Fabio Armiliato is an operatic tenor whose respectable career has been somewhat overshadowed by an accidental on-stage shooting. Since then he has been an advocate for increased safety in the theater. Armiliato was nearly 30 when he took on his debut role of Licinius in a 1986 production of La Vestale. Since then he has developed an international reputation, winning both the Gigli D'oro and the Galliano Masini Prize in 1999, and taking on a number of difficult Verdi roles. A native of Genoa, he was a student of that city's Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini. Armiliato has put out several CDs, including Ten Years on Stage, which features live performances, and a complete recording of Pietro Mascagni's Amica. The operas of Puccini and Verdi dominate his repertoire, although he has also been praised for his portrayal of Andrea Chénier. The accident that so shaped his career occurred during a 1995 production of Puccini's Tosca. The tragic final scene begins with Cavaradossi's (Armeliato's character) supposedly fake, but actually real execution; in this case the irony was complete. Armeliato received at least three gunshot wounds to the legs and feet, one of which broke a bone. He has suffered somewhat from critics who claim he used the accident for publicity, and he began to refuse interviews on the subject. However, increased safety during fight scenes has remained a prime concern for the tenor.
