Renato Dolcini's qualities have conquered the world's greatest stages –
beauty of tone, flawless technical assurance and an exciting way with
words. The Italian baritone also boasts a charisma that flourishes as much
in stage as in concert.
Born in Milan, he studied singing at the University of Pavia, where he
graduated with honors. In 2015, he was selected to take part in William
Christie's Jardin des Voix, with whom he performed all over the world, in
Europe as well as in the United States and Asia, winning rave reviews from
the press. In the words of The New York Times: “Renato Dolcini
fully embodies Orlando's mad scene, and would certainly have burned up the
stage – if there had been one.”
His career was then launched, with a succession of prestigious
engagements in an extremely broad repertoire. Italian opera of the 17th
and 18th centuries was, of course, central: the title role in Vivaldi's Bajazet
and Caldara's Dafne at La Fenice in Venice; Cavalieri's La
Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo at the Wratislavia Cantans
International Festival (Giovanni Antonini); L'Incoronazione di Poppea
(Seneca) at the Salzburg Festival and Angers Nantes Opéra; Monteverdi's L'Orfeo
(title role) in Monte Carlo and Salzburg with Les Musiciens du Prince;
Cavalli's Ipermestra (Danao) at Glyndebourne; Landi's La Morte
di Orfeo in Amsterdam; Handel's Radamisto (Farasmane) with
Il Pomo d'Oro in Barcelona and Paris; or again Agrippina (Claudio)
at Madrid's Teatro Real and Pallante in Hamburg. He works with some of the
world's most sought-after directors: Graham Vick, Robert Carsen, Moshe
Leiser et Patrice Caurier, Barry Kosky, Pierre Audi.
Renato's obvious affinity with the French language is reflected in
numerous projects such as Rameau's Platée at the Zurich Opera
(with Emmanuelle Haïm), Mondonville's Titon et l'Aurore at the
Opéra Comique and Versailles (with William Christie), Les Indes
Galantes at the Grand Théâtre de Genève (with Leonardo García
Alarcón), or Lully's Armide at Drottningholm in Sweden (Francesco
Corti).
He is also in demand in later repertoires, for example Haydn's Orlando
Paladino (Giovanni Antonini), Don Giovanni (Tokyo Opera and
Warner Classics recording), or Così fan tutte (Daniel Cohen).
Renato also sang the role of Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola
under Fabio Biondi.
In concert, he also favors a wide musical openness: Monteverdi under the
baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Tuscany; Handel's La Resurrezione
(Fabio Bonizzoni); Bach's Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew
Passion and St. John Passion (the latter with William
Christie and the Concertgebouw Orchestra); Scarlatti's oratorio Sedecia
Re di Gerusalemme (Thibault Noally).
Among the engagements of the 2025-26 season are: Scarlatti’s Mitridate
Eupatore at Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Vivaldi’s Il Tamerlano
at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; and Handel’s Giulio Cesare in
Egitto at the Opernhaus Zurich.
His extensive discography includes the Stravaganza d'Amore
program (characters from Orfeo and Apollo) with Raphaël Pichon and the
Pygmalion ensemble, recorded for Harmonia Mundi and awarded Diapason d'Or
and Choc de Classica; Alessandro Scarlatti's Il Martirio di Santa
Teodosia with Les Accents (Aparté); Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
(role of Aeneas).
August 2025