On December 8, 2018 Leonardo Caimi will replace a colleague as Gustavo III in the premiere of Valentin Schwarz’s new production of Un ballo in maschera at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. Keri Alkema, Julian Orlishausen, Katrin Gerstenberger and Cathrin Lange will sing the other main roles, Daniel Cohen will conduct.

“Gustavo is one of Verdi’s most complete roles”, says the Italian tenor. “From a vocal and tecnical point of view in the whole first act one has to pass from canto sillabato, almost like in the buffo repertoire, fast and not easy to sustain, to great lyric phrases. Then in the second and third act Verdi’s writing is completely different and requires a constantly sustained and expressive legato. Also as an actor one can’t wish for more: The protagonist rejoices, jokes, suffers, loves and dies.”

Leonardo Caimi also saved an important premiere last season when he jumped in as Henri in Verdi‘s Les vêpres siciliennes at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. This season the tenor is performing a lot in Germany. At the Oper Leipzig he appears as Don José in a new staging of Carmen and as Calaf in Turandot, at the Aalto-Theater in Essen he sings Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca.