Marcelo Álvarez
Encyclopedia
Voice type
A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...
who achieved international success starting in the mid-1990s.
Álvarez travels widely, performing with top singers in major opera houses and concert halls around the world. Since the beginning of his career in 1994, he has maintained an active touring schedule and debuted in 29 roles. In addition to his opera and solo recordings, he has made an album honoring the popular songs of Latin American tango legend Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
, as well as an album of classical duets with Salvatore Licitra
Salvatore Licitra
-Early life and debuts:Born in Bern, Switzerland, to Sicilian parents, Licitra grew up in Milan. He fell into opera by accident. As many tenors before him, he was not altogether confident about his vocal capabilities and started working as a graphic artist for Italian Vogue...
. He has won notable awards for vocal performance and is considered one of the top tenors of his generation, receiving high acclaim for his passionate yet refined delivery in bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
roles, French opera
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
, and as of 2006, more dramatic lirico pieno (full lyric) and spinto
Spinto
Spinto is a vocal term used to characterize a soprano or tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic that is capable of handling large musical climaxes in opera at moderate intervals...
roles.
He lives with his wife and son near Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy.
Early years
As a boy of five, he was enrolled in La Escuela de Niños Cantores de Córdoba where he studied music until age 17 and received his diploma in music education. In spite of this musical background, he went on to study economics at university, and for 12 years the study of music was completely out of his life. After his university studies, he became a manager of his family's furniture factory in CórdobaCórdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
.
Early career
Álvarez always liked singing and often imitated popular singers’ voices for the enjoyment of his friends, even winning them free drinks in pubs. He was 30 years old when his wife suggested that he sing opera. At the time, he did not know much about opera at all, but in 1992 he started commuting to Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
for voice lessons with Norma Risso. It was a 12-hour trip by bus, but he was determined. Ms. Risso was so impressed with her student that she told him that within five years he would be singing all over the world, a prediction that proved accurate.
He had several unsuccessful auditions at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. By fortunate coincidence, the legendary tenor Giuseppe di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was known as the "Golden voice" or "The most beautiful voice", as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli...
heard him at one of those auditions and urged him to go to Italy. "You have good instincts; you remind me of myself when I was a young man", di Stefano told him. Turning to the other people present, di Stefano commented, "this young man sings with his heart, he will have a great career!"
During this time, Álvarez had some performances in small houses in Argentina. His first stage role was as a late-replacement Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia in Córdoba in June 1994. He then performed in Federico Moreno Torroba
Federico Moreno Torroba
Federico Moreno Torroba was a Spanish composer, born in Madrid.-Biography:Moreno Torroba is often associated with the zarzuela, a traditional Spanish musical form. Directing several opera companies, Moreno Torroba helped introduce the zarzuela to international audiences...
's zarzuela Luisa Fernanda
Luisa Fernanda (zarzuela)
Luisa Fernanda is a romantic zarzuela in three acts by Federico Moreno Torroba. The libretto is written in Spanish by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández Shaw. The first performance of Luisa Fernanda took place at Teatro Calderón in Madrid on March 26, 1932...
with Ismael Pons at the Teatro Avenida in Buenos Aires, a venue that features mostly that uniquely Spanish form of musical theater. Ismael Pons invited him to perform another zarzuela, Marina (zarzuela), in Menorca, Spain the next year and recommended him to Spanish baritone Juan Pons
Juan Pons
Joan Pons Álvarez , is a Spanish dramatic baritone, known internationally as Juan Pons.-Career:With his outstandingly successful international début in 1980 at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan with Falstaff, staged by Giorgio Strehler and conducted by Lorin Maazel, Juan Pons has revealed himself as...
In the 1980s and ‘90s, world famous Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
held worldwide talent auditions in his Pavarotti International Voice Competition. When he came to Buenos Aires and heard Álvarez audition in 1994, he immediately invited him to Philadelphia for the finals of the competition the following year.
While still in Argentina, Álvarez starred in Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
at the Teatro Roma in Buenos Aires (December 1994). These early performances enabled him to cultivate his voice and acting skills, and with the confidence he gained from those beginning experiences and the enthusiastic encouragement from di Stefano and Pavarotti, he and his wife decided to sell everything they owned and move to Europe to expand his opportunities for a career as an opera singer.
Álvarez came to Europe in 1995 and was quickly involved in a whirlwind of activity. He went to Spain and performed the zarzuela Marina and then moved to Milan in July. A mere seven days after his arrival in Italy, Álvarez won a voice competition in Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, and within a month he had landed contracts with the Teatro La Fenice in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and the Teatro Carlo Felice
Teatro Carlo Felice
The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....
in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. His La Fenice debut was in September of that year. The management gave him his choice of what he would like to perform for his role and house debut and he selected the challenging role of Elvino in Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
. Following this highly praised debut, he received offers from opera houses throughout Europe to perform six new roles, all of which he debuted in 1997. In addition, Italian mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
Franca Mattiucci
Franca Mattiucci
Franca Mattiucci is an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international career from 1963-1987. In her native country she made appearances at the Arena di Verona Festival, the Baths of Caracalla, La Fenice, La Scala, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro della Pergola, the Teatro...
was his artistic advisor during this time.
