Hailed by critics for his magnificent voice and stage presence, Italian bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo has established himself as one of the most exciting singers of his generation. Famed in particular for his portrayals of Mozart’s Figaro and Leporello in Don Giovanni, one critic recently wrote “Ildebrando d’Arcangelo as Leporello is simply excellent. He almost moves the centre of the plot to himself, particularly in his superb self-exculpation in the sextet. He gives a strong and deep-toned performance.”

Ildebrando D’Arcangelo begins the 2009-10 season with his return to the Royal Opera, Covent Garden for performances as Escamillo in Carmen, a role that also takes him to the Vienna Statasoper and the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich. Audiences in London can also hear him as Rossini’s Turco in Italia while he performs another of his trademark Rossini roles, La cenerentola’s Alidoro, with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Other highlights include performances of his signature role, Don Giovanni, with Grand Théâtre de Genève and festival-performances of Le nozze di Figaro in Munich. Mr d’Arcangelo can also be heard in concert performances in Italy, France, Germany and Austria.

Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is well-known to audiences throughout Europe as well as North America. He won the Toti dal Monte International Competition in 1989 and 1991, thereafter making his operatic debuts in Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni. Since then, he makes regular appearances at La Scala di Milan, the Liceu Barcelona, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. He regularly appears at the Vienna Staatsoper where he could be heard amongst others as Figaro, Escamillo, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, and Mustafa in L’italiana in Algeri. He is also a frequent guest at  the Opéra Bastille and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, where he starred in productions of Il turco in Italia, Carmen and Le nozze di Figaro. In 1996, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival singing Le nozze di Figaro. He has since returned to sing Leporello in 2002 and 2006 and the title role in the Festival’s 2006 new production of Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and partnered with Anna Netrebko. He was first heard at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as Masetto in Don Giovanni in 1994, and has since been a frequent guest there, singing amongst others Figaro and Leporello. He has also appeared with other major US companies including the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In his extensive work, both in opera and concert, he has collaborated with Valery Gergiev, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink, Christopher Hogwood, Riccardo Muti, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Myung-Whun Chung, Riccardo Chailly, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniele Gatti, René Jacobs, Antonio Pappano, and the late Sir Georg Solti.

A much sought-after recording artist, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo can be heard on recordings of Verdi’s Messa di Requiem conducted by Valery Gergiev (DECCA) and Nikolaus Harnoncourt (RCA). He has furthermore recorded Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo alongside Cecilia Bartoli (DECCA), as well as Masetto with Claudio Abbado, and Leoprello with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, both for Deutsche Grammophon. In 2005, he recorded the title role in Vivaldi’s Bajazet for Virgin Classics with Europa Galante, a recording which received numerous awards including the CHOC Du Monde de la Musique, the Grand Prix de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique and the German ECHO Award for ‘Best Opera Recording’. 2008 will see the release of his portrayal of Conte Rodolpho in Bellini’s La sonnambula opposite Cecilia Bartoli by DECCA. Ildebrando D’Arcangelo became an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon in 2009. His first solo-disc, a recording of Handel arias for bass was released in the autumn of 2009.

Many of his operatic roles have been captured on DVD, including Rossini’s Tancredi and Mozart’s Don Giovanni conducted by Riccardo Muti in a production from the Vienna Staatsoper (TDK, 2001). 2006 saw the release of three of his signature roles on DVD, when Deutsche Grammophon released the Salzburg Festivals’ new production of  Le nozze di Figaro, DECCA released his portrayal of Leporello, also from the 2006 Salzburg Festival, and Virgin Classics released the Vienna Staatsoper’s 2006 production of L’elisir d’amore featuring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Dulcamara.