florence Lancien||1994|end=d.}}
* {{marriage|[[Angela Gheorghiu]]|1996|2013|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Aleksandra Kurzak]]|2015}}
}}
| website      =
}}
'''Roberto Alagna''' ({{IPA|it|roˈbɛrto aˈlaɲɲa}}; born 7 June 1963) is a French operatic [[tenor]]. He obtained French citizenship in 1981, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship.<ref>R. Alagna, ''Je ne suis pas le fruit du hasard'', Paris, Grasset, 2007, Chapter "Canonnier Alagna !", {{ISBN|978-2246685418}}.</ref>

==Early years==
Alagna was born in [[Clichy-sous-Bois]], outside the city of Paris, in 1963 to a family of [[Sicily|Sicilian]] immigrants. As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian [[cabaret]]s,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/357549/Roberto-Alagna-I-want-to-sing-everything-but-there-is-no-time | title=Roberto Alagna: I want to sing everything but there is no time |newspaper=[[Daily Express]]|location=London| author=Clare Colvin | date=2012-11-11 | access-date=2015-07-06}}</ref> mostly for tips.<ref>{{Cite book
  | year = 1997|editor=Elisabeth A. Schick
  | title = Current Biography Yearbook|chapter=Roberto Alagna|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lccn_824209389/page/6/mode/2up|chapter-url-access=registration|via=[[Internet Archive]]
  | pages = 7–10
  | publisher=[[H. W. Wilson Company]]
  }}
</ref> Influenced primarily by the films of [[Mario Lanza]] and learning from recordings of many historic tenors, he then switched to opera, but remained largely self-taught.<ref>{{cite web
  | title = Matinee Idol
  | publisher=The Metropolitan Opera News
  | url = http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/interviews/detail.aspx?id=3110
  | access-date =3 July 2008}}{{dead link|date=January 2025}}
</ref><ref>{{cite magazine
  | last1 = Duffy
  | first1 = Martha
  | last2=Denbigh|first2=Dorrie
   | title = So Happy Together
  | pages = 83–84
  |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| date = 29 April 1996
  | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984477-1,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080422063527/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984477-1,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 22 April 2008 | access-date =3 July 2008}}</ref> He was discovered by [[Gabriel Dussurget]], the co-founder of the [[Aix-en-Provence Festival]].<ref>[http://ruesdaix.ag13.pagesperso-orange.fr/html/DUSSURGET.html Aix-en-Provence Historical Society: Gabriel Dussurget]</ref> He had performed frequently with Romanian soprano [[Angela Gheorghiu]], whom he first met in 1992 and married in 1996, in concerts and opera productions until their eventual divorce in 2013.

==Career==
After winning the [[Luciano Pavarotti]] International Voice Competition, an initiative backed by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, that started in [[Modena]] in 1988, Alagna made his professional debut as Alfredo Germont in ''[[La traviata]]'' with the [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne]] touring company.<ref name="who">{{cite book
  | last = Cummings
  | first = David M.
  | title = International Who's Who In Classical Music 2003
  | publisher=Europa Publications
  | year = 2003
  | location = London, England
  | page = 9
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=48V3kmpJEEgC&q=International+who%27s+who+in+classical+music+2003
  | isbn = 1-85743-174-X}}
</ref> This led to many engagements throughout the smaller cities in France and Italy, mainly again as Alfredo, a role he would eventually sing over 150 times. His reputation grew and he was soon invited to sing at major theatres such as [[La Scala]] in 1990, [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] in 1992 and the [[Metropolitan Opera]] as [[La bohème|Rodolfo]] in 1996. His performances of Roméo in ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'' by [[Charles Gounod]] at Covent Garden in 1994 (opposite [[Leontina Vaduva]]) catapulted him to international stardom.<ref>{{cite magazine
  | last = Waleson
  | first = Heidi
  | title = Alagna Slated for Tenor Stardom
  | pages = 1–2
  | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| date = 18 November 1995
<!--  | url = http://www.ebscohost.com|access-date =3 July 2008 -->}}</ref>