Professional Career, 1995–1999
As a result of his rising popularity and enthusiastic critical praise, Álvarez was engaged to appear at high-visibility venues throughout the world from the very start of his career. He debuted in a demanding number of new roles in Italian bel canto and French operas, completing ten role debuts during the first five years of his career and marking his rapid ascent onto the international scene. Alfredo in La traviataLa traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
and The Duke in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
became his signature roles for this time period, with 150 performances of each of them.
In 1996 he was understudy for the role of Alfredo in Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's La traviata in Genoa. On opening night Álvarez was in the auditorium to watch the performance when he was told the tenor was ill and he had to go on immediately to replace him. This role debut paired him with the much-admired Italian soprano Mariella Devia
Mariella Devia
Mariella Devia is an Italian soprano, well known for performing many roles in the bel canto repertoire.Born in Chiusavecchia, Devia trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Iolanda Magnoni...
. Within the next three years he sang his Alfredo in houses all around the world, from Hamburg to London, Tokyo, and Vienna. At the end of 1998, his house debut at the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York was in a new Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
production of La traviata, alongside American soprano Patricia Racette
Patricia Racette
Patricia Lynn Racette is an American operatic soprano. A winner of the Richard Tucker Award in 1998, she has been a regular presence at major opera houses internationally. Racette has enjoyed long-term partnerships with the San Francisco Opera, where she has been a regular performer since 1989,...
. He also performed La traviata with Ruth Ann Swenson
Ruth Ann Swenson
Ruth Ann Swenson is an American soprano who is renowned for her brilliance in coloratura roles.Born in Bronxville, New York and raised in Commack, New York on Long Island, Swenson studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and briefly at Hartt College of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut...
at the Théâtre antique d'Orange
Théâtre antique d'Orange
The Théâtre antique d'Orange is an ancient Roman theatre, in Orange, southern France, built early in the 1st century CE...
in Orange, France and with Christina Gallardo-Domas at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
in 1999.
He was a last minute replacement for Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
in the role of Arturo in Bellini's I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Italy, in February 1997. His big break came in the spring of 1997 in Genoa when he stepped in for Kraus again, this time in the lead role in Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
. The entire Italian press covered this premiere and raved about the new tenor. He got the attention of Sony Classical and they signed him to an exclusive recording contract, producing six CDs in six years.
He sang his first performance as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Italy (role and house debut) in 1997. Multiple productions of Rigoletto followed over the next three years in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, Buenos Aires, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(a June 1999 performance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
that was televised live throughout Europe), New York, and Paris.
In 1997, London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
(sometimes referred to as Covent Garden, due to its location) was refurbished and performances were held at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
during construction. As a result, Álvarez made his London debut in a concert of Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
at the Royal Albert Hall in November of that year. His "debut proper" at the Royal Opera House of London was in September, 2000 in Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's Les contes d'Hoffmann. Álvarez performs in London often and has remarked that the city holds a special place in his heart because, "that is the first place that audiences shouted out my name."
Álvarez traveled to Buenos Aires in the spring of 1999 for production of the award-winning documentary film, Marcelo Álvarez In Search of Gardel. The film chronicles the making of Álvarez's CD, Marcelo Álvarez Sings Gardel, which offers a modern audience the most famous tangos, while honoring the spirit and style of legendary tanguero Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
. The songs on this album, originally recorded by Gardel before his early death in 1935, are among the oldest tangos and have a classical foundation, having been inspired by the music of Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
and Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
.
2000–2011
The second decade of Álvarez's career saw continued upward momentum, both in the number of new roles added and in the types of projects in which he engaged. The majority of his professional recordings were made during this time and he continued in his demanding live performance schedule.He debuted as Werther in Massenet's Werther in 1997, and then performed that role in a total of eight opera houses, including London, Vienna, and Munich, over the next nine years. Another role that he performed widely was Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, appearing in ten opera houses in just six years. Major houses for this role included the Met, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, the Zurich Opera House
Zurich Opera House
Opernhaus Zürich is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. It has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891.- History :...
, and the National Theatre Munich.
In January 2001, Álvarez sang his first American recital at the Folly Theater in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series which is noteworthy for introducing new singing talent to North America. Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti made his professional recital debut on the Series in 1973, followed by other notable singers making their U.S. recital debuts over the years, including Mexican Francisco Araiza
Francisco Araiza
Francisco Araiza , is a Mexican operatic tenor. As one of the leading tenors of his generation he was named Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper in 1988 and has been a permanent member of the Opernhaus Zürich since 1977....
