Antonio Abete devotes himself to Baroque repertoire cooperating with conductors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Giovanni Antonini, Ivor Bolton, Fabio Biondi, Filippo Maria Bressan, William Christie, Christophe Coin, Attilio Cremonesi, Alan Curtis, Alessandro De Marchi, Diego Fasolis, Gabriel Garrido, Thomas Hengelbrock, Christopher Hogwood, René Jacobs, Konrad Junghänel, Eduardo Lopez Banzo, J.C.Malgoire, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Trevor Pinnock, Jordi Savall, Sigiswald Kuijken, and with ensembles and orchestras like Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester, Il Concerto Italiano, Il Giardino Armonico, Hesperion XXI, Les Arts Florissants, Concerto Vocale, Academia Montis Regalis, La Capella Reial de Catalunya.
Among the Baroque and operatic repertoire he sang: Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria with Ivor Bolton at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munchen; L’Orfeo and Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria at Teatro Massimo di Palermo with Gabriel Garrido; La clemenza di Tito with Christopher Hogwood at Auditorium de Barcelona; Haydn’s Orfeo ed Euridice with Cecilia Bartoli at Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris with Hogwood; Tamerlano by Händel under Trevor Pinnock at Halle, Paris and London, with Cd and Dvd recording; Il Sansone by Benedetto Ferrari at Berkeley Early Music Festival in San Francisco with Alan Curtis; Serse by Handel at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris with William Christie.
He has sung in several productions with René Jacobs: L’Euridice by Peri at Staatsoper in Berlin, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at Maggio Musicale in Florence, La Calisto by Cavalli at Osterfestspiele in Salzburg, L’incoronazione di Poppea/Seneca at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, at Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin and at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Bruxelles, where he also sang Agrippina by Händel.
He often cooperated also with Jordi Savall: Vespro della Beata Vergine by Monteverdi at Cité de la Musique in Paris, Bach’s Mass in B minor at Wiener Konzerthaus and Osterfestspiele in Salzburg, Requiem and Missa Bruxellensis by Biber, Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi by Monteverdi and Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo by Cavalieri.
He also sang in Copenhagen Danish Opera L’incoronazione di Poppea / Seneca with Lars Ulrik Mortensen and David McVicar; he performed Uberto in La serva padrona in an European tour with Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini.
With Freiburger Barockorchester he has sung La Senna festeggiante / La Senna by Vivaldi with Ivor Bolton, and La Scala di seta / Blansac with Attilio Cremonesi, with whom he also sang Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria in Geneva Grand Théâtre and Varo in Ezio by Händel with Kammerorchester Basel at Festival Radio France in Montpellier, Herne, Theater an der Wien and in Paris Elysées.
Mr.Abete has a wide concert and oratorio repertoire: from Monteverdi (Vespro della Beata Vergine), J.S. Bach (Johannes Passion, Mass in B minor, Magnificat), Handel (Messiah), Haydn (Nelson Messe), J.Fux (Te Deum) and Mozart Requiem, up to Stravinsky (Les Noces, Pulcinella) and Honneger Jeanne d’Arch au bûcher.
He sang with Maurizio Pollini in his “Monteverdi Project” at the Salzburger Festspiele, Carnegie Hall in New York, Kioi Hall in Tokyo and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Mr Abete sang the role of Bartolo / Le Nozze di Figaro in many theaters such as at Opera de Lyon with William Christie, in Paris Théatre des Champs Elysées with Marc Minkowski production of Jean-Louis Martinoty, at Zurich Opera with Franz Welser-Möst.
Among recent productions: Arianna in Creta by Händel with Christopher Hogwood and Academy of Ancient Music in London Barbican Centre, Aci, Galatea e Polifemo by Händel at Teatro Regio in Torino, with DVD recording for Dynamic; Così fan tutte / Don Alfonso with Franz Welser-Möst in Cleveland. He returned to Teatro Real in Madrid, after the production of L’Orfeo/Plutone, for L’Incoronazione di Poppea / Seneca with William Christie and Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Among his latest engagements: Agrippina by Händel / Claudio with Fabio Biondi at Krakow Festival and Händel Festival in Halle; Flavius Bertaridus / Romualdos by Telemann and Vespri Carmelitani by Händel (recorded for Sony Harmonia Mundi) with Alessandro De Marchi at Festwochen der Alten Musik in Innsbruck and at Hamburgische Staatsoper, Händel’s Messiah under Daniele Rustioni at Teatro Filarmonico/Arena di Verona.
Between his latest engagements Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria at the Lincoln Center in New York and Alcyone by Marais at the Opéra Comique in Paris conducted by Jordi Savall, with several next revivals in Versailles, Caen, Barcelona.
Antonio Abete has a rich recording production to his credit, from Monteverdi up to Verdi (Alia Vox, Astrée Auvidis, Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classics, Naïve) and he has won the Gramophone Award 1999 (best baroque vocal).