Alagna opened the 2006/07 season at La Scala on 7 December 2006 in the new production of ''[[Aida]]'' by [[Franco Zeffirelli]]. During the second performance on 10 December, Alagna, whose opening performance was considered ill-at-ease, was booed and whistled from the ''loggione'' (the least expensive seats at the very back of La Scala), and he walked off the stage. The tenor's reaction to his public criticism was denounced as immature and unprofessional by La Scala management and Zeffirelli, who said, "A professional should never behave in this way. Alagna is too sensitive, it is too easy to hurt his feelings. He does not know how to act like a true star."<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Owen
  | first = Richard
  | title = Tenor who stormed off La Scala stage vows he will return
  | newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=UK
  | date = 12 December 2006
  | url = https://www.thetimes.com/article/tenor-who-stormed-off-la-scala-stage-vows-he-will-return-gfw5t0fs5ht
  | access-date=26 January 2025}}
</ref> The role of Radames was taken over successfully for the rest of the performance by his [[understudy]] [[Antonello Palombi]], who entered on stage wearing jeans and a black shirt.<ref>{{cite news
  | title = Booed tenor quits La Scala's ''Aida''
  | work=[[BBC News]]
  | date = 11 December 2006
  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6169177.stm
  | access-date =3 July 2008}}
</ref>

In 2007 while at the Metropolitan Opera singing the role of Pinkerton in ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', Alagna replaced the indisposed tenor [[Rolando Villazón]] as Romeo in ''Roméo et Juliette'' opposite soprano [[Anna Netrebko]] for two performances in September and two performances in December. Alagna was also engaged by the Metropolitan Opera at the last minute to cover for the indisposed Marco Berti in a 16 October 2007 performance of ''Aida''. After the performance, the audience gave him a standing ovation.<ref>''[[Deseret Morning News]]'', 21 October 2007, page E9, [[Associated Press]]/Verena Dobnik, "Once-booed tenor wows the Met"</ref> The 15 December performance of ''Roméo et Juliette'' starring Alagna and Netrebko was broadcast by the Met into 447 theatres worldwide in high definition and seen by about 97,000 people.<ref>[http://www.dailypress.com/features/dp-gl_david_1223dec23,0,6310904.column?coll=hr_features_home_garden_promo "Metropolitan Opera's broadcast is a digital gift"], ''[[Newport News Daily Press]]'', 23 December 2007</ref>

In recent years, Alagna has been an advocate of restoring to prominence neglected French operas – [[Franco Alfano|Alfano's]] ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (Alfano)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]'', [[Jules Massenet|Massenet's]] ''[[Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (opera)|Le jongleur de Notre-Dame]]'', [[Édouard Lalo|Lalo's]] ''[[Fiesque]]'', and new works – [[Vladimir Cosma]]'s ''[[Marius et Fanny]]'' and his brother [[David Alagna]]'s ''Le dernier jour d'un condamné''. He has also recorded light music with an homage album to [[Luis Mariano]], ''Sicilien'', and ''Pasión''.

Alagna was scheduled to make his debut at the [[Bayreuth Festival]] on opening day, 25 July 2018, in the title role of a new production of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''. Alagna withdrew from the festival on 29 June 2018 citing failure to learn the role in time.<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Brug
  | first = Manuel
  | title = Star-Tenor sagt "Lohengrin" ab – Text nicht gelernt
  | work=[[Welt (German TV channel)|Welt]]
  | date = 30 June 2018
  | url = https://www.welt.de/kultur/article178526060/Festspiel-Skandal-Roberto-Alagna-sagt-Bayreuth-ab-Text-nicht-gelernt.html
  | access-date =3 July 2018|language=de}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Alagna's first wife, Florence Lancien, died of a brain tumour in 1994; they had one daughter, Ornella, who was born in 1992. In 1996, he married Romanian [[soprano]] [[Angela Gheorghiu]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Fuller
| first = Amanda E.
| title = Alagna, Roberto, and Gheorghiu, Angela
| encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]
| url = https://www.britannica.com/biography/Angela-Gheorghiu
| access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> having met her in 1992 in the London ''Bohème'' production.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Tommasini|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|title=To Us, To Them, La Vie Bohème!|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=15 April 1996|page=39}}</ref> The couple announced a divorce in 2009, but had reunited by 2011. However, in January 2013, the couple mutually agreed on a formal divorce.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10154635/Operas-most-famous-couple-divorce-Angela-Gheorghiu-accuses-Roberto-Alagna-of-violence.html | title=Opera's most famous couple divorce: Angela Gheorghiu accuses Roberto Alagna of violence |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| author=Harriet Alexander | date=2013-07-02 | access-date=2015-07-06}}</ref> Alagna and Polish soprano [[Aleksandra Kurzak]] had begun a relationship, and their daughter, Malena, was born on 29 January 2014.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://diepresse.com/home/leben/mensch/3873115/Alagna_Es-ist-schlecht-uber-jemanden-zu-urteilen | title=Roberto Alagna: "Es ist schlecht, über jemanden zu urteilen"|language=de|newspaper=[[Die Presse]]|location=Vienna| author=Judith Hecht | date=2014-09-20 | access-date=2015-07-06}}</ref> Alagna and Kurzak married in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wqxr.org/story/powerful-elixir-roberto-alagna-and-aleksandra-kurzak-classical-valentines-day/ | title=A Powerful Elixir |publisher=[[WQXR-FM|WQXR]]| author=Merrin Lazyan | date=2018-02-14 | access-date=2019-01-10}}</ref>

