Born in Milan in 1969, Franco Vassallo began his study of singing under the guidance of the baritone Carlo Meliciani, with whom he still continues his training. In 1994, he won the International As.Li.Co. Competition in Milan and made his first appearance at the Teatro Coccia in Novara, as well as at the traditional opera houses of the Lombardy Circuit in the roles of Rabbi David in Amico Fritz and Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore. In the same year, he first appeared in the part of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Pala Fenice in Venice and then in the role of Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor.
In recent seasons of particular importance, he made his first appearance as Count di Luna in Il Trovatore at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, a part subsequently performed again at the Teatro Regio in Parma, as well as first appearing at the Staatsoper of Vienna with Lucia di Lammermoor and at the Opernhaus in Zurich with Don Carlo. Among his latest performances, he distinguished himself in Giovanna d’Arco at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, in I Vespri Siciliani in Bilbao, in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at both the Teatro alla Scala and the Wiener Staatsoper and in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He was also in new productions of Lucia di Lammermoor, Ernani and Madama Butterfly, all at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He returned to the Opernhaus in Zurich for the productions of Axur Rè d’Ormus and Lucia di Lammermoor and then took part in Aroldo, in both Piacenza and Ravenna, with the Arturo Toscanini Foundation, in Don Carlo for the Philadelphia Opera Company and in La Bohème at the San Carlo in Naples. In the season 2005/06, notable performances were in I Puritani in Berlin and at the Staatsoper, Vienna (where he also performed La Favorita), in Un Ballo in Maschera in Lipsia and in La Traviata in Trieste (conducted by Daniel Oren), the latter gaining him particular personal success. He began the season 2006/07, singing in I Puritani at the Metropolitan in New York, as well as in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and La Traviata at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.
In 1997, he won the Budapest Competition, organised in collaboration with the Arena di Verona, as a result of which he made a first appearance in the role of Ford in Falstaff with Renato Bruson at the Teatro Filamonico in Verona.
In July 2008 he debuted at Covent Garden in La Bohème, in 2009 he made his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg in Attila and in Carmen at Arena in Verona.
In 2010 he will be the protagonist of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan and at the Metropolitan of New York.