(1982), Canadian Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek...
(1997), Peruvian Juan Diego Flórez
Juan Diego Flórez
Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....
(2002), and Italian Salvatore Licitra
Salvatore Licitra
-Early life and debuts:Born in Bern, Switzerland, to Sicilian parents, Licitra grew up in Milan. He fell into opera by accident. As many tenors before him, he was not altogether confident about his vocal capabilities and started working as a graphic artist for Italian Vogue...
(2005).
In the autumn of 2001, Álvarez portrayed the Duke in Scottish director David McVicar
David McVicar
David McVicar is a Scottish opera and theatre director. He attended Netherlee Primary School and then Williamwood High School. He studied as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1989...
's new controversial production of Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House in London with Italian baritone Paolo Gavanelli and German soprano Christine Schäfer
Christine Schäfer
Christine Schäfer is a German soprano. She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. She also took masterclasses with Arleen Augér and Sena Jurinac.After finishing her studies in 1992,...
. He performed in another McVicar production in 2009, this time in Verdi's Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
at the Met with Sondra Radvanovsky
Sondra Radvanovsky
Sondra Radvanovsky is an American soprano. Sondra was born in Berwyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on April 11, 1969. She lived and attended high school in Richmond, Indiana, a small city which, despite its size, had its own opera company...
, Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky , is a leading baritone opera singer from Russia.Hvorostovsky was born in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. He studied at the Krasnoyarsk School of Arts under Yekatherina Yofel and made his debut at Krasnoyarsk Opera House, in the role of Marullo in Rigoletto...
and Dolora Zajick
Dolora Zajick
Dolora Zajick is an American mezzo-soprano who specializes in the Verdian repertoire. Zajick is arguably the leading exponent in the dramatic Verdian mezzo-soprano repertoire....
.
Álvarez made his house debut at Milan's Teatro alla Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in a 1998 production of Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
with American soprano Laura Claycomb
Laura Claycomb
Laura Claycomb is an American lyric coloratura soprano opera singer.-Background:Laura Claycomb grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she excelled in church and school choir, winning numerous youthful competitions She won a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University, where she completed two...
, who was also making her La Scala debut. In January 2002, he sang Alfredo in La traviata with Inva Mula
Inva Mula
Inva Mula is an Albanian opera soprano and actress. She began her soprano career at a very early age. Her father and mother were also opera singers. -Life and Career:...
in the inaugural performance of the new Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Teatro degli Arcimboldi
The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is a theatre and opera house in Milan which was built over a twenty-seven month period in anticipation of the closure and subsequent nearly three-year long renovation of Milan's La Scala opera house in December 2001...
in Milan, which was the temporary home for La Scala until 2004. He had additional performances at the Arcimboldi in 2002 and 2003 in role debuts of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia and Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. That production of La bohème with Cristina Gallardo-Domas
Cristina Gallardo-Domâs
Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is a soprano, born in Santiago, Chile, who frequently performs in operas by Puccini.Gallardo-Domâs made her debut as Madama Butterfly in 1990 at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago and, three years later, began performing in opera houses in Europe, making her La Scala debut in...
was by Franco Zeffirelli and had originally been created for Luciano Pavarotti.
In June 2003, Álvarez and Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra released Duetto, a collection of romantic ballads based on opera arias and other classical melodies, some of which were composed specifically for them to sing. They gave a concert of selections from Duetto at the Roman Colosseum
Colosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
, which was broadcast in the U.S. on PBS public television. Later that summer, Álvarez and Licitra went to New York and gave a concert-in-the-park of Duetto selections in New York's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, to an audience of over 50,000 people.
Álvarez has performed with some of the world's most celebrated sopranos. In addition to those already mentioned, he performed opposite American soprano Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also...
in 2001 in Massenet's Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
at the L’Opéra de la Bastille
Opéra Bastille
L'Opéra Bastille ' is a modern opera house in Paris, France. It is the home base of the Opéra national de Paris and was designed to replace the Palais Garnier, which is nowadays mainly used for ballet performances....
in Paris and at the Met in 2005. In 2002, he sang in Lucie de Lammermoor with Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi
Patrizia Ciofi
Patrizia Ciofi, born in Casole d'Elsa, Siena, on June 7, 1967, is an Italian operatic soprano. She is married to the conductor Luciano Acocella....
at the Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
in Paris, a French version that Donizetti created especially for Paris audiences. And in 2003, he performed with highly-regarded Slovak soprano Edita Gruberova
Edita Gruberová
Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...
in Munich in Lucia di Lammermoor.
