Nicola Alaimo studied in Palermo, his hometown. He then specialised with
Vittoria Mazzoni and his uncle Simone Alaimo. He won the 'Giuseppe Di
Stefano' competition in Trapani and debuted the role of Dandini in La
Cenerentola at the San Sebastian Festival in '97. He attended the
Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro, debuting the role of Raimbaud in Le
Comte Ory under the baton of Alberto Zedda, and then became a
reference artist over the course of the seasons, performing titles such
as: La Cenerentola, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Matilde di Shabran,
Guillaume Tell (Mariotti/Vick), La Gazzetta, Il turco in Italia
and Torvaldo e Dorliska.
The beginning of his career is marked by important productions, such as:
Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore at the Ravenna Festival (conducted
by Cristina Mazzavillani- Muti); Procolo in Le Convenienze e
inconvenienze teatrali in Bergamo (conducted by Fabrizio Maria
Carminati); Pharaon in Moise et Pharaon at the Teatro alla Scala
(conducted by Riccardo Muti and directed by Luca Ronconi); Sharpless in Madama
Butterfly at Torre del Lago; Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera
in Bari and Palermo; Taddeo in L' Italiana in Algeri in Toulon;
Belcore in L'Elisir d'amore in Savona (directed by Davide
Livermore); Leporello in Don Giovanni in Taormina; Don Giovanni
in Il dissoluto assolto by Azio Corghi; Don Pasquale in a
Ravenna Festival production on tour in Cologne, Paris and Liège under the
baton of Riccardo Muti.
Amongst the engagements of the beginnings it is worth mentioning also: Poliuto
(Severo) and Il Trovatore at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Falstaff
in Berne; La Forza del destino (Fra Melitone) at the Maggio
Musicale Fiorentino under the baton of Zubin Metha; Paisiello's Matrimonio
inaspettato (Tulipano) at the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg and then
on tour in Italy conducted by Riccardo Muti; La Traviata (Giorgio
Germont) at the Ravenna Festival and at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome
conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti; Otello (Jago) in Salzburg. In
2009 he made his debut in the USA with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Simon
Boccanegra (Paolo) conducted by James Levine, then he returned to
the United States where at the Metropolitan in New York he was once again
the protagonist of Simon Boccanegra and L'Elisir d'amore
(conducted by Maurizio Benini) and Falstaff (conducted by
Levine).
In past seasons he performed: Ernani (Don Carlo) in Catania; Falstaff
in Montpellier, Piacenza, at the Teatro alla Scala conducted by Daniele
Gatti, Bamberg and Marseille; Moise et Pharaon in Salzburg and
Rome; Simon Boccanegra and Lord Enrico Ashton in Lucia di
Lammermoor in Palermo; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in
Ravenna directed by Damiano Michieletto, in Liège, Padua and Paris (Opera
National); Gianni Schicchi in Trieste; Francesco in I
Masnadieri in Montpellier; Lo frate 'nnamurato in Jesi; La
Forza del destino, La Cenerentola and Guillaume Tell
at the Opéra National de Paris; L'Elisir d'amore (Belcore) at the
Wiener Staatsoper (debut) and as Dulcamara in Munich and Naples; Don
Quichotte (Sancho Panza) in Cagliari; Attila (Ezio) at the
opera in Rome conducted by Muti; Don Pasquale at the Teatro alla
Scala; Belisario in London recorded for Opera Rara; La
Traviata and the debut in I Puritani conducted by Mariotti
at the Teatro Regio di Torino; Guillaume Tell in Amsterdam
conducted by Paolo Carignani, Brussels with Evelino Pidò and in Monte
Carlo; Stiffelio (Stankar) in Monte Carlo; Gianni Schicchi and
Don Pasquale in Madrid, the latter conducted by Muti and in Rome
directed by Campanella; Le Comte Ory, Falstaff, Luisa Miller in
Liège and was Dandini in the successful production of La Cenerentola
directed by Michieletto and conducted by Spinosi at the Salzburg Festival.
Recently he performed in: Il Pirata, La Cenerentola and La
Cena delle Beffe at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; Simon
Boccanegra in Antwerp; Cenerentola, Trovatore and I
Masnadieri in Monte Carlo; La Traviata at the Royal Opera
House Covent Garden in London with Yves Abel and in Toulouse; Don
Quichotte at the Chicago Opera; L'Italiana in Algeri and La
Forza del destino at the Metropolitan Opera; Guillaume Tell
at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Adriana Lecouvreur in Palermo,
Vienna and at the Salzburg Festspiele conducted by Marco Armiliato; Il
turco in Italia, La Cenerentola, La Bohème and Adriana
Lecouvreur in Bologna; Falstaff in Budapest, Palermo,
Florence, Venice, Tokyo and Nice; Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the
Arena di Verona, at the Salzburg Festival and in Monte Carlo; Simon
Boccanegra in Paris; Rigoletto in Marseilles; Guillaume
Tell in Orange and Lyon; he debuted the role of Don Magnifico in La
Cenerentola in Amsterdam and later at the Teatro Comunale di Modena
and in Madrid, along with La Traviata; L'Elisir d'Amore and
Don Pasquale in Vienna; La Forza del Destino and Il
Barbiere di Siviglia in Florence; L'Italiana in Algeri and
La Cenerentola in Zurich; L'esule di Roma with Opera Rara
in London; debut in Nabucco in Geneva; Il Barbiere di
Siviglia at the Arena di Verona; Le Comte Ory in Bologna;
La Cenerentola in concert version in Prague (Smetana Hall); Don
Pasquale in Turin; Gianni Schicchi in Monte Carlo; L'Italiana
in Algeri in Zurich; Roberto Devereux in Geneva.
He was engaged in a successful tour alongside Cecilia Bartoli in Il
Turco in Italia and La Cenerentola conducted by Gianluca
Capuano in Monte Carlo, Martigny and Vienna.
Among his engagements for the 2024/25 season are: L’equivoco
stravagante and Il viaggio a Reims (in concert version) at
the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; Adriana Lecouvreur at the
Teatro Real in Madrid and at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse; Il
barbiere di Siviglia at the Arena di Verona, the MET in New York,
and in Salzburg, Lucerne, and Martigny with Les Musiciens du Prince; Madama
Butterfly at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; La Traviata at
the Teatro La Fenice in Venice; L’elisir d’amore at the Opéra de
Monte-Carlo; Otello at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Guillaume
Tell at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège; and Roberto
Devereux at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Plans for the 2025/26 season include: Falstaff in Dresden, La
rondine at the Royal Opera House in London; Il barbiere di
Siviglia at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna; L’elisir d’amore
and Don Pasquale at the Wiener Staatsoper; I masnadieri
(concert version) at the Opéra de Marseille; La Cenerentola
at the Opéra National de Paris; and a gala concert with the
Würth Philharmoniker.
He received the prestigious “Premio Abbiati” award 2016.
August 2025