Roberto Alagna has performed at all the major opera houses and festivals, from the Opéra National de Paris to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, the Chorégies d'Orange, La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, he has added more than 60 roles to his repertoire: Alfredo, Calaf, Canio, Cavaradossi, Des Grieux, Don Carlo(s), Don Jose, Faust, Manrico, Maurizio, Nemorino, Otello, Radames, Rodolfo, Romeo, Ruggero, Turiddu, and Werther.
He made his debut at the age of 17, singing in Parisian cabarets in the evenings, when he met Cuban double bassist and singer Rafaël Ruiz. He was his first singing teacher. A few years later, in 1988, he won the Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia, giving a decisive boost to his career.
His latest engagements demonstrate the full breadth of his repertoire. In recent years, he has expanded it further with several new roles, including Des Grieux in Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Metropolitan Opera, Azaël in Debussy's L'enfant prodigue in concert version in Paris, Eleazar in Halévy's La Juive in Munich and Rodolfo in Verdi's Luisa Miller in Monte Carlo. KS Alagna made a remarkable debut in the role of Samson in Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila in Vienna in 2018, opened the following season at the Metropolitan Opera with this work and reprised it at the Chorégies d'Orange in 2021. After singing his 100th performance at the Paris Opera in Otello, he also appeared for the 100th time on the stage of the Royal Opera House in May 2019, in Andrea Chenier. In early 2020, he made a highly successful return to the Metropolitan Opera in an acclaimed revival of La Bohème, 24 years later and 30 years after his debut in the role of Rodolfo.
At the end of 2020, he made a remarkable debut in the Wagner repertoire, in the title role of Lohengrin, which he reprised with brio in April 2022 in Berlin. In August 2021, he performed for the first time at the Arena di Verona with two double performances in the roles of Turiddu and Canio. He returned there in August 2022 in Carmen.
In early 2022, he performed solo recitals at Salle Gaveau and at the opening of UNESCO's Sound Week 2022, of which he was the patron, followed by duo recitals at Bozar in Brussels and the Philharmonie de Paris. At the same time, he was called upon by the Opéra national de Paris to replace a singer in Massenet's Manon and took up the challenge of returning to the role of the Chevalier, which he had not played for 11 years. He continued in New York with Tosca in March 2022. In July 2022, he was called upon by the Royal Opera House for Pagliacci. In autumn 2022, he brilliantly opened the 2022/2023 season with a new role as Loris Ipanov in Umberto Giordano's Fedora, marking his grand return to the stage of the Teatro Alla Scala, before joining the production of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera.
In early 2023, he played Al Capone for 45 dates at the Folies Bergère in a musical by Jean-Félix Lalanne. After a series of opera concerts, Roberto Alagna performed in the summer of 2023 on the open stage of the Arena di Verona in Tosca and Madama Butterfly. At the end of September 2023, he will give a voice/piano/guitar recital at the Church of Saint-Sulpice, featuring sacred songs and songs of sacred inspiration, as well as the most beautiful prayers from opera. This special programme, entitled Seigneur, was presented on tour from April 2024 in several of France's great cathedrals. In December 2023, the tenor reprised the role of Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana at the Royal Opera House, then returned to the Metropolitan Opera in Turandot. He continued with Adriana Lecouvreur at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Tosca at the Chorégies d'Orange, and Carmen in Verona. He also gave a series of concerts in tribute to Puccini to mark the composer's 100th anniversary. He subsequently performed the programme in several venues around the world, including La Scala in Milan in June 2024.
During the 2024/2025 season, he appeared in several opera and musical theatre concerts, including Fedora in Geneva, Tosca in Vienna, Otello in Puerto Rico, Manon at the Paris Bastille, Carmen and Aida in Verona, and Tosca in Torre del Lago. Between January and March 2025, he reprised songs from the musical Al Capone specially composed for him by Jean-Félix Lalanne in a concert entitled Hors-la-Loi, le Concert, which has thrilled audiences in some twenty cities in France and Belgium.
The artist may boast an impressive discography that reflects his insatiable lyrical curiosity. Under exclusive contract with EMI (1993-2004) and then Deutsche Grammophon (2005-2017), he signed with Sony Classical from 2017 to 2022. With recordings for Erato, Sony, EMI, Warner and Deutsche Grammophon over the last 10 years, his discography is one of the most extensive in existence and covers a wide range.
In the 2025/26 season he sings Cavaradossi (Tosca) at the Seperoper Dresden, in Paris and Athens, as well as Calaf w (Turandot) at the Royal Ballet and Opera in London, Teatro alla Scala in Miland, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
