Antonello Palombi is the unfortunate guy who had to save the 2006 Aida at La Scala, in which Roberto Alagna walked off stage when booed after Celeste Aida. The audience was dismayed, and Palombi
wasn't received well, although it certainly wasn't his fault.
Originally a member of the Carabinieri police, he sang in an amateur choir, which led to serious studies and his 1990 debut as
Pinkerton in Fürth. Germany would always remain important for his career (Munich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Stuttgart, Kiel, Mainz,
Leipzig, Frankfurt), Italy even more so (Rome, Torino, Naples, Catania, Torre del Lago, Venice, Pisa, Bologna, Arena di Verona,
Macerata, Padova, Ravenna, and La Scala of course). He
also sang in Zürich, Lisbon, Liège, Marseille, at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg festivals, in Barcelona, Seattle (where
he made his US debut), Dallas, Detroit, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Baltimore, New Orleans, Monte Carlo, Budapest, Tokyo, Melbourne,
Copenhagen, Helsinki, Cairo, and at the Metropolitan Opera (3 performances, 2014–16).
In his repertory, dramatic roles prevailed: Radames, Canio, Manrico, Don José, Pollione, Otello, Puccini's des Grieux, Don
Carlo, Chénier, Loris, Calaf, Cavaradossi, Luigi, Alvaro, Dick Johnson...
Reference 1, reference 2
Picture source
