Leonardo Caimi studied composition, while simultaneously attaining his diploma in clarinet from the Conservatorio F. Torrefranca di Vibo Valentia and his diploma in voice from the Conservatorio A. Corelli di Messina. He also obtained a degree with highest honors in Philosophy at the Università degli Studi di Messina.
One of today’s leading young romantic lyric tenors, he is consistently praised for the velvet beauty of his impressive tone, elegant musicality and the physical embodiment of his roles. He is a winner of prestigious international competitions such as: Toti dal Monte di Treviso, Rocca delle Macìe, Marcello Viotti di Vercelli, As.Li.Co, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Voci Verdiane di Busseto.
Amongst the prestigious theaters he has performed in include La Scala di Milano, the Salzburg Festival, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genoa, Puccini Festival of Torre del Lago, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Regio di Torino, Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo, NCPA of Beijing, Petruzzelli di Bari, The Opernhaus of Leipzig, the Opernhaus of Frankfurt, the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires, the Teatro San Carlo of Napoli, the Teatro Real of Madrid, the National Opera of Warsaw, the Chile’s Teatro Municipale of Santiago, the Maggio musicale Fiorentino-Opera di Firenze, Opéra de Rennes, Oper Graz, Teatro Verdi of Trieste, Teatro Verdi of Pisa, Teatro Verdi of Busseto, Teatro Bellini of Catania, Michigan Opera Theater of Detroit and theaters throughout Japan and Korea with such conductors as R. Muti, L. Maazel, G. Gelmetti, D. Oren, C. Rizzi, E. Pidò, S. Ranzani, Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez, M. Stefanelli, E. Queler, R. Brignoli and directors such as F. Zeffirelli, R. LePage, S. Vizioli, W. Pagliaro, and M. Scaparro, L. Mariani, M. Martone, Ettore Scola.
He began his career performing Fenton in Falstaff (Teatro Verdi di Busseto, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the stage direction of Franco Zeffirelli), Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi (under the baton of Gianluigi Gelmetti at the l’Accademia Chigiana di Siena), Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Teatro Bellini di Catania under the baton of Roberto Rizzi Brignoli), and Alfredo in La Traviata (Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo). He was invited to the Salzburg Festival for the role of Valerio in the world premiere of the opera Il ritorno di Don Calandrino by Cimarosa, directed by Riccardo Muti. He made his La Scala debut in the Petite Messe Solennelle of Rossini which subsequently led to his return in the opera 1984 written and conducted by Lorin Maazel. He then performed Messa di Gloria by Mascagniin in Budapest with the Coro Filarmonico della Scala.
His current reportoire spanns principal roles between lyric tenor and lirico spinto, including Rodolfo in La bohème, Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut by Puccini, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Nemorinoin L'elisir d'amore, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Alfredo in La Traviata, Errico Settebellizze in Napoli Milionaria by Nino Rota, Ruggero in La Rondine, Fritz in L’amico Fritz, Maurizio di Sassonia in Adriana Lecouvreur, Don Josè in Carmen, the title role in Don Carlo, Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, Radames in Aida, Ruggero in La Rondine, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Henri in Les vêpres siciliennes, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Calaf in Turandot, Roberto in Le Villi, Samson in Samson et Dalila.
About his intensive activity in concert. He participated in the Gala G. Bizet in which he had the lead role alongside Inva Mula, in the cantata Clovis et Clotilde by Bizet and again as Don José in Carmen, with l’Orchestra National de Lille, under the direction of Jean-Claude Cadadesus, at the Nouveau Siècle de Lille and the Philharmonia of Paris; live radio broadcast of Puccini's Le Villi for RTVE at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid under the direction of Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez.
He has recently made his debut in the DeutscheOper Berlin and Dresden's Semperoper as Don Carlo in the opera by G. Verdi. Along with the same role he debuted at the Auditorium of Bordeaux for the opening of the 2015/16 season, directed by Alain Lombard; at the Opera House in Leipzig, inaugurating the 2016/17 season with a new production of Turandot in the role of Calaf; at the Frankfurt Opera House as Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca; at Colón in Buenos Aires as Maurizio di Sassonia in Adriana Lecouvreur and at the Real Madrid Theater in the role of Don José.
Amongst future engagements include: Calaf in Turandot at the Opernhaus in Leipzig and the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera in Warsaw; Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Municipal Theater in Santiago de Chile; Henri in Les vêpres siciliennes at the Opernhaus in Frankfurt; Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana at La Monnaie Theater in Brussels; Don José in a new production of Carmen at the Opernhaus Leipzig.
