Francesco Meli

Awarded the Cross of San Giorgio, Francesco Meli, from Genoa, is one of the most fascinating and sought-after tenors in the world.

He made his debut at a very young age in Macbeth, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Puccini's Messa di Gloria at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, beginning a sensational career in the bel canto and Rossini repertoire. To date, he has twenty-two years of career behind him and twenty years of collaboration with the Teatro alla Scala, where he made his debut at just 23 years old in Les Dialogues des Carmélites conducted by M° Riccardo Muti, returning there in subsequent years for Otello, Idomeneo, Don Giovanni, Maria Stuarda, Der Rosenkavalier, Carmen, Giovanna d’Arco, I due Foscari, Don Carlo, La Traviata, Ernani, Tosca, Il Trovatore, Aida, L’elisir d’amore, Macbeth and Un ballo in maschera.

He has over fifty roles in his repertoire, sung in the most important Italian, European and international theatres, and works with the world's leading conductors, including Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniele Gatti, Fabio Luisi, Riccardo Muti, Christian Thielemann, Gianandrea Noseda, Antonio Pappano, Riccardo Frizza, Daniele Rustioni and Yuri Temirkanov.

In this season: Nabucco at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Simon Boccanegra at the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Opera Night with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by M° Muti, Aida at the Semperoper Dresden, and Tosca at the Festival Pucciniano in Torre del Lago.

At the Arena di Verona he made his debut in 2007 as Il Conte di Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, reprised in 2009; in 2011 and 2013 he was Alfredo in La Traviata; in 2013 he took part in the Verdi Gala and the Domingo-Harding Gala; in 2014 he was Riccardo in Un Ballo in maschera and took part in the evening Plácido Domingo sings Verdi; in 2018 he returned as Don José in the new edition of Carmen and in the Verdi Opera Night show. For the 2020 Summer Festival, he sang at the opening night and in the Verdi Gala. From 2021 to 2023 he performed Alfredo in La Traviata. In 2025 he performed Don José (Carmen) and Ismaele in Nabucco. He returns for Nabucco and La Traviata for the 103° Arena Opera Festival 2026.

Biography updated to July 2026