Ronald Naldi

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Ronald Naldi is an American lyric tenor whose over 40-year career has brought him to the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Arena di Verona, L'Opéra Français, Salzburger Landestheater, and New Jersey State Opera, to name a few, with such conductors as James Levine, Valery Gergiev, James Conlon, David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, Joseph Colaneri, Charles Mackerras, Vincent LaSelva, Christopher Keene, Alfredo Silipigni, Thomas Booth, Lukas Foss, Nello Santi, and Eduardo Müller.

In addition to performing new roles and little-known repertory (he lists over 100 roles in his credits), Naldi's refinement in the bel canto style has naturally won him acclaim in the grand lyric opera tradition: as the Duke in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Alfredo in La Traviata, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, to name a few.

Naldi has sung over 200 performances at the Metropolitan Opera since his debut there in 1983, including the role of Vitek in the Met premiere of Leos Janacek's The Makropulos Case. The 2006-2007 season found him in multiple performances, most notably as Zorn in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and Bruno in I Puritani, aside Anna Netrebko.

In 2007-2008, he will sing in Met productions of Macbeth, War and Peace, Otello, and The Gambler, as well as a Boston production of Les Troyens with James Levine and the BSO.

Naldi has also sung in five world premiere operas, and the American premieres of three other operas. His festival appearances include Caramoor, Spoleto (Italy), Waterloo, and Verbier Festival, as well as engagements with over 20 symphony orchestras. He has toured the United States, Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland with the Manhattan Opera Trio; China, Egypt, Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka with the Ambassadors of Opera; and the U.S. and Japan with Metropolitan Opera tours.

He is a member of the Italian-American Hall of Fame.

[edit] Education

Naldi studied voice at Indiana University (Bloomington), earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in five years, and subsequently received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Rome.

From 1966 to 1973, he was a professor of voice at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis).

[edit] Discography

His most recent recordings, on Romeo Records, are entitled O Sole Mio (2003) and Torna a Surriento (2004). Each features Neopolitan and Italian songs with orchestrations by John Colaiacovo. The latter won a critics' choice award from Gramophone (magazine).