Riccardo Novaro has gained international recognition as a Mozart and Rossini interpreter, singing the title role in Le nozze di Figaro at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Teatro Regio Torino, and Conte Almaviva in the same opera at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, Leporello (Don Giovanni) at Opéra de Lausanne, Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Beaune Festival, Guglielmo at the Vlaamse Opera and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) in both Glyndebourne and La Monnaie.
He has recently made his debut at the Opéra Royal de Versailles returning to the role of Leporello and embarked on a Europe tour with Giovanni Antonini and Kammerorchester Basel for Handel’s Tolomeo (Araspe) at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Händel-Festspiele Halle, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, among others.
Acclaimed for both his beguiling vocal agility and versatility, Riccardo appeared as Dandini (La Cenerentola) for the Opéra de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper and Irish National Opera, and embodied the roles of Raimbaud (Le Comte Ory) at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Taddeo (L’Italiana in Algeri) at both the Opéra National de Bordeaux and Festival de Beaune, Prosdocimo (Il turco in Italia) in Lausanne, Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia) in Turin with Diego Fasolis and at the Grange Festival with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Parry.
Among his past highlights are Clistene in Vivaldi’s Olimpiade under Jean-Christophe Spinosi at both the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Theater an der Wien, and Astolfo in Orlando furioso by the same composer at La Fenice in a production conducted by Diego Fasolis and staged by Fabio Ceresa.
Riccardo performed in Handel’s Alcina alongside Cecilia Bartoli in a Gianluca Capuano/Damiano Michieletto production at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Riccardo Novaro’s wide repertoire includes composers as varied as Monteverdi (Testo in Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda), Handel (Argante in Rinaldo; Achilla in Giulio Cesare; Elviro in Serse), Donizetti (Malatesta in Don Pasquale; Belcore and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore), Verdi (Belfiore in Un giorno di regno), Puccini (Schaunard in La bohème) and Britten (Donald in Billy Budd).
He has collaborated with conductors such as Giovanni Antonini, Diego Fasolis, Bruno Campanella, Emmanuelle Haïm, Gabriele Ferro, Iván Fischer, Riccardo Frizza, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Jurowski, René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Fabio Biondi, George Petrou and Jérémie Rhorer and with stage directors including Annabel Arden, Robert Carsen, Damiano Michieletto, David McVicar, Adrian Noble, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Luca Ronconi and Daniel Slater.
Riccardo’s extensive discography comprises Charpentier’s Te Deum with Myun-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon); Handel’s Floridante with Alan Curtis (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv Produktion); L’Olimpiade with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Orlando furioso with Federico Maria Sardelli and L’incoronazione di Dario with Ottavio Dantone (Naïve Vivaldi Edition); Cimarosa’s Maestro di Cappella with Il Giardino Armonico conducted by Giovanni Antonini for the Haydn 2032 project (Alpha Classics).
Recent and forthcoming engagements include Handel’s Orlando (Zoroastre) under Christophe Rousset at Paris Châtelet and Conti’s Trionfo della fama (Valore) under Ottavio Dantone leading his Accademia Bizantina at both the Innsbruck Festival and Müpa Budapest. Riccardo reunites with Giovanni Antonini and Kammerorchester Basel for Le nozze di Figaro in venues including Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Luxembourg Philharmonie and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.