2006 marked the beginning of Álvarez's transition into a more dramatic lirico spinto
Spinto
Spinto is a vocal term used to characterize a soprano or tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic that is capable of handling large musical climaxes in opera at moderate intervals...
repertoire and he has had some of his best success with it. He debuted in the role of Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, Italy, a venue that is notoriously critical of tenors. Álvarez happily reports that the audience took home their tomatoes intact, choosing not to throw them at him when he gave a performance that met their high standards. The following month he made his role debut as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
at the Royal Opera House in London, performing with Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States...
and Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
. He continued in the role of Cavaradossi at the Arena di Verona with Fiorenza Cedolins
Fiorenza Cedolins
Fiorenza Cedolins, born in Anduins di Vito d'Asio, a village in Friuli, near Pordenone, is an Italian soprano.Cedolins made her operatic debut in 1992 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana...
and bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi
Ruggero Raimondi
Ruggero Raimondi is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.-Early training and career:Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II...
in a new large-scale production by Argentine director Hugo de Ana.
2008 saw multiple productions of Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
as Álvarez brought his Don José to the Met with Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina
Olga Borodina
Olga Vladimirovna Borodina is a leading dramatic mezzo-soprano, known for her roles in Russian operas at her home company, the Mariinsky Theatre, and for her international performing and recording career in a varied repertoire.Borodina made her debut in Samson and Delilah at the Royal Opera House...
as Carmen; the Royal Opera House in London with Nancy Fabiola Herrera
Nancy Fabiola Herrera
Nancy Fabiola Herrera is a mezzo-soprano opera singer. Born in Venezuela to Canarian parents, Herrera is the recipient of the "Best Zarzuela Singer of 2007" award presented by the Fundación Premios Liricos Teatro Campoamor, for her performance in Ruperto Chapí's La Bruja.In the summer of 2006,...
of Spain; with Russia's Julia Gertseva in Florence at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
, and with France's Béatrice Uria-Monzon in Orange, France. His original debut as Rodolfo in Verdi's Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
was in London in 2003, with further performances over the next five years in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Parma and Valencia, Spain in 2008 with Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou.
Álvarez opened the 2009-2010 season of the Met as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, co-starring with soprano Karita Mattila
Karita Mattila
Karita Marjatta Mattila is a leading opera soprano. She was born in Somero, Finland.Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco...
and baritone George Gagnidze. It was a controversial new production by Swiss director Luc Bondy
Luc Bondy
- Biography :Trained in Paris with the theatre teacher Jacques Lecoq, he received a job in 1969 as an assistant at the Hamburg Thalia Theatre. In a surprise, he took over in 1985 after the resignation of Peter Stein at the Schaubühne in Berlin. He also worked as a producer of both plays and operas...
, replacing Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
's lavish production that the Met had used for 24 years. The premiere performance was broadcast at no charge to over 3,000 people on a giant outdoor screen in Lincoln Center's Josie Robertson Plaza and on multiple screens in New York's Times Square for over 2,000 people. A later performance was broadcast in October as part of the Met's HD series, with distribution throughout the United States and 39 other countries.
In 2011, Álvarez appeared at the Met as Manrico in Il Trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
(also transmitted in HD).
Complete Repertoire
Despite a relatively late start singing opera professionally at age 32, Álvarez has been committed to cultivating his career carefully, both in the types of roles he takes on and the progression of styles in which he engages. He puts a high priority on maintaining the principles of bel canto – a smooth vocal line, volume modulations, and vocal expression of emotions, all while preserving the tonal quality of the voice. He is enthusiastic about taking on challenging new roles and has debuted 29 roles since his professional debut in 1994.| Year of Debut | # | Title | Composer | Role | Other Performers | Opera house | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1 | Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) | Rossini | Count Almaviva | Omar Carrion, Oscar Grassi | Teatro del Libertador San Martin | Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with... |
| 2 | Luisa Fernanda (zarzuela) Luisa Fernanda (zarzuela) Luisa Fernanda is a romantic zarzuela in three acts by Federico Moreno Torroba. The libretto is written in Spanish by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández Shaw. The first performance of Luisa Fernanda took place at Teatro Calderón in Madrid on March 26, 1932... |
Federico Moreno Torroba Federico Moreno Torroba Federico Moreno Torroba was a Spanish composer, born in Madrid.-Biography:Moreno Torroba is often associated with the zarzuela, a traditional Spanish musical form. Directing several opera companies, Moreno Torroba helped introduce the zarzuela to international audiences... |
Javier | Cecilia Diaz, Ismael Pons | Teatro Avenida | Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... |
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| 3 | L'elisir d'amore L'elisir d'amore L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts... (The Elixir of Love) |
Donizetti Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment... |
Nemorino | Silvia Gatti, Omar Carrion, Pedro Alvarez | Teatro Roma | Buenos Aires | |
| 1995 | 4 | Marina (zarzuela) | Emilio Arrieta Emilio Arrieta Pascual Juan Emilio Arrieta Corera was a Spanish composer.Arrieta was born in Puente la Reina, Navarre, and died in Madrid... |
