William Matteuzzi (born 12 December 1957 in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, Italy) is an Italian operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

renowned for his impressive vocal range and prominent upper register, reaching a high F (above the tenor high C) in full voice, which enabled him to participate in the recent revival of the

tenore contraltino The tenore contraltino is a specialized form of the tenor voice found in Italian opera around the beginning of the 19th century, mainly in the Rossini repertoire, which rapidly evolved into the modern 'Romantic' tenor. It is sometimes referred to as ...

repertoire. he is nicknamed "the King of the high F". He is also admired as a fine musician and elegant vocalist. He won the Enrico Caruso Singing Competition in 1980, which led him to Teatro alla Scala. He has sung a wide repertoire ranging from Claudio Monteverdi or Antonio Vivaldi ('' Orlando furioso'') to

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

('' Così fan tutte''),

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Gius ...

(''

I Puritani ' (''The Puritans'') is an 1835 opera by Vincenzo Bellini. It was originally written in two acts and later changed to three acts on the advice of Gioachino Rossini, with whom the young composer had become friends. The music was set to a libretto ...

'' and ''

La Sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

''), Gaetano Donizetti (''

La fille du régiment ' (''The Daughter of the Regiment'') is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, set to a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard. It was first performed on 11 February 1840 by the Paris Opéra ...

'') and Giovanni Pacini (''L’ultimo giorno di Pompei''). A highly respected Rossini specialist, he made his

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

debut in 1988 as Count Almaviva in ''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...

''. He has performed Rossini's

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

s '' La scala di seta'', ''

L'occasione fa il ladro ''L’occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia'' ( English: ''Opportunity Makes a Thief, or The Exchanged Suitcase'') is an opera (''burletta per musica'' or '' farsa'') in one act by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi ...

'', ''

L'italiana in Algeri ''L'italiana in Algeri'' (; ''The Italian Girl in Algiers'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. It premiered at the Teatro San ...

'', ''

La gazza ladra ''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a ''melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caig ...

'', ''

La Cenerentola ' ('' Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillon'' ...

'', '' La pietra del paragone'', ''

Il viaggio a Reims ''Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro'' (''The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis'') is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts,Janet Johnson: ''A Lost Masterpiece Recovered'', pp. 37 ...

'', ''

Le comte Ory ''Le comte Ory'' (''Count Ory'') is a comic opera written by Gioachino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera '' Il viaggio a Reims'' written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X. The French libretto was by Eug ...

'' as well as his ''opere serie'' '' Otello'', ''

Zelmira ''Zelmira'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Based on the French play, ''Zelmire'' by de Belloy, it was the last of the composer's Neapolitan operas. Stendhal called its music Teutonic, comp ...

, Armida'', ''

Ricciardo e Zoraide ''Ricciardo e Zoraide'' (''Ricciardo and Zoraide'') is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio di Salsa. The text is based on cantos XIV and XV of '' Il Ricciardetto'', an epic poem by Niccolò Forte ...

'', ''

Maometto II ''Maometto II'' (or ') is an 1820 opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle. Set in the 1470s during a time of war between the Turks and Venetians, the work was commissioned by the Teatro di San Carlo i ...

'', ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Feni ...

'', etc. He now mainly dedicates himself to teaching singing and giving master classes in Italy, Germany and Japan, but he has latterly founded an ensemble for recording Monteverdi operas, which has released recordings of ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

'' and ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' ( SV 318) (), sometimes called ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance/early Baroque ''favola in musica'', or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and ...

''.

References

External links

*
Opera RaraOpera Italiana
* 1957 births Living people Italian operatic tenors Voice teachers Musicians from Bologna 20th-century Italian male opera singers 21st-century Italian male opera singers Tenor contraltinos {{italy-opera-singer-stub