”For Salvatore Licitra, it’s just the beginning,” the Associated Press predicted in its international coverage of the young Italian tenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut in May 2002, which it hailed as “the most triumphant” at the house in recent memory.

Although he was not scheduled for a formal Met Opera debut until 2005, Licitra stepped in on very short notice to replace the ailing Luciano Pavarotti as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, in what was believed to be the famous tenor’s farewell operatic performance on Saturday, May 11, 2002. Singing not only to a sold-out house expecting to hear Pavarotti, but also to some 3,000 people watching a live transmission on the Lincoln Center Plaza, Licitra won over the audience in a performance that The New York Times described as “the starry anointing of a potential successor” capped with “an ecstatic standing ovation at the end of his performance.” “It was his athletic and ardent singing that won you over. He is a genuine find, an exciting tenor with a big, dark- hued and muscular voice.” In his review Mr. Tommasini also spoke of Licitra’s “viscerally powerful top notes” and “his ability to shape long pianissimo phrases with sensitivity.”

So far Licitra’s commitments have taken him to the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera Bastille, London’s Royal Opera, the Teatro alla Scala, the Staatsoper Berlin the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera and the opera companies of Rome, Naples, Lisbon, Zurich and Turin with return engagements almost everywhere.

During June 2005, the Swiss-born Italian tenor travels to Japan to perform the title role of Verdi’s Il Trovatore with Naples’ famed Teatro San Carlo. Thereafter, he appears in concerts and recitals in Tokyo, Osaka and Beijing before returning to North America for an al fresco gala concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra in July. The following month he inaugurates the 2005 Edinburgh International Festival with the Verdi Requiem after which he goes to sing Aida at the 20,000- seat Arena di Verona.

In September 2005 Licitra sings his first performances of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in his native town of Bern, Switzerland, after which he rejoins the Metropolitan Opera for Aida (fall 2005) and La Forza del Destino (spring 2006). During the 2005-06 season, Licitra also makes debuts with the Los Angeles Opera and the Michigan Opera Theater in Tosca and Aida respectively. In June 2006 he will appear in a new production of Aida at the Zurich Opera while beginning in July he will essay his first performances of Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Arena di Verona. Interspersed among these operatic engagements, Licitra will perform concerts and recitals in Europe, North America and the Far East.

Salvatore Licitra makes his home both in Lugano and in New York City. For relaxation he enjoys sport car racing and soccer. He is equally passionate about participating in events that allow him to reach expanded, more diverse audiences, such as the 2005 New York Columbus Day Parade. He is also an enthusiastic advocate of bringing opera into the schools so that young people may be exposed to classical music.

An exclusive Sony Masterworks artist, Licitra’s discography include Il Trovatore and Tosca from La Scala with Maestro Muti and a solo album with famous arias of Verdi and Puccini. On DVD he can be seen in the La Scala production of Tosca conducted by Maestro Muti.

Salvatore Licitra records exclusively for BMG/Sony Masterworks