Who is Benjamin Del Borrello?
Benjamin Del Borrello is a West Australian baritone. Being part of an Italian family with all of my Nonni coming from the Abruzzo Region of Italy, my life has revolved around a few important things, mostly good food and music. I still have vivid memories of my bisnonno (Great Grandfather) and his friends playing traditional Abruzzese folk songs on his fisarmonica (piano accordion).
Loving family and food, I have a strong passion for cooking. I love roasting and braising large joints to feed a crowd, and since my sister and her first baby, Francesca have moved back to WA, there is all the more reason to be cooking! I also love to make Neapolitan Style Pizza, the one with the big, puffy, airy crust. Maybe it’s a phase, but I now know too much about dough hydration to bow out.
What would you do differently from what you do now?
If I lost my voice tomorrow, I think I would very likely end up in some part of the hospitality business. Being part of a great-big Italian family, I’m acquainted with a few of Perth’s restaurant and hospitality families, so I know the industry quite well. My love of food and sharing it with the people I love is extremely important to me.
Just like opera, Italian regional cuisine has a deeply rooted cultural importance. It carries the stories and hardships of each region, but is also something that can be enjoyed by all, without knowing the story behind it. You don’t have to know why the three colours on the Pizza Margherita are the colours of the Italian flag, to know that it’s delicious. Just like you don’t have to speak Italian or understand music at all to know that “Vincerò!” means “I will win!”
Who inspires you and why?
I have been very lucky, early in my career, to have met and worked with some incredibly inspiring people. Of course, there are great singers from the first half of the 20th century, whose opera recordings I love and aspire to, but the two people that inspire me most are my Nonni. Antonietta Dicembre and Nicola Del Borrello. They migrated to Australia in the 50’s.
Hearing the stories of their lives as children in the rural countryside of Vasto in Chieti, working for Landlords who left little for their large families to live off. Their parents often going hungry to allow their children to eat. And finally, at the mature age of 18, deciding to get on a boat for 30 days, to go halfway around the world with little to no idea where they were going.
This story is not unique to my grandparents, hundreds of thousands of Europeans uprooted their lives around this time. Many of them ended up in Australia, often in a completely different place than they intended. Many wished to go to Sydney and landed in Perth or Brisbane, but with no quick way of contacting the relatives or friends they were supposed to meet, they simply stayed. The attitude of my Nonni to life, is the part that inspires me most.
They have only ever strived to have enough. And by doing so they ended up with so much more than that. A beautiful home, a market garden, Four ambitious children, six loving grandchildren and two beautiful great-grandchildren… so far.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
As an opera singer, we walk out onto a stage in front of any number of people, but that is where the performing aspect of the job ends. From there you are not simply telling a story. You are living the opera. The artform tackles extremely vast emotions at the highest level of intensity.
The singer cannot possibly be convincing in this work if they are doing anything less than living these emotions themself. Every note is affected; every move is real and out of necessity. Exaggerated, to be read by an audience sometimes more than 70 meters away. But real. As an audience member watching the lives of these real people play out, in raw, painful and tragic ways, we cannot help it but be moved.
Tenor, Michael Fabiano says “The unamplified voice is the greatest anti-depressant because when the raw voice hits the bones of the body it creates frequency and vibration inside of all of us that synthetic amplification can’t do… They’re hearing something real. When we listen through speakers, we hear music and we hear the voice but it’s not raw. It’s not in its most carnal first primal effect.”
Favourite holiday destination and why?
Although I love Berlin, Venice, Florence, Munich, Salzburg and so many more ancient and gorgeous European cities, many of which I hope to live in one day, my favourite holiday destination is a little closer to home. Exmouth, WA is the place that I would choose to spend my summer holidays. Sure, it can be a bit windy at that time of year, but the good days more than make up for it.
It is so precious to sit on the sand in complete darkness and watch the giant turtles coming up on the beach to nest their eggs. Exmouth feels a million miles away and with it, all of the stresses of life. For me, travelling overseas gives me so much perspective which I value personally and professionally, but if I wanna sit by the pool sippin’ on espresso martinis, Exmouth is the place to be!
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
When friends come to town there are a couple of mandatory stops around Perth. First up is always Testùn Bar in Mt Lawley for a stunning Neo-Italo meal. The chef’s menu changes at least once a week so there is always something new and the hospitality provided by the team is like you don’t find every day.
Next stop, very likely Varnish on King. Open late and around the corner from His Majesty’s Theatre, it is a great place to decompress after rehearsals and performances. If we’ve got a little more time, I feel like it is customary to visit the Margaret River Region and engage in a whole-day wine tour. 2-3 Nights, bliss!
What are you currently reading?
I am currently spending most of my time deep diving into the world of Giuseppe Verdi’s Masterpiece, La Traviata. Sarah Giles’ highly acclaimed production will be returning to West Australian Opera in March and I will be playing the role of The Marquis D’Obigny, one of Violetta’s many friends. I’ve been reading the Dumas play, along with articles and biographies of the great composer that Italy loves so much.
Every nugget of information and every anecdote of a famous singer or production, spurs me on to find out more. There is a reason La Traviata is among a few operas that have been continuously performed for over 170 years, and reading, watching and listening to all of the art and content that exists as a result of that reveals why. I am very lucky to be able to say that Opera is my true passion as well as my job and I am thankful for that every day.
What are you currently listening to?
I’ll be honest. I listen almost exclusively to opera. Right now, there are a few on my playlist, some are mainstays, some because they are coming up, and some because I hope they are coming up soon! When I am not absorbing the great 1958 Callas Lisbon Traviata (namesake of the Terrence McNally Play), I’m listening to: Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Francesca da Rimini by Riccardo Zandonai, Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, Le Nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart, Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi and many more. And maybe I’ll listen to Lainey Wilson at the gym…
Happiness is?
Happiness is singing, cooking, and playing peek-a-boo with my niece. For me, right now, that is happiness.
What does the future hold for you?
I try not to plan too far ahead. Things don’t really seem to turn out the way you had imagined them, and in 2026 I am really embracing that. Between La Traviata with West Australian Opera; a few concerts; something else – still unannounced – in the middle of the year; and returning to Perth in September – October to debut Mercutio in Romèo et Juliette with West Australian Opera, my year is looking pretty full! Just the way I like it! And I am really looking forward to it. These are all pieces that I have seen when I was younger and dreamed of one day being involved in, so to be playing so many new roles in one year is a challenge I feel ready to take on.
Benjamin can be seen as the Marquis D’Obigny in West Australian Opera’s production of La Traviata at His Majesty’s Theatre from 14 – 28 March; before playing Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette at His Majesty’s Theatre from 15 – 24 October 2026.
Image: Benjamin Del Borrello – photo by Alana Blowfield