Jorge | Gail Dobish, Ismael Pons | Menorca, Spain | |
| 5 | La sonnambula La sonnambula La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first... (The Sleepwalker) |
Bellini Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani... |
Elvino | Giusy Devinu, Patrizia Biccirè, Francesco Elero d'Artegna | La Fenice La Fenice Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres... |
Venice Venice Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region... |
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| 1996 | 6 | La traviata La traviata La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman... (The Fallen Woman) |
Verdi Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century... |
Alfredo | Mariella Devia Mariella Devia Mariella Devia is an Italian soprano, well known for performing many roles in the bel canto repertoire.Born in Chiusavecchia, Devia trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Iolanda Magnoni... |
Teatro Carlo Felice Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari.... |
Genoa, Italy Genoa Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria.... |
| 1997 | 7 | Rigoletto Rigoletto Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851... |
Verdi | Duke of Mantua | Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi | Trieste, Italy Trieste Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city... |
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| 8 | I puritani I puritani I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at... (The Puritans) |
Bellini | Arturo | Maureen O’Flynn, Alberto Mastromarino, Dean Peterson | Teatro Comunale di Bologna Teatro Comunale di Bologna The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season.... |
Bologna, Italy Bologna Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,... |
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| 9 | Werther Werther Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.... |
Massenet Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas... |
Werther | Denyce Graves Denyce Graves Denyce Graves is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer.-Early life:Graves was born on March 7, 1964, to Charles Graves and Dorothy Graves-Kenner. She is the middle of three children and was raised by her mother on Galveston Street, S.W., in the Bellevue section of Washington... |
Teatro Carlo Felice | Genoa | |
| 10 | La fille du régiment La fille du régiment La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was... (The Daughter of the Regiment) |
Donizetti | Tonio | Angeles Blancas | Bilbao National Opera House | Bilbao, Spain Bilbao Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain... |
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| 11 | Linda di Chamounix Linda di Chamounix Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:... |
Donizetti | Carlo | Mariella Devia, Alessandro Corbelli Alessandro Corbelli Alessandro Corbelli is an Italian baritone opera singer. One of the world's preeminent singers specializing in Mozart and Rossini, Corbelli has sung in many major opera houses around the world and won admiration for his elegant singing style and sharp characterizations, especially in comic... , Alastair Miles |
Royal Albert Hall Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941.... (temporary home of the Royal Opera House) |
London | |
| 12 | Manon Manon Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost... |
Massenet | Le Chevalier des Grieux, or simply "des Grieux" | Teatro San Carlo | Naples, Italy Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples... |
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| 1998 | 13 | Falstaff Falstaff (opera) Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy... |
Verdi | Fenton | Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.-Early training and career:Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II... , Dorothea Röschmann Dorothea Röschmann Dorothea Röschmann is a German opera soprano from Flensburg.-Education and early life:Röschmann studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, under Barbara Schlick at the Akademie für Alte Musik in Bremen, and subsequently in Los Angeles, New York, Tel Aviv, and under Vera Rózsa in London... , Lucio Gallo |
Berlin State Opera Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:... |
Berlin |
| 14 | Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.... |
Donizetti | Edgardo | Annick Massis Annick Massis - Biography :She worked as a school teacher before going to study at the Conservatoire Francis Poulenc in Paris. Her stage career began in Toulouse in the early 1990s, where she performed in operas by Mozart as well as playing the role of Leila in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.In 1999, she took the... , Boris Statsenko |
Théâtre du Capitole Théâtre du Capitole The Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse is an opera house and ballet company located within the main administration buildings, the Capitole, of the city of Toulouse in south-west France.... |
Toulouse, France Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea... |
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| 2000 | 15 | Faust Faust (opera) Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1... |
Gounod Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:... |
Faust | John Tomlinson, Angela-Maria Blasi, Roger Gilfry | National Theatre Munich | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
| 16 | Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) | Offenbach Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr.... |
Hoffmann | Désirée Rancatore, Irini Tsirakidis, Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States... , Michele Pertusi |
Royal Opera House Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The... |
London | |
| 17 | Der Rosenkavalier Der Rosenkavalier Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac... (The Knight of the Rose) |
Strauss Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till... |
Italian Singer | Susanne Mentzer, Cheryl Studer Cheryl Studer Cheryl Studer is a Grammy Award winning American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's major opera houses. A singer with unusual versatility, Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and... , Peter Rose |
Metropolitan Opera House Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St... |
