About
Argentinian tenor Marcelo Álvarez has emerged as one of the leading operatic artists of our day. He has been acclaimed in the most important theaters throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera; Teatro alla Scala; Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Opera National de Paris Bastille; Staatsoper Berlin; Deutsche Oper in Berlin; Vienna State Opera; Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, as well as at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Hamburg State Opera, Teatro Communale di Bologna, Theatre du Capitole Toulouse and many others. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Álvarez joins forces with tenor Salvatore Licitra in Duetto, an album of new songs created especially for the two singers by a carefully selected group of the greatest writers and arrangers working in music today. Duetto will be released internationally in the summer. The two tenors will reunite on June 12 for Duetto - The Concert at the Roman Colosseum, an outdoor concert performance featuring the music of Duetto, to be filmed for subsequent broadcast on RAI Uno, BBC, PBS Great Performances and Arte, with home video release to follow. Álvarez's previous Sony Classical release was the critically acclaimed French Opera Arias. He made his recording debut for the label with Bel Canto in 1998, which he followed with Álvarez Sings Gardel, a disc of classic Argentinian tangos made famous by the legendary singer Carlos Gardel. In the 2002-03 season, Marcelo Álvarez added three roles to his repertoire. He sang Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia with Teatro alla Scala, where he also starred as Rodolfo in their new production of La Bohème. Álvarez returned to the Royal Opera, Covent Garden for his first appearances in Luisa Miller, in a new production. The recently completed season also saw the tenor's return to the Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera and Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice and to Japan as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and he appears in Trieste in the title role in Werther. Marcelo Álvarez was born in Cordoba, Argentina. He began his professional career in Italy, making his debut in La Sonnambula at Teatro la Fenice in Venice in 1995, which resulted in immediate invitations from several other theaters. He sang his first performances of the Duke in Rigoletto at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste and, in the same role, made his French stage debut in Toulouse in June of 1997 and Arena di Verona debut in August 1997. Álvarez has also been heard as Alfredo in La Traviata at the Hamburg State Opera, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and Teatro La Fenice. He made his Spanish debut as Tonio in La Fille du Regiment in Bilbao. In the spring of 1997, at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Álvarez appeared for the first time in the title role of Massenet's Werther, a performance that was enthusiastically praised by the entire Italian musical press. Earlier that season, he had sung the role of the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier. The tenor also sang his first performances of Arturo in I Puritani at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, to what can only be described as a tumultuous acclaim. Álvarez's 1997-98 season featured several significant debuts. He appeared at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in September 1997 as the Duke in Rigoletto. Concert performances of Werther at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie were followed by his London debut with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Mark Elder in concert performances of Linda di Chamounix, the work in which Álvarez made his La Scala in the spring of 1998. He appeared as Fenton in a new production of Falstaff at the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Claudio Abbado, and made his first appearances with the Royal Opera in performances of La Traviata at the Royal Albert Hall. In the same role, he made both his Vienna State Opera and Paris Opera debuts. Marcelo Álvarez made his North American debut in November of 1998 as Alfredo in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of La Traviata, conducted by James Levine and directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Earlier in that season, he sang his first Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Toulouse. Other engagements for that season included a new production of Rigoletto at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, his first Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and La Traviata in Orange, where he also appeared in a gala concert. In the 1999-2000 season Álvarez appeared at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and also at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in new productions of La Traviata. