Biography
A phenomenal voice and talent in the tradition of the great Italian tenor voices, 27 year old British-Italian Freddie De Tommaso shot to prominence when he won the First Prize, the Placido Domingo Tenor Prize and the Verdi Prize at the 2018 Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona. Since then he has performed at the Royal Opera House and Dutch National Opera and in September 2020, he opened to great success the Wiener Staatsoper season as Pinkerton in a new production of Madama Butterfly conducted by Philippe Jordan. Further performances this season include Macduff Macbeth, Italian Singer Der Rosenkavalier and Ismaele Nabucco, all at the Wiener Staatsoper, Alfredo La Traviata at Staatsoper Berlin and a hugely anticipated debut as Cavaradossi Tosca at Royal Opera House. Looking further ahead his engagements include several leading roles at Royal Opera House, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Dutch National Opera and Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia Valencia.
Highlights from De Tommaso’s 2019/20 season include Cassio Otello at the Royal Opera House under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano and Ismaele Nabucco with Dutch National Opera. He was as also invited to make his company debut in a new production of Madama Butterlfy at Semperoper Dresden.
As a Previous member of the studio of Bayerische Staatsoper for the 18/19 season, De Tommaso appeared in productions including Norma, La Fanciulla del West, La bohème and the programme’s production of Mavra and Iolanta double bill. Prior to this, he was a member of the Young Singer Academy at the Salzburg Festival for the 2018 season. Following the Viñas competition, De Tommaso was invited to appear in concert at Teatro Real, Madrid and in recital in Vilagarcia, Spain. Other performances included concerts with the Georg Solti Accademia in Tuscany and a gala concert at the Victoria Hall, Geneva. His solo credits also include Mendelssohn Elijah, Puccini Messa di Gloria and Verdi Requiem.
Hailing from Tunbridge Wells, the British-Italian tenor is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where he studied under the guidance of Mark Wildman. His roles there included Don Jose La Tragedie de Carmen and Rodolfo La bohème. De Tommaso was generously supported by the Josephine Baker and Countess of Munster trusts. He is a Joseph Karaviotis scholar, a recipient of a Gregory-Carr scholarship and the Richard Lewis scholarship.
In April 2021 the opera singer became the first solo tenor to debut at No.1 in the Official Classical Artist Albums Chart in 20 years, beating Andrea Bocelli and Max Richter in his album Passione’s first week. He also landed the No.1 spot in the Official Specialist Classical Chart.