Simone Alaimo - Don Pasquale

Internationally recognized as one of the greatest bass-baritones of his generation, with a vast repertoire spanning from Bel Canto to contemporary music, Simone Alaimo was awarded numerous prizes for his interpretation of many works by Donizetti. He sang the main roles of rarely performed works such as: Torquato Tasso, L’Esule di Roma, Poliuto, Le Convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali, Alahor in Granata and Roberto Devereux. Over the past few years, he has been a regular guest at the most prestigious theaters in the world, such as: Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Metropolitan Opera in New York,  Covent Garden in London, Opéra in Paris, and the opera houses in San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Palermo. Mr. Alaimo collaborated with such conductors as Gavazzeni, Abbado, Muti, Sinopoli, Sawallisch, Marriner, Levine, Chailly, Campanella, Patanè, De Bernart, Carella, Ferro and directors such as: Ponnelle, Strehler, Fo, Pizzi, Savary, Frisel, Montresor, De Tommasi, Crivelli, Testi, Levi and Marcucci.

Recent engagements include: La Cenerentola (Don Magnifico) at the Opéra de Paris as well as Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali and L’Italiana in Algeri in Catania. Simone Alaimo made his stage debut in 1977 as Don Pasquale for the AsLiCo (Circuito Lirico Lombardo).

Mario Cassi - Dottor Malatesta

Already well-established as one of the most appreciated baritones of his generation, Mr. Cassi lately sang Figaro in Barbiere di Siviglia under the baton of Alberto Zedda (just issued as a DVD) and Taddeo in L’Italiana in Algeri at the Rossini Opera Festival. He made his debut as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro in Liège, then he performed Dandini in La Cenerentola at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Figaro in Mercadante’s I Due Figaro in Madrid and Buenos Aires, Riccardo Muti conducting. Mr. Cassi has recently sung L’Italiana in Algeri in Liège and Don Pasquale at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, both under Bruno Campanella, as well as Così Fan Tutte at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari (Roberto Abbado conducting) and, more recently, at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari. As a returning guest at the Teatro Real in Madrid, he has just starred as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia; immediately after, he reported a great success as Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.

Future plans: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro) at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; L’Elisir d’Amore (Belcore) in Vienna (Wiener Staatsoper); Pagliacci (Silvio) at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse; La Cenerentola, Die Zauberflöte (Papageno) and Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège; Il Viaggio a Reims (Don Alvaro) in Amsterdam.