Largo al factotum (Live)

In an age of ultraspecialization that obsesses over minute detail, artists such as Nicola Alaimo remind us that, as elsewhere, in opera versatility is a virtue. The youthful Mr. Alaimo has an impressive CV, broad in scope and variety. His chosen musical home is, of course, 19th century melodrama, ranging from his beloved Rossini, to Bellini, Donizetti and the major works of Verdi. Nonetheless, Mr. Alaimo is thoroughly comfortable with an earlier repertoire comprising Mozart and the Neapolitans, and also with the music of a later era. The giovane scuola had no great love for baritones, but Mr. Alaimo has sung Puccini, Cilea and his Neri Chiaramantesi in Giordano’s Cena della beffe made its mark on opera lovers. The results speak for themselves and his career is there for all to see. Doubters may seek out major venues, conductors or directors where or with whom Nicola Alaimo has not performed- they will not find any, however. Mr. Alaimo has sung Rossini not only all over the world, but also close to home in a long successful partnership with the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as Dandini in Cenerentola, don Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Aliprando in Matilde di Shabran, the title role in Guillaume Tell, dom Pomponio in Gazzetta, and the Duke of Ordow in Torvaldo e Dorliska.