Secco studied voice, percussion and piano; he doesn't publish date and place of his debut, but
his first major engagement was at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, for Puccini's Messa di Gloria, Berlioz's Te Deum, and for La
bohème.
An excellent career followed: he sang at all important Italian theaters as well as in Tokyo, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Antwerp, at
the Vienna Staatsoper, the Paris Opéra Bastille, the Chicago Ravinia Festival, in Baltimore, Miami, Stockholm, Monte
Carlo, Liège, Munich, Madrid, Bilbão, Los Angeles, Zürich, Hamburg, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Marseille, San
Francisco, Toronto, Dresden, Geneva, Athens, Covent Garden London, Nice... a
stunning example for what's wrong with opera, because Secco is really anything but a good singer. Jokes on names are a big no-no
of course, but Secco's voice sounds unfortunately really dry (secco, in Italian), overstrained, underpowered. I heard him in his
most important role, as Duca, early in his career, and was quite dismayed; now it's no doubt that everybody can have (and has)
the occasional bad evening, but I found my first impression confirmed whenever hearing him on the internet or the radio.
Particularly his late (2010s and 2020s) concerts with his partner in life, Sardinian mezzosoprano Sarah M'Punga (who managed to
destroy a great voice in no time, by lack of every shadow of vocal technique) were true low-class events, proudly posted on
Youtube, though.
Other roles in his repertory: Alfredo, three Carlos (Masnadieri, Giovanna D'Arco and Don Carlo), Macduff, Manrico, Riccardo,
Stiffelio, Rodolfo (both Luisa Miller and Bohème), Gabriele Adorno, Don José, Cavaradossi, Tonio (La fille du
régiment), Roméo, Pinkerton, Nemorino, Edgardo, Hoffmann, Faust, Werther, des Grieux (Manon).
Reference: Secco's website
