Davide Damiani completed his studies in singing, double-bass, composition and conducting at the conservatories of Pesaro, Parma and Bologna. From 1986 to 1990 he studied conducting in Vienna with Julius Kalmar and 1992 he took the final Diploma at the Conservatory of Bologna.
In 1992 he was assistant conductor to Gustav Kuhn at the Arena Sferisterio in Macerata and after this period he received many invitations from different opera houses and concert halls in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. In 1993, alongside his conducting activity, he made his debut as a baritone in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (title role) in Tel Aviv.
Davide Damiani has worked with many distinguished conductors, such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Marcello Viotti, Daniel Oren, Riccardo Chailly, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Fabio Luisi, Philippe Jordan, Kazushi Ono, Zoltan Pesko, Anton Guadagno, Carlo Rizzi, Lothar Koenigs, John Neschling, Jonathan Webb, Arnold Bosman, Julius Rudel, Gerd Albrecht and stage directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Hans Neuenfels, Robert Carsen, Cesare Lievi, David Pountney, Stephen Lawless, Götz Friedrich, Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, Daniele Abbado and Luc Bondy.
From 1995 to 1999, Davide Damiani became an artist in residence with the VIENNA STAATSOPER, where he performed with great acclaim in the following operas:
- Madama Butterfly (Sharpless)Le Nozze di Figaro (Conte d´Almaviva)
- L´Elisir d´Amore (Belcore)
- Meyerbeer’s Le Prophéte (Oberthal) NEW PRODUCTION
- Enescu’s Oedipe (Créon) NEW PRODUCTION recorded for CD
- Giordano’s Fedora (De Siriex) with Placido Domingo
- Verdi’s Jérusalem (Comte de Toulose) with Josè Carreras, conducted by Zubin Mehta NEW PRODUCTION filmed for TV.
In 1995 he represented Italy in the “Cardiff Singer of the world” and “Operalia” Competitions.
He soon developed a full career of guest performances, which has led him to the following opera houses :
- TEATRO SAN CARLO DI NAPOLI:L´Elisir d´Amore (Belcore) with Luciano Pavarotti
- TEATRO REGIO DI TORINO; CARDIFF, PALM BEACH OPERA,
- TORONTO, TEATRO FILARMONICO DI VERONA: Don Giovanni (title role)
- TEATRO MASSIMO DI PALERMO: Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (Lescaut)
- TEATRO CARLO FELICE DI GENOVA, MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO: The Rape of Lucretia (Prince Tarquinius)
TEATRO COMUNALE DI RAVENNA, TEATRO BELLINI DI CATANIA, TEATRO COMUNALE DI MODENA: The Rakes´s Progress (Nick Shadow) - STADTTHEATER ST. GALLEN: Don Giovanni (title role), L’Elisir d’Amore (Belcore), Ariadne auf Naxos (Harlekin)
- TOKYO: Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) and La Traviata (Germont)
- TEL AVIV: Lucia di Lammermoor (Enrico)
- DEUTSCHE OPER AM RHEIN DÜSSELDORF: Le Nozze di Figaro (Conte d´Almaviva) and Don Giovanni (title role)
- BERLIN, BERGAMO: Bohème (Marcello)
- TEATRO LIRICO DI CAGLIARI: Granados’s Goyescas (Paquiro) recorded for CD, and Le Nozze di Figaro (Conte d’Almaviva)
- TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA: Fabio Vacchi’s Les Oiseaux de Passage (Alexandre) and Guido Turchi’s Exil
- TEATRO PICCINNI DI BARI: Piccinni’s Didon (Iarbe) recorded for CD
- TEATRO VERDI DI TRIESTE, STADTTHEATER BASEL: Verdi’s Falstaff (Ford)
- WEXFORD OPERA FESTIVAL: Mercadante’s Il Giuramento (Manfredo) recorded for CD and scenes from Rigoletto (title role)
- MILANO AUDITORIUM: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
- GRAZ OPERNHAUS: Britten’s Peter Grimes (Balstrode)
- SPLIT SUMMER FESTIVAL: Nabucco (title role) filmed for TV
- KIEV PHILARMONIE: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
- TEATRO PICCINNI DI BARI: Don Giovanni (title role)
