Salvatore Licitra

Salvatore Licitra (10 August 1968 – 5 September 2011) was an Italian operatic tenor.

Early life and debuts

Born in Bern, Switzerland, to Sicilian parents, Licitra grew up in Milan. He fell into opera by accident. As many tenors before him, he was not altogether confident about his vocal capabilities and started working as a graphic artist for Italian ''Vogue''. At the age of 19 he began attending singing classes on a regular basis and enrolled at the Music Academy of Parma and the Corsi Verdiani. After 8 years of studies, initially as a choir vocalist, he left his voice teacher and enrolled at Carlo Bergonzi's voice academy in Busseto.

He debuted in '' Un ballo in maschera'' in Parma in 1998, in a performance for Bergonzi's students. His success led to a contract as cover in ''Ballo'', ''Rigoletto'' and ''Aida'' in Verona, and he ended up singing them all. Buoyed by positive audience reception, he auditioned for Riccardo Muti at La Scala, who hired the young tenor for Alvaro in a new production of '' La forza del destino''.

At La Scala and other houses

In March 1999, he debuted at La Scala under Riccardo Muti in ''La forza del destino'' as Alvaro, then sang in ''Tosca'' and ''Madama Butterfly'' at the Arena di Verona in June and July, then ''Tosca'' at La Scala in March 2000, again with Muti. The performance was recorded and released on Sony Classical. In May he debuted in Madrid in ''La forza del destino'', and in Verona, he was awarded the Premio Zenatello as tenor of the year, and sang in ''La forza del destino'' at the Arena in July. In September he traveled to Japan with the La Scala ensemble for performances of ''Forza''. Milan honoured him with the Honorary Citizenship Medal, and Sony offered him an exclusive recording contract.

A performance of '' Il trovatore'', recorded and issued by Sony, opened the 2000/2001 season at La Scala and the centennial of Verdi's death, the ''Anno Verdi''. The opera had not been performed at La Scala in 22 years, and controversy ensued after Muti, who was the conductor and who had personally hand-picked Licitra for the role of Manrico, forbade his tenor to sing the traditional, interpolated high C of the 3rd act cabaletta "Di quella pira". There was an uproar in the audience, who booed the maestro's decision. Six months later Licitra sang the part again in Verona to great acclaim. Prior to ''Il trovatore'' in Verona, he had performed in ''Un ballo in maschera'' at La Scala under Muti, then repeated the success in Rome in December. In November he made his American debut as a guest soloist at the 26th annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation Opera Gala in New York. In December he left for Vienna and the Wiener Staatsoper to sing in ''Tosca'', then Manrico in ''Il trovatore'' at the Sao Carlos in Lisbon in January 2002 and Alvaro (''Forza'') in Turin in February.

The Met and beyond

The Metropolitan Opera followed unexpectedly on 11 May 2002 when he appeared in ''Tosca'', substituting for Luciano Pavarotti, then 66, who had cancelled the performance two hours before curtain time. Licitra, who was not scheduled to debut there until 2004, was flown in by the Met as a back-up singer and eventually received a 43-second ovation at the conclusion of "Recondita armonia

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