Alagna has worked together on several projects with his brothers Frédérico Alagna and the stage director and composer [[David Alagna]]. The three brothers recorded an album of light music, ''Serenades'', and worked together on the younger brother David's opera based on [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[The Last Day of a Condemned Man]]''. Alagna has often sung Alfano's Cyrano opposite his sister-in-law [[Nathalie Manfrino]] as Roxane.

The government of France named Alagna Chevalier of the [[Légion d'honneur]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000018392898 |title=Décret du 21 mars 2008 portant promotion et nomination|language=fr|date=23 March 2008 |website=Légifrance}}</ref>

==Opera roles==
{{div col}}
* Alfredo, ''[[La traviata]]'' (Verdi)
* Manrico, ''[[Il trovatore]]'' (Verdi)
* Don José, ''[[Carmen]]'' (Bizet)
* Rodolfo, ''[[La bohème]]'' (Puccini)
* Roméo, ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'' (Gounod)
* Edgardo, ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'' (Donizetti)
* Edgar, ''[[Lucie de Lammermoor]]'' <small>(French adaptation)</small> (Donizetti)
* Fritz, ''[[L'amico Fritz]]'' (Mascagni)
* Hoffmann, ''[[Les Contes d'Hoffmann]]'' (Offenbach)
* Mario Cavaradossi, ''[[Tosca]]'' (Puccini)
* Macduff, ''[[Macbeth (Verdi)|Macbeth]]'' (Verdi)
* Nemorino, ''[[L'elisir d'amore]]'' (Donizetti)
* Paolo, ''[[Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai)|Francesca da Rimini]]'' (Zandonai)
* Roberto, ''[[Roberto Devereux]]'' (Donizetti)
* Cyrano, ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (Alfano)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]'' (Alfano)
* Don Carlos, ''[[Don Carlos]]'' (Verdi)
* Don Carlo, ''Don Carlo'' <small>(Italian adaptation)</small> (Verdi)
* Werther, ''[[Werther]]'' (Massenet)
* Le Chevalier des Grieux, ''[[Manon]]'' (Massenet)
* Jean, ''[[Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (opera)|Le jongleur de Notre-Dame]]'' (Massenet)
* Faust, ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'' (Gounod)
* Ruggero, ''[[La rondine]]'' (Puccini)
* Orphée, ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice|Orphée et Eurydice]]'' (Gluck)
* Pinkerton, ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' (Puccini)
* Turiddu, ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' (Mascagni)
* Canio, ''[[Pagliacci]]'' (Leoncavallo)
* Duke of Mantua, ''[[Rigoletto]]'' (Verdi)
* Fiesque, ''[[Fiesque]]'' (Lalo)
* Marius, ''[[Marius et Fanny]]'' (Cosma)
* Radamès, ''[[Aida]]'' (Verdi)
* Rodrigue, ''[[Le Cid (opera)|Le Cid]]'' (Massenet)
* Ulysse, ''[[Pénélope]]'' (Fauré)
* Enée, ''[[Les Troyens]]'' (Berlioz)
* Nadir, ''[[Les pêcheurs de perles]]'' (Bizet)
* Riccardo, ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'' (Verdi)
* Calaf, ''[[Turandot]]'' (Puccini)
* Chevalier des Grieux, ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]'' (Puccini)
* Samson, ''[[Samson et Dalila]]'' (Saint-Saëns)
* Otello, ''[[Otello]]'' (Verdi)
{{div col end}}

