Mario Cassi

Mario Cassi made his operatic debut in 2001 within “Voci in Musica”, performing Guglielmo (Così Fan Tutte) and Signor Lupo (Henze’s Pollicino) conducted by Claire Gibault and directed by Daniele Abbado. He won several prestigious international competitions: “Toti Dal Monte” in 2002; “Viotti” in 2002 (“Cesare Bardelli” Special Prize); Placido Domingo Operalia in 2003 (Zarzuela Prize) and Spiros Argiris in 2004 (2nd Prize). He is specializing under the guidance of Bruno De Simone and Alessandra Rossi De Simone. He also graduated in Economics at the University in Florence.He has been nominee Cavaliere della Repubblica per Meriti Artistici by Italian President Mattarella 2017.

Mario Cassi has collaborated with such conductors as Riccardo Muti, Daniel Oren, Michele Mariotti, Andris Nelson, Nicholas Carter, Adam Fisher, Omer Wellber, Paolo Carignani, Daniele Rustioni,   Giovanni Antonini, Corrado Rovaris, Bruno Campanella, Patrick Fournillier, Donato Renzetti, Christophe Rousset, Daniel Harding, Tugan Sokhiev, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Marco Armiliato, Stefano Montanari and directors as Pier Luigi Pizzi, Stefano Vizioli, Stefano Mazzonis di Palafera, Micha van Hoecke, Irina Brook, Daniele Abbado, Antonio Calenda, David McVicar, Carlos Saura, Davide Livermore, Micha Makeieff, Hugo De Ana, Yannis Kokkos and Damiano Michieletto. His operatic repertoire spans from Mozart to contemporary music, with special attention to the Italian Belcanto works.

During his career he participated in several premières, including: Luca Lombardi’s Palermo e Corona at the Accademia Filarmonica in Rome in 2001; Veiano (music by Matteo D’Amico and text by Sandro Cappelletto) at the Todi Arte Festival; Marchetti’s Romeo e Giulietta at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca; L’Ape Musicale produced by Attilio Cremonesi in Jesi and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (Barone Grog) at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Mario Cassi is a returning guest in many of Europe’s most prestigious theaters and festivals. Among his successful collaborations: Hansel und Gretel (Father) at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome; Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Horloge Comtoise and Le Chat) at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; Don Pasquale (Dottor Malatesta) in Ravenna, production that was released in DVD and was toured in Moscow, Liège, Cologne and Paris under the baton of Riccardo Muti, he was Malatesta also in Wien (Musikverein and Staatsoper), Saint Petersburg, Rome, Verona, Bari and Naples; La Cenerentola (Dandini) in Treviso, Pisa, Lucca, Livorno and Valencia; Così Fan Tutte in Trieste, Lucca, Milan (at the Piccolo Teatro), Lausanne and also in Bari and Cagliari; Il Signor Bruschino (Bruschino Padre) and La Cambiale di Matrimonio at the Galuppi Festival in Venice; Salieri’s La Grotta di Trofonio (Plistene) conducted by Christophe Rousset in Lausanne, production recorded with Les Talens Lyriques for the label Ambroisie (2005); Faust (Valentin) at the Ravenna Festival under the baton of Patrick Fournillier and in Valencia; Il Turco in Italia (Prosdocimo) in Turin and in Rome; Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Achilla) staged by Irina Brook at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris; L’Italiana in Algeri in Bologna and Pesaro (Rossini Opera Festival); Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro) in Pesaro, Liège, Valencia, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Florence, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Verona and Rome; Il Califfo di Bagdad (Cadi) with Les Talens Lyriques and Chrtistophe Rousset in Granada, Madrid and Barcelona; Maria Stuarda (Lord Guglielmo Cecil) in Macerata and Liége; Un Ballo in Maschera (Silvano) in Florence; Il Matrimonio Segreto (Conte Robinson) in Liège; La Favorita in Bergamo; Il Matrimonio Inaspettato in Ravenna and Piacenza and Iphigenie en Aulide in Rome; La Calisto (Mercurio) in Paris.

Amongst his recent commitments it is worth mentioning: Le nozze di Figaro, L’Italiana in Algeri, La Bohème, Die Zauberfloete, La Favorite, La Traviata, Don Giovanni (title role) in Liège; I Pagliacci (Silvio), La Bohème and Rigoletto at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; I Due Figaro in Ravenna, Madrid and Salzburg conducted by Riccardo Muti; L’Elisir d’Amore (Belcore) at the Opéra de Paris, in Munich, Vienna, Palermo, Naples and Florence; Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Valencia, Madrid, Florence, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Naples; Pagliacci in Toulouse and Dresden; La Vedova Allegra in Turin; Il Viaggio a Reims in Amsterdam (Stefano Montanari conducting, Damiano Michieletto directing); Madama Butterlfly at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Carmina Burana in Parma, Piacenza and Modena and at the Arena in Verona; Lucia di Lammermoor (Lord Enrico Asthon) in Piacenza and Parma; Le Nozze di Figaro (Figaro) in Vienna (Wiener Staatsoper).

Most recently Mr. Cassi was another time in the role of Malatesta for Don Pasquale in Düsseldorf; furthermore he sung Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Trieste and Monte Carlo; Lucia di Lammermoor in Tel Aviv and Cagliari; Così fan tutte in Dresden; L’Elisir d’Amore in Tblisi, Florence and Wien; La Bohème in Naples; Don Giovanni (title role) in Cologne; Le Nozze di Figaro (Conte d’Almaviva) in Liege and Dresden; Il Barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro at the Arena in Verona, at the Teatro Regio in Parma and in Beijing; Il Trovatore (Conte di Luna) and Il Matrimonio Segreto, I Puritani, Madama Butterfly  in Liège; La Traviata in Arezzo; Carmina Burana and Aida at the Arena in Verona and Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Filarmonco; La Bohème in Tokyo.

Mr Cassi future engagements also include L’Amore delle tre melarance at the San Carlo in Naples; Le Nozze di Figaro in Xi’an; Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Klagenfurt and Wiesbaden, I Puritani in Minorca, I pagliacci in Arena di Verona……