New York City | |
| 2002 | 18 | Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.... |
Donizetti | Edgard | Patrizia Ciofi Patrizia Ciofi Patrizia Ciofi, born in Casole d'Elsa, Siena, on June 7, 1967, is an Italian operatic soprano. She is married to the conductor Luciano Acocella.... , Ludovic Tezier, Marc Laho Marc Laho - Biography :Laho was born in Seraing, Belgium. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Liège in Belgium and later with Luigi Alva, Alain Vanzo, and Gabriel Bacquier. He made his professional opera debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1989 as l'officier in Massenet's Thérèse... |
Théâtre du Châtelet Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and... |
Paris |
| 19 | Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (opera) Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with... |
Donizetti | Gennaro | Mariella Devia, Michele Pertusi, Daniela Barcellona | Teatro degli Arcimboldi Teatro degli Arcimboldi The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is a theatre and opera house in Milan which was built over a twenty-seven month period in anticipation of the closure and subsequent nearly three-year long renovation of Milan's La Scala opera house in December 2001... (temporary home of La Scala) |
Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... |
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| 2003 | 20 | La bohème La bohème La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger... |
Puccini Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire... |
Rodolfo | Cristina Gallardo-Domas Cristina Gallardo-Domâs Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is a soprano, born in Santiago, Chile, who frequently performs in operas by Puccini.Gallardo-Domâs made her debut as Madama Butterfly in 1990 at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago and, three years later, began performing in opera houses in Europe, making her La Scala debut in... , Roberto Servile, Hei-Kyung Hong Hei-Kyung Hong Hong Hei-Kyung is a South Korean-American operatic lyric soprano.Hong studied at Yea Won Music School in Seoul and through scholarships went to the United States alone at age 15 to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and its American Opera Center... |
Teatro degli Arcimboldi Teatro degli Arcimboldi The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is a theatre and opera house in Milan which was built over a twenty-seven month period in anticipation of the closure and subsequent nearly three-year long renovation of Milan's La Scala opera house in December 2001... (temporary home of La Scala) |
Milan |
| 21 | Luisa Miller Luisa Miller Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849... |
Verdi | Rodolfo | Barbara Frittoli Barbara Frittoli Barbara Frittoli is an Italian operatic soprano who has sung leading roles in opera houses throughout Europe and in the United States. She was born in Milan and graduated from the Milan Conservatory... , Carlo Guelfi, Ferruccio Furlanetto Ferruccio Furlanetto Ferruccio Furlanetto is an Italian bass. His professional debut was in 1979 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, in a production of Verdi's Macbeth, conducted by Claudio Abbado... , Phillip Ens |
Royal Opera House | London | |
| 2004 | 22 | Roméo et Juliette Roméo et Juliette Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867... |
Gounod | Roméo | Angela-Maria Blasi | National Theatre Munich | Munich |
| 2005 | 23 | Un ballo in maschera Un ballo in maschera Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden... (A Masked Ball) |
Verdi | Gustavo (Riccardo) | Karita Mattila Karita Mattila Karita Marjatta Mattila is a leading opera soprano. She was born in Somero, Finland.Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco... , Thomas Hampson (baritone) |
Royal Opera House | London |
| 2006 | 24 | Il trovatore Il trovatore Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto... (The Troubadour) |
Verdi | Manrico | Fiorenza Cedolins Fiorenza Cedolins Fiorenza Cedolins, born in Anduins di Vito d'Asio, a village in Friuli, near Pordenone, is an Italian soprano.Cedolins made her operatic debut in 1992 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana... , Roberto Frontali, Marianne Cornetti |
Teatro Regio di Parma Teatro Regio di Parma Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale.... |
Parma, Italy Parma Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world.... |
| 25 | Tosca Tosca Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900... |
Puccini | Cavaradossi | Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States... , Bryn Terfel Bryn Terfel Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner.... |
Royal Opera House | London | |
| 2007 | 26 | Carmen Carmen Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin... |
Bizet | Don José | Beatrice Uria-Monzon, Àngel Òdena Àngel Òdena - Biography :Born in Tarragona, Spain he has a degree in Geography and History. He started studying singing and piano in his native town with Mercè Obiol and Dolors Aldea, and continued his studies in L’Accademia Lirica di Mantova with Katia Ricciarelli and later with Eduardo Giménez... , Barbara Havemann |
Théâtre du Capitole | Toulouse |
| 2009 | 27 | Adriana Lecouvreur Adriana Lecouvreur Adriana Lecouvreur is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé... |
Francesco Cilea Francesco Cilea Francesco Cilea was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur.-Biography:... |
Maurizio | Micaela Carosi, Marianne Cornetti | Teatro Regio di Torino | Turin Turin Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat... , Italy |
| 28 | Andrea Chénier Andrea Chénier Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution.... |
Umberto Giordano Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples... |
Chénier | Micaela Carosi, Sergei Murzaev | Opéra National de Paris | Paris | |
| 2010 | 29 | Aida Aida Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette... |
Verdi | Radames | Micaela Carosi,Marianne Cornetti | Royal Opera House | London |
Discography
- Bel Canto, 1998, Sony Classical. Italian arias from the works of Verdi, Donizetti and Bellini
- Berlin Gala, 1999, Polygram Records. Berlin Gala concert of December 1998 with Mirella FreniMirella FreniMirella Freni, birth name Mirella Fregni, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky...