- SPLIT SUMMER FESTIVAL: Nabucco (title role) and Aida (Amonasro)
- TORINO AUDITORIUM LINGOTTO (Festival Settembre Musica): Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino conducted by Gerd Albrecht
- TEATRO VALLI DI REGGIO EMILIA, TEATRO REGIO DI PARMA, TEATRO COMUNALE DI MODENA: The Rape of Lucretia (Tarquinius), recorded for DVD
- AMSTERDAM HOLLAND FESTIVAL: Luca Francesconi’s Gesualdo considered as a murderer (title role) WORLD PREMIERE
- WEXFORD OPERA FESTIVAL: Mercadante’s La Vestale (Publio), recorded in cd, Leoncavallo’sPagliacci (Tonio) and Recital
- MILANO AUDITORIUM: Luigi Dallapiccola’s Volo di notte (Rivière)
- TEATRO PICCINNI BARI (Saison of the Teatro Petruzzelli): Le Nozze di Figaro (Conte) and Recital
- PALM BEACH OPERA: Bellini’s I Puritani (Riccardo)
- BRUXELLES THEATRE DE LA MONNAIE, WIENER FESTWOCHEN and AIX-EN-PROVENCE FESTIVAL: Philippe Boesmans’s Julie (Jean) WORLD PREMIERE, directed by Luc Bondy
- SPLIT SUMMER FESTIVAL: Nabucco (title role)
- OPERNFESTSPIELE ST. MARGARETHEN: Carmen (Escamillo), directed by Gianfranco de Bosio
- TEATRO DELLE MUSE DI ANCONA: Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers (Gregor Mittenhofer), ITALIAN PREMIERE and NEW PRODUCTION, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi
- TEATRO FILARMONICO DI VERONA and TEATRO VALLI DI REGGIO EMILIA: Le Nozze di Figaro(Conte d’Almaviva) -NEW PRODUCTION – dir.: D. Abbado – cond.: J.Webb
- TEATRO LIRICO DI CAGLIARI: Mozart: Vesperae solemnes de Confessore andSchoenberg: A survivor from Warsaw – cond.: R. Abbado
- FESTIVAL DI CELANO and TEATRO DI SULMONA: Roman Vlad: Invettive e Invocazioni sul Dies Irae for Baritone and Orchestraand Mozart: Kantate “Die ihr des unermeßlichen Weltalls” KV 619 – cond.: A. Vlad
- VARAZDIN BAROQUE EVENINGS: J.S.Bach: Johannes-Passion (Jesus) – Scene Version, dir.: G. Paro – cond.: V. Kranjevic
- TEATRO MASSIMO DI PALERMO: Schumann: Genoveva (Siegfried) dir.: D. Abbado – cond.: Gabriele Ferro
- BRUXELLES THEATRE DE LA MONNAIE: Luc Brewaeys: L’uomo dal fiore in bocca (title role) WORLD PREMIERE and Recital
- TEATRO MASSIMO DI PALERMO: Massenet: “Manon” (Lescaut), cond.: Michel Plasson
- STADTTHEATER BERN: Giorgio Battistelli: Prova d’orchestra (Direttore d’orchestra) NEW PRODUCTION
- STADTTHEATER BERN: Rigoletto (Rigoletto) NEW PRODUCTION
- TEATRO DEL GIGLIO DI LUCCA: Manon Lescaut (Lescaut) NEW PRODUCTION
- STADTTHEATER BERN: Il Ballo in Maschera (Renato) NEW PRODUCTION
- STAATSTHEATER BRAUNSCHWEIG: Carmen (Escamillo) NEW PRODUCTION
- TEATRO LA FENICE DI VENEZIA: Puccinis Manon Lescaut (Lescaut) NEW PRODUCTION directed by Graham Vick, conducted by Renato Palumbo
- HAMBURGISCHE STAATSOPER: Carmen (Escamillo) conducted by Alexander Joel
- TEATRO LA FENICE DI VENEZIA: La Traviata (Giorgio Germont), directed by Robert Carsen, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
- ISRAEL FESTIVAL JÉRUSALEM: Jérusalem (Comte di Toulouse) directed by Moshe Kepten, conducted by David Stern
- ISRAEL OPERA TEL AVIV: La Traviata (Giorgio Germont) directed by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, conducted by Yishai Steckler/Daniel Cohen
- TEATRO DI SAN CARLO DI NAPOLI: Luca Francesconi’s Terra (Contadino) WORLD PREMIERE for the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, conducted by Jonathan Webb
- TEATRO MASSIMO DI PALERMO: Carmen (Escamillo) ABBIATI PRIZE 2011 TO BEST STAGING, directed by Calixto Bieito, conducted by Renato Palumbo
- OPER FRANKFURT: Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur (Michonnet), NEW PRODUCTION, directed by Vincent Bossard, conducted by Carlo Montanaro
- GRAND THEATRE DE GENEVE: Macbeth (Macbeth), NEW PRODUCTION, directed by Christof Loy, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher
” It always works, when you know what you’re doing.”