MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to Italian opera director Giancarlo del Monaco, the son of renowned opera tenor Mario del Monaco, according to a presidential decree published on the official legal information website.

Del Monaco was born in Venice in 1943. In 1991, he made his directorial debut at the Metropolitan Opera with Giacomo Puccini's "The Girl of the West." Over the course of his career, he has directed more than 100 operas in major theaters around the world.

In addition, Giancarlo del Monaco is the stage director and set designer of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Rigoletto," which premiered this November at the Bolshoi Theater.