Ambrogio Maestri

Ambrogio Maestri was born in Pavia where he studied singing and piano. His sensational debut in 2001 coincided with the most important musical event of the Verdi Centennial, »Falstaff«, conducted by Riccardo Muti and directed by Giorgio Strehler, which saw him in the leading role at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the historic Teatro Verdi in Bussetto. This interpretation earned him enthusiastic reviews from the international press and opened the doors of the most important opera houses in the world. The collaboration with Riccardo Muti lead him over the next three years to debut at the Teatro alla Scala in some of the most emblematic Verdi roles such as Iago in »Otello«, Renato in »Un ballo in maschera«, Don Carlo di Vargas in » La forza del destino« and Giorgio Germont in »La traviata«, thereby strengthening the foundations of a constantly ascending career. Guest of the most prestigious opera companies world-wide (Metropolitan Opera, Opera de Paris, Covent Garden, Staatsoper di Vienna, Deutsche Oper di Berlino, Maestri continues his Verdian journey performing as the Conte di Luna in »Il trovatore«, Amonasro in »Aida«, Rolando in »La battaglia del Legnano«, and in the leading roles of »Simon Boccanegra«, »Rigoletto« and »Nabucco«. The ten-year collaboration with the Arena di Verona led him during the 2012 season to celebrate his one hundredth performance of another beloved opera: »Aida«. In these years of intense activity Maestri has been directed by the best conductors of the international scene including Zubin Mehta, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Oren, Fabio Luisi, Antonio Pappano, Jeffrey Tate, Nello Santi, Marcello Viotti, Marco Armiliato, Gianandrea Noseda, Renato Palumbo, Daniel Harding and by directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Robert Carsen, Graham Vick, Peter Stein, Bob Wilson, Larent Pelly, Mario Martone, Hugo De Ana and Bartlett Sher. In the last four years Maestri has confronted Puccini and Verismo. He debuted in »Tosca« at Torre del Lago, »Cavalleria rusticana« at the Metropolitan in New York and »Pagliacci« at La Scala in Milan. The choice of playing such strong and passionate characters came, not surprisingly, after a decade of experience. Verdi’s bicentennial in 2013 represents the consecration of Maestri as a reference »Falstaff«. He was Sir John at La Scala, at the Opèra National de Paris, at Zurich’s Opernhaus, at Salzburg’s Festival, in Munich, in Tokyo, and at the Met in New York where he celebrated his 200th performance of the role.  Recently Ambrogio sang on several productions such as »Pagliacci« and »Falstaff« in Vienna and in New York, »Tosca« in Barcelona and Vienna, »Otello« at Turin’s Teatro Regio, »Aida« at Rome’s Opera. Among the engagements of the last season we remember »Falstaff« in Milan, Munich, Amsterdam with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, in San Paolo in Brazil, in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon and in Chicago, »Cavalleria rusticana« in Salzburg. At the Vienna State Opera he sang Falstaff, Amonasro, Nabucco, Alfio, Tonio, Rigoletto, Scarpia and Don Pasquale since his debut in 2004.