Acclaimed as one of the greatest singers of the current world opera scene, Michele Pertusi was born in Parma, where he studied singing and piano at the “A. Boito". He continued his singing studies with Arrigo Pola and Carlo Bergonzi and completed his training with Rodolfo Celletti.

In 1995 he was awarded the “Franco Abbiati” prize by Italian music critics. In February 2006 he won the prestigious Grammy Award for the recording of Falstaff, in which he played the title role conducted by Sir Colin Davis (LSO Live). For the recording of Il Turco in Italia conducted by Riccardo Chailly (Decca) he was awarded the Grammophone Award.

He also received the Gold Medal for Cultural Merit from the President of the Italian Republic.

He recently received the “Rodolfo Celletti” award at the 2018 Itria Valley Festival in Martina Franca.

He has collaborated with internationally renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Zubin Metha, Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, Kazushi Ono, Myung-Whun Chung and Antonio Pappano, treading the most important stages in the world, regular guest of the most prestigious opera houses, festivals and concert halls.

In recent years Michele Pertusi has established himself as a leading interpreter of the Verdi repertoire, with roles such as Filippo II in Don Carlo (Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid, Verdi Festival, La Scala), Attila (La Scala, La Fenice, Verdi Festival, Liège), Pagano in I Lombardi alla prima crociata (Verdi Festival, Monte Carlo), Sparafucile in Rigoletto (Vienna), Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra (Vienna, Turin, Bologna, Parma), Count Walter in Luisa Miller (Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Rome), Da Silva in Ernani (La Scala, Palermo, Venice), Massimiliano in I masnadieri (Palau de les Arts Valencia, La Scala), Zaccaria in Nabucco (Verdi Festival, Arena di Verona), Banco in Macbeth (Verdi Festival), Procida in Les vêpres siciliennes (Rome Opera), Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino (Liège), Ramfis in in Aida (Verona), in addition to the Requiem Mass conducted by, among others, Riccardo Chailly, Zubin Metha, Myung-Whun Chung.

A refined Rossini interpreter, Michele Pertusi has been acclaimed as a winner several times at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where he made his debut in 1992 as Assur in Semiramide, returning in the following seasons as Moïse et
Pharaoh, Mahomet II, Guillaume Tell, The Journey to Reims, The Siege of Corinth, Torvaldo and Dorliska, The Thieving Magpie and The Barber of Seville. For his numerous successes, the Rossini Opera Festival awarded him the “Rossini d'oro”.

His rich discography includes, among other titles, Messa Solenne, Stabat Mater, Cantata for Pius IX, Cenerentola and Il turco in Italia (conducted by Riccardo Chailly), Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte with Georg Solti (Decca), Le nozze di Figaro with Zubin Mehta (Sony), Semiramide and Maometto II (Ricordi), Don Giovanni with Daniel Barenboim (Erato), La damnation
of Faust and Falstaff with Colin Davis (LSO).

Recent engagements: Petite Messe Solennelle at the Teatro alla Scala; Simon Boccanegra at the Rome Opera with Michele Mariotti; Mosè in Egitto in Modena and Piacenza; Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Macbeth (in French) at the Verdi Festival in Parma; Turandot at the Teatro La Fenice; The Barber of Seville at the Rossini Opera Festival; Stabat Mater by
Rossini at the Radio France Festival; Turandot in Brussels; Verdi's Messa da Requiem at the Salzburg Easter Festival with Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia; Don Pasquale in Hamburg, Tokyo and at the Vienna State Opera; William Tell with Michele Mariotti and Don Carlo with Riccardo Chailly at the Teatro alla Scala; Nabucco at the Verona Arena.

Future projects: Verdi's Requiem Mass with the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; La forza del destino at the Opéra de Lyon and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence; Attila at the Teatro La Fenice; Norma at the Teatro alla Scala; Turandot at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago; recital at the Rossini Opera Festival; La forza del destino at the Opernhaus in Zurich with Gianandrea Noseda; Nabucco at the San Carlo in Naples; Lucia di Lammermoor at the Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse.