28 April 2022: The winners of the 16th annual BBC Music Magazine Awards – the only classical music recording awards in which the main categories are voted for by the public – have been announced at a glittering ceremony at Kings Place in London.
Tenor Freddie De Tommaso has won the Newcomer Award for his beautiful debut album Passione of tenor arias by Puccini, Tosti et al. Passione debuted at No. 1 on the UK Classical Artist Albums Chart, the first solo tenor album to do so in 20 years.
BBC Music Magazine praised the album,
“Sung in the tradition of De Tommaso’s hero Franco Corelli, the recording is stylish and heartfelt, spinning gold out of the simplest of popular Italian songs.”
Last week, Decca Classics announced the eagerly anticipated second album of British-Italian tenor, entitled Il Tenore, released on 24th June. Featuring some of the most iconic arias and duets ever written for the operatic voice, it follows his chart-topping 2021 debut Passione and a year in which the singer has taken Europe’s opera houses by storm.
Il Tenore features music by Puccini and Bizet, and includes duets with Lise Davidsen, Aigul Akhmetshina and Natalya Romaniw.
Highlights from De Tommaso’s upcoming UK performances include a much-anticipated return to the Royal Opera House in Madama Butterfly in June and opening the 2022 BBC Proms as soloist in the Verdi Requiem on 15 July.
Declared one of The Observer’s ‘Faces to watch in 2022’, De Tommaso hit the headlines in December when he made his Royal Opera House role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca in exceptional circumstances. Not due to make his first appearance until a week later, De Tommaso was called in midway through a performance when Bryan Hymel fell ill. De Tommaso’s performance brought the house down as he became not only the first British tenor to sing the role at the historic venue in 60 years but also the youngest ever. What was called a “historic moment” by The Times was followed by glowing reviews from the critics, with The Mail on Sunday writing, “A star is born. I don’t think anyone who joined in the ovation for 28-year-old Freddie De Tommaso from Tunbridge Wells… could be in any doubt that we were in at the birth of a great career.”