, Simon KeenlysideSimon KeenlysideSimon Keenlyside CBE is a British baritone who has had an active international career performing in operas and concerts since the mid 1980s.-Early life and education:...
, Christine SchäferChristine SchäferChristine Schäfer is a German soprano. She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. She also took masterclasses with Arleen Augér and Sena Jurinac.After finishing her studies in 1992,... - Marcelo Álvarez Sings Gardel, 2000, Sony Classical. Selections of Carlos GardelCarlos GardelCarlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
's tangos, including a digitally-mastered duet of Álvarez singing with a 1934 recording of Carlos Gardel - French Arias, 2001, Sony Classical. French arias from the works of Massenet, Offenbach, Donizetti, Gounod, Verdi, MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, and Rossini - Duetto performed with Salvatore LicitraSalvatore Licitra-Early life and debuts:Born in Bern, Switzerland, to Sicilian parents, Licitra grew up in Milan. He fell into opera by accident. As many tenors before him, he was not altogether confident about his vocal capabilities and started working as a graphic artist for Italian Vogue...
, 2003, Sony Classical. Original works composed for Álvarez and Licitra as well as variations on classical compositions and arias - Manon – Massenet, 2003, Sony Classical. Performance of July 2001 by the Opéra National de Paris at Théâtre de la Bastille with Renée FlemingRenée FlemingRenée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also...
- The Tenor's Passion, 2004, Sony Classical. Italian and French masterpieces
- Lucia di Lammermoor – Donizetti, 2005, La Voce, Inc. Performance of August 2004 in Tokyo, with Mariella DeviaMariella DeviaMariella Devia is an Italian soprano, well known for performing many roles in the bel canto repertoire.Born in Chiusavecchia, Devia trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Iolanda Magnoni...
and Renato BrusonRenato BrusonRenato Bruson is an Italian operatic baritone. Bruson is widely considered one of the most important Verdi baritones of the late 20th and early 21st century. He was born in Granze near Padua, Italy.-Biography and career:... - Festliche Operngala, 2005, RCA. Deutschen Oper concert benefit for AIDS research, Berlin, with Lucia AlibertiLucia AlibertiLucia Aliberti is a prominent Sicilian soprano opera singer. She is much appreciated for her performances of the bel canto roles of , Bellini, Gioacchino Rossini, Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Vivaldi, Mercadante, etc.A dramatic soprano of vocal agility, Lucia Aliberti was awarded...
, Maria Bayo - Marcelo Álvarez: The Verdi Tenor, 2009, Decca. Eighteen arias, including "Celeste Aida", "Di quella pira" from Il trovatore, and Otello's "Niun mi tema"
- Marcelo Álvarez: Tenorissimo!, 2010, Sony Classical. Seventeen arias collected from previous recordings of works including Puccini's "La bohème" and "Tosca", and Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chénier"
Filmography (video and/or DVD)
- Marcelo Álvarez In Search of Gardel, 2000, Bullfrog Films. Documentary film about the life of Carlos Gardel and the making of the album, Marcelo Álvarez Sings Gardel
- Songs of Love & Desire, 2002, TDK. Berlin Gala concert of December 1998 with Mirella FreniMirella FreniMirella Freni, birth name Mirella Fregni, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky...
, Christine SchäferChristine SchäferChristine Schäfer is a German soprano. She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. She also took masterclasses with Arleen Augér and Sena Jurinac.After finishing her studies in 1992,...
, Simon KeenlysideSimon KeenlysideSimon Keenlyside CBE is a British baritone who has had an active international career performing in operas and concerts since the mid 1980s.-Early life and education:... - Verdi Gala, 2002, TDK. Concert of March 2001 at the Teatro Padiglione Palacassa in Parma, Italy with Plácido DomingoPlácido DomingoPlácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, José CarrerasJosé CarrerasJosep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
, and José CuraJosé CuraJosé Cura is a prominent operatic tenor known for his intense and original interpretations of his characters, notably Verdi’s Otello and Saint-Saëns’ Samson, as well as for his unconventional and innovative concert performances. He is also able to perform high baritone roles with the extended... - Rigoletto – Verdi, 2002, BBC Opus Arte. Performance of September 2001 at the Royal Opera House, London with Paolo Gavanelli, Christine SchäferChristine SchäferChristine Schäfer is a German soprano. She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. She also took masterclasses with Arleen Augér and Sena Jurinac.After finishing her studies in 1992,...
