Nominated by Placido Domingo as one of his heirs, Giorgio Berrugi is one of the most appreciated tenors of today for his unmistakable, warm Italian sound, his exceptional musicality and the expressive nuances of his interpretations.
Berrugi has performed in the most important opera houses, auditoriums and music festivals such as the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House in London, Lincoln Center in New York, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Opéra Bastille and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera di Roma, San Francisco Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Wigmore Hall in London, Parco della Musica in Roma, Arena di Verona, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro Petruzzelli. He has worked with great conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann, Fabio Luisi, Andriss Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Oren, Gianandrea Noseda, Pinchas Steinberg, Franz Welser-Möst, Klaus Mäkelä, Myung-Whun Chung, Manfred Honeck, Jaap van Zweden.
Recent engagements have included the role debut as Remigio da Varagine in the world première of Francesco Filidei’s Il nome della rosa at Teatro alla Scala, the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann at Latvian National Opera, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller at Hamburg State Opera, Madama Butterfly at Opera Las Palmas and Berlin State Opera, Adriana Lecouvreur at Opéra de Paris, the role debut as Siegmund in Die Walküre at Vienna State Opera, Cavalleria rusticana at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Tosca at Teatro Regio di Torino and Greek National Opera, Fedora at Oper Frankfurt.
In concert, he performed Messa per Rossini with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and in Vienna with the Wiener Philarmoniker, Liszt’s Faust Symphony at Teatro di San Carlo, Verdi’s Requiem at Festival Verdi in Parma, in New York with the London Symphony Orchestra, in Milan with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, in Rome for Accademia di Santa Cecilia, in Lucerne, Hong Kong, Manchester, Dallas, Valencia and Riga.
Before becoming a singer, Berrugi graduated with honors in clarinet. He won major international awards both as a soloist and in chamber music and was the first clarinet of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma for five years.
He began his vocal studies in 2007 under the guidance of Anita Cerquetti and Carlo Meliciani, and after a few months he debuted as Rodolfo in La Bohème at Teatro La Fenice in Venice. From 2010 to 2013 he was a member of the ensemble of Dresden Semperoper, where he performed many important roles such as Don José in Carmen, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto and Gennarino in the world première of Gisela, the last opera written by Hans Werner Henze.
Plans in Season 2025/26 include, among others, Nabucco at Savonlinna Festival, Tosca in Modena, Ferrara and at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, a new production of Nabucco at Teatro alla Scala, as well as concerts with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Abu Dhabi Festival.
Gianluca Macheda
Grzybowska 43a, lok. 72 00-855
Warsaw Poland
gmacheda@gmartandmusic.com
Martina Biagini
Via Romana 578/B 55100 Lucca Italy
+39 3479762848
mbiagini@gmartandmusic.com
“Giorgio Berrugi is an impressive Duke. He has a very big and even voice, but it’s what he does with it which is most interesting. He finds details in the music which are so often overlooked and really makes the most of this somewhat one-dimensional character. The famous aria “La donna è mobile” is wonderfully sung, with just the right amount of rubato and it never begins to cloy or sound routine as such well known arias can.”
Matthew Lynch, Bachtrack
“Bella musicalità, naturalezza e nitore di emissione tenorile per Giorgio Berrugi.”
Maria Luisa Abate, Deartes.cloud
“Corposa e generosa è la voce di Giorgio Berrugi, tenore, perfettamente a proprio agio nella parte e dotato della giusta musicalità.”
Grigorij Filippo Calcagno, IeriOggiDomaniOpera.com
“Anche a Macduff il francese offre un aplomb di nobile compostezza più in linea col personaggio, leale aristocratico, giustizier de’ tiranni che il borghese piagnisteo che lo affligge in italiano. Merito certo anche del tenore Berrugi, vario ed articolato nel fraseggio, perentorio nell’assertiva, generosa vocalità, modellata sulla parola come conviene ad un cantore verdiano.”
Bernardo Pieri, Musica
“Giorgio Berrugi campe un admirable Mario Cavaradossi : la tonalité chaude, très intimiste, de ses accents lyriques accentue la fragilité tourmentée du personnage.”
Jean-Luc Vannier, musicologie.org