Riccardo Novaro has gained international recognition as a Mozart and Rossini interpreter, singing the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Teatro Regio Torino, and Il Conte Almaviva in the same opera at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, Leporello (Don Giovanni) at Opéra de Lausanne, Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Beaune Festival, Guglielmo at the Vlaamse Opera and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) in both Glyndebourne and La Monnaie.
He appeared as Dandini (La Cenerentola) for the Opéra de Paris, Bavarian State Opera and Irish National Opera, and embodied the roles of Raimbaud (Le Comte Ory) at the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Taddeo (L’Italiana in Algeri) at both the Opéra National de Bordeaux and Festival de Beaune, Prosdocimo (Il Turco in Italia) in Lausanne, Bartolo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in Turin with Diego Fasolis, in Reggio Emilia and Modena under Leonardo Sini, in Rouen, and at the Grange Festival with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Parry.
Among his past highlights are the Count Robinson in Il Matrimonio segreto by Cimarosa at the Opéra National de Lorraine, Clistene in Vivaldi’s Olimpiade under Jean-Christophe Spinosi at both the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Theater an der Wien, and Astolfo in Orlando furioso by the same composer at La Fenice in a production conducted by Diego Fasolis and staged by Fabio Ceresa.
Riccardo performed in Handel’s Alcina alongside Cecilia Bartoli in a Gianluca Capuano/Damiano Michie-letto production at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Acclaimed for both his beguiling vocal agility and versatility, Riccardo Novaro’s wide repertoire includes composers as varied as Monteverdi (Testo in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda), Handel (Argante in Rinaldo; Achilla in Giulio Cesare; Elviro in Serse), Donizetti (Malatesta in Don Pasquale; Belcore and Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore), Verdi (Il Cavalier Belfiore in Un Giorno di regno), Puccini (Schaunard in La Bohème) and Britten (Donald in Billy Budd).
Riccardo has collaborated with conductors such as Giovanni Antonini, Diego Fasolis, Bruno Campanella, Emmanuelle Haïm, Gabriele Ferro, Iván Fischer, Riccardo Frizza, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Jurowski, René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Fabio Biondi, George Petrou, Jérémie Rhorer. He has worked with stage directors including Annabel Arden, Robert Carsen, Damiano Michieletto, David McVicar, Adrian Noble, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Luca Ronconi, Daniel Slater.
His extensive discography comprises, among others, Charpentier’s Te Deum with Myun-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon); Handel’s Floridante with Alan Curtis (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv Produktion); L’Olimpiade with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Orlando furioso with Federico Maria Sardelli and L’Incoronazione di Dario with Ottavio Dantone (Naïve Vivaldi Edition); Cimarosa’s Maestro di Cappella with Il Giardino Armonico conducted by Giovanni Antonini for the Haydn 2032 project (Alpha Classics); the world premiere recording of Il Trespolo tutore (title role) by Alessandro Stradella under Andrea De Carlo (Arcana).
Recent and forthcoming engagements include Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Leporello) at the Versailles Royal Opera, Cimarosa’s Maestro di Cappella with the Freiburger Barockorchester and Conti’s Trionfo della fama (Valore) under Ottavio Dantone at the Innsbruck Festival.