‘Vocal Phenomenon’ Freddie De Tommaso Signs To Decca Classics

Freddie De Tommaso, arguably the most exciting lyrico spinto tenor to emerge in over a decade, has signed to Decca Classics. He will release his debut album Passione, which celebrates his Italian heritage and heroes, including ‘Prince of Tenors’ Franco Corelli in his centenary year, on 16 April 2021.

Freddie De Tommaso is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and he shot to prominence when he won First Prize, the Plácido Domingo Tenor Prize and the Verdi Prize at the 2018 Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona. He performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in December 2019 as Cassio in Verdi’s Otello and headlined the re-opening of the Wiener Staatsoper in September 2020 as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

“A youthful Italian Domingo”

Opera Now noted he, “ …sounds like a youthful Italian Domingo with a gorgeous baritonal quality to the lower end, building up to a heart-rending top”, BR Klassik hailed his “bombshell voice”, and Der Standard described him as a “Vocal Phenomenon”.

”The songs on my debut album are all close to my heart”

Freddie De Tommaso said, “It’s a great honour to join the ranks of illustrious tenors on the Decca Classics roster. Decca’s belief in me is both humbling and inspiring and I look forward to some exciting collaborations ahead. The songs on my debut album are all close to my heart and pay tribute to my heritage and my heroes so I hope to share their passion with as many people as possible.”

Dominic Fyfe, Label Director of Decca Classics, added, “Nothing beats the thrill of signing a new tenor and in Freddie De Tommaso we have a voice which has already set pulses racing across Europe. Decca does tenors like no other label: Del Monaco, Bergonzi, Di Stefano, Pavarotti, Calleja. We welcome Freddie to that incredible stable. It’s rare to find a true spinto tenor today and, at only 27, Freddie has the world at his feet.”

Freddie De Tommaso’s Passione celebrates his heritage and heroes

2021 marks four milestone centenaries in the ‘Year of the Tenor’: the births of Mario Lanza (31st January), Franco Corelli (8th April), Giuseppe Di Stefano (24th July) and of the death of the father of all modern tenors, Enrico Caruso (2nd August). Freddie De Tommaso’s album Passione celebrates the songs they made famous and explores the musical landscape of his father’s family from Italy’s deep south.

Decca has mined its archive of unique arrangements made for its star tenors of the past including Mario Del Monaco and Luciano Pavarotti. Arrangements by Henry Mancini, Mantovani and Giancarlo Chiaramello, as well as arrangements of songs made for Giuseppe Di Stefano by Roberto Negri, have been reconstructed from the original scores and parts and are heard here for the first time in decades.

Features three world premiere recordings

Freddie De Tommaso’s album Passione also features three world premiere recordings: Respighi’s Nebbie, orchestrated by Salvatore Di Vittorio based on Respighi’s original manuscript, and two rare Puccini songs, Mentia l’Avviso and Sole e Amore, specially orchestrated for this recording.

Freddie De Tommaso’s album Passione will be released on 16 April 2021 and can be pre-ordered here.

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