Neil Shicoff

Tenor

Born 1949, in New York. Studied at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. His early musical education with his father, the cantor Sidney Shicoff, was also of great importance.

Neil Shicoff’s professional career began in 1975, when the conductor James Levine invited the young tenor to stand in for Richard Tucker in the role of Ernani at the Cincinnati Opera House. A year later, at the age of 27, Shicoff was picked up by the Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut as Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Other roles he sang at the Metropolitan included Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto, the title roles in Massenet’s Werther and Gounod’s Faust, and Hoffmann in Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann. In the same year in Munich Shicoff sang the part of Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur. In 1978 he performed the part of Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Covent Garden, and in 1986 made his La Scala debut as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. In the course of his brilliant career Neil Shicoff has appeared in the world’s most celebrated opera houses and has worked with renowned conductors. Other parts he has sung include Peter Grimes, Don Carlos, Alfred, Jose, Edgar, Cavaradossi and Macduff.

One of Shicoff’s favourite parts is that of Eleazar in Halйvy’s La Juive. In 2010 he made his Russian debut in that role at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. In 2011 Neil Shicoff won the Golden Mask, Russia’s highest theatre award, for ‘Best Male Role in a Musical Production’ for his performance as Eleazar in the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s La Juive.

www.shicoff.com