==Discography==
===Albums===
{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan="2" width="10"|Year
!rowspan="2" width="180"|Album
!rowspan="2" width="180"|Credits
!colspan="5"|Charts
|-
!width="20"|<small>[[Wallonia|BEL<br>(Wa)]]</small><br /><ref>[https://www.ultratop.be/fr/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Roberto+Alagna Robert Alagna Discographie]</ref>
!width="20"|<small>[[France|FRA]]</small>
!width="20"|<small>[[Spain|SPA]]</small>
!width="20"|<small>[[Switzerland|SWI]]</small>
!width="20"|<small>[[Mexico|MEX]]</small>
|-
|align="center"|1996
|''Chants sacrés''
|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|19
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2001
|''Puccini: Tosca''
|[[Angela Gheorghiu]], Roberto Alagna and [[Ruggero Raimondi]]
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|89
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2002
|''Donizetti: Lucie de Lammermoor''
|[[Natalie Dessay]], Roberto Alagna, [[Ludovic Tézier]] and [[Evelino Pidò]]
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|150
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2003
|''Bizet: Carmen''
|[[Angela Gheorghiu|Gheorghiu]] & Alagna
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|59
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2005
|''Chante Luis Mariano''
|
|align="center"|14
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|89
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center" rowspan="2"|2006
|''Tenor''
|
|align="center"|86
|align="center"|40
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|''Viva Opéra!''
|
|align="center"|29
|align="center"|43
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2007
|''Credo – Airs sacrés''
|
|align="center"|56
|align="center"|18
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2008
|''Sicilien''
|
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|71
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center" rowspan="2"|2009
|''Le jongleur de Notre-Dame''
|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|198
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|94
|-
|''Sicilien – Live''
|
|align="center"|72
|align="center"|56
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center" rowspan="2"|2010
|''Hommage à Luis Mariano – C'est magnifique!''
|
|align="center"|53
|align="center"|27
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|''Les stars du classique''
|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|191
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2011
|''Pasión''
|
|align="center"|5
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|34
|align="center"|100
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2012
|''Pasión Live''
|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|80
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2013
|''Robertissimo''
|
|align="center"|24
|align="center"|11
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center" rowspan=2|2014
|''Little Italy''
|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|71
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|''Ma vie est un opéra''
|
|align="center"|50
|align="center"|33
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2016
|''Malèna''
|Yvan Cassar, London Orchestra & Roberto Alagna
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|47
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2018
|''Puccini in Love''
|Roberto Alagna / [[Aleksandra Kurzak]]
|align="center"|160
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2019
|''Caruso 1873''
|Roberto Alagna
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|40<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://snepmusique.com/les-tops/le-top-de-la-semaine/top-albums/?semaine=47?&annee=2019&categorie=Top%20Albums|title=Top Albums (Week 47, 2019)|publisher=Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique|language=fr|access-date=25 November 2019}}</ref>
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2020
|''Robert Alagna: Essentials''
|Roberto Alagna
|align="center"|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|-
|align="center"|2020
|''Le Chanteur''
|Roberto Alagna
|align="center"|
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
!align="center" rowspan="2" width="10"|Year
!align="center" rowspan="2" width="180"|Album
!align="center" colspan="1"|Charts
|-
!width="20"|<small>[[France|FR]]</small>
|-
|align="center"|2003
|"[[Petit Papa Noël]]"
|align="center"|91
|-
|}

==Videography==
* ''[[James Levine's 25th Anniversary Metropolitan Opera Gala]]'' (1996), Deutsche Grammophon DVD, B0004602-09

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.universalmusic.fr/artiste/7042-roberto-alagna/ Roberto Alagna] at universalmusic.fr (French)
* {{Facebook|RobertoAlagna.Tenor}}
* {{IMDb name|name=Roberto Alagna|id=0015813}}
* [http://theoperacritic.com/singers.php?singer=roberto_alagna Reviews, articles, photos and future schedules from The Opera Critic]
* [http://sonybmgmasterworks.com/artists/robertoalagna/ Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks]
* [http://concerts.blogs.liberation.fr/emeutevisuelle/2008/12/roberto-alagna.html?=live Concert photos]
* [https://archives.metopera.org/MetOperaSearch/search.jsp?q=%22Roberto%20Alagna%22&src=browser&sort=PDATE List of performances], [[Metropolitan Opera]]

{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}}
{{Authority control|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alagna, Roberto}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Clichy-sous-Bois]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of France]]
[[Category:French operatic tenors]]
[[Category:French people of Sicilian descent]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:20th-century French male opera singers]]
[[Category:21st-century French male opera singers]]
[[Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists]]
[[Category:EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists]]
[[Category:Sony Classical Records artists]]
[[Category:Erato Records artists]]
[[Category:Singers from Paris]]
[[Category:Singers awarded knighthoods]]