Tenor, Artistic director, Photographer

After his debut in Rome in 1985 as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Luca Canonici pursued a successful international opera career which has led him into some of the most prestigious theatres around the world, such as Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House-Covent Garden of London, Staatsoper of Wien, Teatro Comunale of Florence, Opernhaus of Zurich, Bayerische Staatsoper of Munich, Teatro la Fenice of Venice, Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Teatro Regio of Parma, Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro, Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Teatro Massimo of Palermo. Canonici has also worked, among others, with orchestra directors like Bartoletti, Campanella, Chailly, Gardiner, Kuhn, Muti, Oren, Pidò, Renzetti, Sanzogno, Solti and Zedda.

His opera performances range from Mozart to Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, with variations in the French and Russian melodrama. It deserves to be cited his presence in the world of operetta (Lehar, Offenbach) and his contribution to the circulation of the contemporary repertoire with numerous world and national premieres.

In 1987 he was the main protagonist, replacing Josè Carreras, in the movie La bohème directed by Luigi Comencini. In 2012 he played the role of Mr Grey in the movie P.O.E. Poetry of Erie directed by various artists.

His extensive discography lists titles such as La sonnambula (Nuova Era), Il signor Bruschino (Claves), Don Pasquale (Erato), La grande notte di Verona, La favorita and La cambiale di matrimonio (Ricordi), Linda di Chamounix (Europa Records), Falstaff with Georg Solti (Decca), Messa da requiem with John Eliot Gardiner (Philips).

As a teacher, he has collaborated with the Conservatory of Pescara and Conservatory of Reggio Emilia; he is currently teaching at the Accademia Rossiniana of Pesaro.

On several occasions he has been invited to sing in Nervi Hall in St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, at the presence of the Pope.
He has also worked on a book about Rome edited by Treccani.

Since 2008, he has been the Artistic Director of Opera Festival, a cultural project whose aim is to promote the arts of Music, Theatre and Ballet in the most evocative places of Florence and Tuscany.

From 2010 Canonici holds the position of Director of the Religious Art Museum of Montevarchi, his hometown, curating exhibitions, meetings and publications such as Giovanni Martinelli, I Medici a Montevarchi, La Collegiata di San Lorenzo. In 2017, in collaboration with the Administration of Montevarchi, he founds and runs the Festival Arti e Varchi where opera, photography, exhibitions and book launches are the main protagonists.