Described by Opera News as “a radiant tenor with a clarion top,” Leonardo Capalbo is a leading interpreter of the operas of Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Mascagni, and Puccini earning international acclaim for his rich voice, good looks, and exceptional acting ability. He regularly appears on the world’s greatest stages including the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Berlin State Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Glyndebourne, La Monnaie, L’Opéra de Lyon, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago among others. He has worked with some of the world’s most influential artists such as Placido Domingo, Franco Zeffirelli, Richard Bonynge, Gianandrea Noseda, Fabio Luisi, David McVicar, Andrew Davis, Kazushi Ono, Jonathan Miller, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Teodor Currentzis, Mariusz Trelinski, Dan Ettinger, Alejo Perez, Marc Minkowski, Daniele Rustioni, and Gustavo Dudamel.

Recently, Mr. Capalbo returned to the Teatro Real Madrid in Damiano Michieletto’s production of Madama Butterfly, starred as Don Jose in Calixo Bieito’s iconic production of Carmen at Liceu Barcelona and Norwegian National Opera, debuted as Jimmy in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at Opera Vlaanderen in Ivo Van Hove’s production lead by Alejo Perez, made his role debut as Hagenbach in Catalani’s rarely heard La Wally, in a new production by Barbora Horáková Joly. Alongside concert appearances in Malta and Amsterdam, he took on the title role Massenet’s Werther in a John Doyle production at Grange Park Opera. At the Volksoper Wien, he appeared as Ruggero Lastouc in Lotte De Beer’s new staging of La Rondine. He made another anticipated role debut as Turiddu in Paul Carr’s new production of Cavalleria Rusticana at the Dorset Opera Festival followed by a return to Alfredo in Traviata with The Copenhagen Philharmonic at Tivoli Concert Hall. In the winter of 2026, Leonardo was widely lauded for his Don José in Emilio Sagi’s production of Carmen at Opera de Oviedo.

Career highlights include the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Opera de Lyon, Bremen MusikFest and Tokyo New National Opera, his role debut as the title character in Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera and Opera Vlaanderen, his house and role debuts as Gustavo in Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Swedish Opera, his debut at the Baden Baden Festspielhaus in La bohème conducted by Teodor Currentzis, a new production of Gloriana by David McVicar at the Teatro Real Madrid with Ivor Bolton conducting, the title role in Candide with the London Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, Mariusz Trelinski’s new production of Powder Her Face at La Monnaie/ De Munt; debuts at the Royal Opera Covent Garden as Ismaele in Nabucco and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in David McVicar’s production of La traviata; the title role in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at the Canadian Opera Company, alongside Sondra Radvanovsky, also at Welsh National Opera in a new production; house and role debuts as Tom Rakewell in David McVicar’s new production of The Rake’s Progress at the Teatro Regio di Torino; house and role debuts as Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann at L’Opéra de Lyon in the Laurent Pelly production; the Spanish premiere of Daniel Catan’s Il Postino at the Teatro Real de Madrid as the title character; Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore at The Glyndebourne Festival, Berlin State Opera, Minnesota Opera, and New York City Opera; Don José in Carmen in Warsaw, Athens, Seville, and the Grange Festival; Cavaradossi in Tosca in Minnesota; Nerone in a new Warlikowski production of Poppea e Nerone in Montpellier; Alfredo in La traviata in a new production at Welsh National Opera, also at the Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera, and The Grand Théâtre de Genève; Macduff in Macbeth at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, L’Opéra de Lyon, L’Opéra de Monte Carlo and Berlin State Opera; Duca in Rigoletto in Stockholm, Leipzig, São Paulo, Toulon, Calgary and Montreal; the title role in Candide at the Berlin State Opera and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Strasbourg; Rodolfo in La bohème in Baden-Baden, Bordeaux, Athens, St. Gallen, and Cagliari; Ruggero in La rondine in Minnesota; Arturo in La Straniera in Amsterdam; Jacopo in I due Foscari in St. Gallen; Leicester in Maria Stuarda in Stuttgart; Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at Teatro São Carlos, Lisbon; Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw in Spoleto; Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at Opera North; Verdi Requiem at the Grange Festival; and Puccini Messa di Gloria at San Diego Symphony.

Leonardo trained at The Juilliard School in New York City and The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California where he studied with legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. Leonardo is now under the supervision of renown voice specialist Michael Paul.