- Manon – Massenet, 2003, TDK. Performance of July 2001 by the Opéra National de Paris at Théâtre de la Bastille with Renée Fleming
- Duetto, 2003, Sony Classical. Performance with Salvatore Licitra plus behind-the-scenes extras from a concert at the Colosseum in Rome, June 2003
- Lucia di Lammermoor – Donizetti, 2004, TDK. Performance of June 2003 in Genoa with Stefania BonfadelliStefania BonfadelliStefania Bonfadelli is an Italian operatic soprano.She began studying pianoforte at eight years of age and singing at fourteen in Verona, and later continued these studies in Paris and Vienna. Her operatic debut was with I puritani in 1997 at the Vienna State Opera...
and Roberto Frontali - La Bohème – Puccini, 2004, TDK. Performance of February 2003 at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi (La Scala ensemble), Milan with Cristina Gallardo-Domas, Hei-Kyung Hong, Roberto Servile
- Lucia di Lammermoor – Donizetti, 2005, La Voce, Inc. Performance of August 2004 in Tokyo with Mariella DeviaMariella DeviaMariella Devia is an Italian soprano, well known for performing many roles in the bel canto repertoire.Born in Chiusavecchia, Devia trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Iolanda Magnoni...
and Renato BrusonRenato BrusonRenato Bruson is an Italian operatic baritone. Bruson is widely considered one of the most important Verdi baritones of the late 20th and early 21st century. He was born in Granze near Padua, Italy.-Biography and career:...
, includes interviews in Italian - Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto StoryGiuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto StoryGiuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto Story is a film version of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto . Filmed in Siena in 2002 , it was directed by Gianfranco Fozzi and produced by David Guido Pietroni and Maurizio De Santis.Rigoletto Story has obtained two nominations to the Grammy Awards in the categories...
, 2005, Roadhouse Movie. Performance of August 2002 in Siena, Italy with Roberto Servile and Inva MulaInva MulaInva Mula is an Albanian opera soprano and actress. She began her soprano career at a very early age. Her father and mother were also opera singers. -Life and Career:... - Mariella Devia & Marcelo Álvarez, 2005, La Voce, Inc. Concert of August 2004 in Tokyo
- Werther – Massenet, 2005, TDK. Performance of February 2005 at the Vienna State Opera with Elīna GarančaElina Garanca-Biography:Garanča was born in the Latvian city of Riga into a musical family, her father a choral director, mother a lieder singer and singing teacher. Her mother Anita is a professor at the Latvian Academy of Music, an associated professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture, a vocal music teacher...
, includes interview and Opernball excerpts - Festliche Operngala, 2005, United Motion. Deutschen Oper concert benefit for AIDS research, November 2005, Berlin with Lucia AlibertiLucia AlibertiLucia Aliberti is a prominent Sicilian soprano opera singer. She is much appreciated for her performances of the bel canto roles of , Bellini, Gioacchino Rossini, Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Vivaldi, Mercadante, etc.A dramatic soprano of vocal agility, Lucia Aliberti was awarded...
and Maria Bayo - DVD Sampler Opera ‘06, 2006, TDK. Selections featuring Álvarez, Renée Fleming, Karita MattilaKarita MattilaKarita Marjatta Mattila is a leading opera soprano. She was born in Somero, Finland.Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco...
, and Plácido DomingoPlácido DomingoPlácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range... - Rigoletto – Verdi, 2006, TDK. Performance of December 2004 at the LiceuLiceuThe Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
in Barcelona, Spain with Carlos Alvarez and Inva Mula - Tosca – Puccini, 2007, TDK. Performance of July 2006 at Arena di Verona with Fiorenza CedolinsFiorenza CedolinsFiorenza Cedolins, born in Anduins di Vito d'Asio, a village in Friuli, near Pordenone, is an Italian soprano.Cedolins made her operatic debut in 1992 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana...
and Ruggero RaimondiRuggero RaimondiRuggero Raimondi is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.-Early training and career:Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II... - Un ballo in maschera - Verdi, 2010, Opus Arte. Performance of September 2008 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain with Violeta UrmanaVioleta UrmanaVioleta Urmana, born Violeta Urmanavičiūtė is a diva who began her career as a mezzo-soprano but has transitioned successfully into soprano roles....
, Marco Vratogna, and Elena Zaremba. Available in DVD and Blu-ray disc. - Adriana Lecouvreur – Cilea, 2010, Arthaus Musik. Performance of June 2009 at the Teatro Regio in Turin with Micaela Carosi and Marianne Cornetti
- Tosca - Puccini, 2010, Virgin Classics. Live performance from the Met in New York City with Karita Mattila and George Gagnidze; Joseph Colaneri - conductor
Awards
- 1995 – Winner, regional voice competition in Pavia, Italy
- 1995 - Second prize, inaugural Leyla Gencer Voice Competition in Istanbul, Turkey
- 2000 – Gold Camera Award, 33rd Annual International Film and Video Festival
- 2000 – Honorable mention, Columbus International Film and Video Festival
- 2000 – Singer of The Year, Echo Klassik (German Audioworks Cultural Institute)
- 2002 – Singer of The Year, Echo Klassik
- 2003 – Best Tenor of The Year, 2002, as voted by readers of Italian L’Opera magazine
- 2007 – La Martesana Opera Award, presented by OperaClick and Associazione Musicale Harmonia