Baritone Franco Pomponi made his European debut in the title role of Hamlet at the Liceu in Barcelona and success followed worldwide. He created a sensation in Paris as Pentheus in The Bassarids by Henze at the Théâtre du Châtelet and has returned to sing the title roles in new productions of Nixon in China (broadcast on Mezzo) and Sweeney Todd. His Italian debut came at Teatro Massimo, Palermo, as Nick Shadow in Cesare Lievi’s production of A Rake’s Progress. He debuted at Opernhaus Zürich in a new production of Les pêcheurs de perles as Zurga (dir. Rizzi), the title role of Don Giovanni for his debut at Bolshoï Opera (dir. Currentzis) and in Budapest in a new production of The Tempest as Prospero at Hungarian State Opera.

Mr. Pomponi was a member of Lyric Opera of Chicago and made his Chicago debut as Germont in Verdi’s La traviata. He made his New York debut as Escamillo in Carmen at New York City Opera. Other debuts: Ford in Falstaff for The Santa Fe Opera (dir. Arrivabeni), ‘Four Villains’ in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Finnish National Opera (dir. Fournillier). He made his Carnegie Hall debut as Pater Ecstaticus in Symphony Nº 8 of Mahler with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Additional highlights include: Ezio, Attila, Seïd, Il Corsaro, OFC Chicago; Tebaldo, Giulietta e Romeo (Zandonai), New York; Prigioniero, Il Prigioniero (Dallapiccola), Chicago; Pangloss, Candide, Metternich, L’Aiglon, Lausanne; Hamlet, Barcelona, Marseille, Brussels, Kansas City; Don Giovanni, Bolshoi, Moscow, Geneva, Athens, Montpellier, Guangzhou; Eugene Onegin, FGO, Miami, Spoleto Festival; Escamillo, Carmen, L.A. Opera, NYCO, Helsinki, Bremen; ‘Four Villains,’ Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Golaud, Pelléas et Mélisande, Reisopera Netherlands; Paolo, Simon Boccanegra, Grand Théâtre de Genève; Germont, La traviata, Grant Park Music Festival; Ford, Falstaff, Canadian Opera; Count di Luna, Il trovatore, Austin Lyric; Michele, Il tabarro, Opera Festival of Chicago; Jack Rance, Fanciulla del West, KYO; Marcello, La bohème, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra Vichy; Schaunard, La bohème, Count Dominik, Arabella, Metropolitan Opera, New York; Valentin, Faust, Opéra de Toulon; Hérode, Hérodiade, Silvio, Pagliacci, Dorset Opera; Frank/Pierrot, Die tote Stadt, Teatro Massimo, Palermo; Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Belcore, L’elisir d’amore, Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg; Argante, Rinaldo, NYOpera Fest; Ping, Turandot, Mercutio, Roméo et Juliette, Malatesta, Don Pasquale, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Carbon, Cyrano, Teatro Real, Madrid. Mr. Pomponi has sung leading roles under Abell, Abbassi, Andrizzi, Bartoletti, de Billy, Eschenbach, Gergiev, Guidarini, López Cobos, Luisotti, Mehta, Minkowski, Levine, Mazzola, Nagano, Nelson, Niquet, Olmi, Ōno, Pappano, Pidò, Schwarz, Soltész, Villaume, de Waart.

Franco is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Opera Festival of Chicago