Rosario La Spina trained at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music continuing his studies at RNCM, Manchester under the tutelage of Joseph Ward OBE. During this period, he made guest appearances as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Bern Stadttheater and as a soloist in operatic galas with the Ulster Orchestra, Belfast and the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Egypt.
Having gained first prize in the tenor competition held by L'Accademia di La Scala in 2000, Rosario embarked on the two-year Young Singers’ Course at La Scala, Milan, where he studied with Luciana Serra and Leyla Gencer. This culminated in his La Scala debut as the Messenger in Samson and Delilah, where he appeared with Placido Domingo and Olga Borodina. In 2002, Rosario won first prize in the Mario Del Monaco International Opera Competition and made his principal role debut at La Scala as Riccardo (Oberto) reprising the role in Genova.
2003 saw his debut at the Verdi Festival at the Teatro Regio di Parma as Arvino (I Lombardi) – he also covered the role of Manrico (Il Trovatore) for Welsh National Opera and performed Alfredo (La Traviata) in Modena and Luigi (Il Tabarro) in Osaka, Japan.
In 2004, Rosario sang The Duke (Rigoletto) for New Zealand Opera, Cavaradossi (Tosca) under Richard Hickox at the Endellion Festival, Canio (Pagliacci) with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan and toured Spain in concert with the Parma Ensemble. He made his Opera Australia debut as Cavaradossi in 2005 and has subsequently appeared as The Prince (Love for Three Oranges), Alfredo, Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), The Prince (Rusalka), Calaf (Turandot), Rodolfo (La bohème) and the title role of The Tales of Hoffmann. Other recent operatic engagements have included Alfredo for West Australian Opera and, in 2007, his American debut as Rodolfo for Seattle Opera.
Rosario has also been a regular guest soloist with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and The Queensland Orchestra and appears on the CD/DVD Classical Spectacular with the MSO (ABC Classics). In 2008, he sang Pinkerton in Melbourne, Don José (Carmen) in Sydney and Melbourne and returned to Seattle as Radames (Aida). In 2009, he sings Pinkerton in Sydney, Hoffmann in Adelaide, Radames in Sydney and Melbourne and Verdi’s Requiem in Brisbane and Adelaide.
Recent recordings include Puccini Romance (with soprano Antoinette Halloran and The Queensland Orchestra) for ABC Classics. A major solo album will be released in 2009 by Universal Music featuring Rosario with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo.
Patrick Togher Artists' Management 2009