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Rigoletto, which he also performed this season at the Bastille Opera. Álvarez made his Munich debut in a new production of Gounod's Faust, debuting in the title role. The 2000-01 season included Marcelo Álvarez's first Hoffmann for the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, as well as appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in La Traviata and Der Rosenkavalier. He appeared in Toulouse in Werther and in his first performances of Nemorino in L'Elisir D'Amore and in Manon opposite Renée Fleming at the Bastille. He performed the Duke in Rigoletto in Tokyo, a role he also performed in Vienna and Choregies d'Orange. Marcelo Álvarez returned to his native city in Cordoba, Argentina, in April to perform at the Teatro Libertador. In September 2000, Álvarez was an invited guest to the Jussi Bjoerling Gala in Stockholm. The artist made his North American recital debut at William Jewell College in Kansas City in January 2001. Marcelo Álvarez began his 2001-02 season with a new production of Rigoletto at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera and Opera National de Paris in the same role and appeared with the Teatro alla Scala in La Traviata under Riccardo Muti. Álvarez was also heard at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in Lucia di Lammermoor and Manon. In June of 2002, he made his debut with the Chatelet in Paris in Lucie de Lammermoor, in the rarely heard French version Donizetti created especially for Paris. Álvarez returned to the Bavarian State Opera for the 2002 Festival in La Traviata, and appeared in Rigoletto in Macerata. Future projects also include new productions of Werther at Covent Garden and the Vienna State Opera, as well as his first Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, in a new production for Covent Garden. Álvarez makes his Chicago Lyric Opera debut in 2004 in Lucia di Lammermoor and in that same year sings his first Romeo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette in a new production in Munich. He returns to the Opera Bastille in Paris in 2003 as Rodolfo in La Boheme which he will also sing in furture seasons at the Metropolitan Opera And at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and bows in Barcelona in a new production of Rigoletto. He also has several future engagements throughout Italy including a new "Rigoletto" at the Arena di Verona as well as appearances in Naples and Venice. SALVATORE LICITRA Biography Though he was not scheduled for a formal Met debut until the 2004-05, Licitra stepped in on short notice to replace the ailing Luciano Pavarotti as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, in what was believed to be the legendary tenor’s farewell operatic performance in the house on Saturday, May 11, 2002. Singing not only to a long-sold-out house expecting to hear Pavarotti but also some 3,000 fans watching a live telecast in the plaza outside the Met, Licitra won over the crowd in a performance that The New York Times described as “the starry anointing of a potential successor,” capped with “an ecstatic standing ovation.” “It was his athletic and ardent singing that won you over … He is a genuine find, an exciting tenor with a big, dark-hued and muscular voice,” Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times wrote of Licitra’s performance, noting his “viscerally powerful” top notes and his “ability to shape long pianissimo phrases with sensitivity.” It was only in November of 2001 that Salvatore Licitra sang in the U.S. for the first time, at the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala. In reviewing that performance, Anne Midgette of The New York Times described him as “an Italian tenor with a deep baritonal lower register, a brighter upper register, and strong secure high notes that in true Italian tenor tradition, he was happy to hold out for ages in ‘Ma se m’è forza perderti’ from Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. If he could withstand the inevitable ‘fourth tenor’ hype, he could be one to watch.” An exclusive Sony Classical recording artist, Licitra’s most current release is his first operatic recital disc and features the most celebrated tenor arias from the operas of Verdi and Puccini – including the two Tosca arias that won him thunderous ovations in his Met debut. The tenor already established himself with the listening public, notably in his first complete opera recording of La Scala’s Verdi centenary production of Il Trovatore, with Riccardo Multi conducting, featuring Barbara Frittoli, Leo Nucci and Violetta Urmana. The tenor made his Sony Classical debut in 2000 on the soundtrack of the Sally Potter film The Man Who Cried, for which he is the singing voice of actor John Turturro, performing arias from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers and Tosca, among others. Licitra has joined forces with tenor Marcelo Álvarez in an album of new songs created especially for them by a carefully selected group of the greatest writers and arrangers working in music today. Duetto is scheduled for release in June 2003. Licitra’s 2002-03 season includes performances of Tosca and a new production of Simon Boccanegra at the Vienna State Opera; Tosca and a new production of Un Ballo in Maschera in Zurich; a new production of Un Ballo in Maschera that will tour several Italian cities. The tenor will make his debut in Munich in Tosca, and in Tel Aviv in Un Ballo in Maschera. He returns to the Western Hemisphere for concert debuts in San Francisco/Berkeley, Orange County CA and Vancouver. On January 23, 2003, he returns to New York for a concert performance of La Forza del Destino, under the auspices of Robert Bass’s Collegiate Chorale. Though he has already enjoyed great acclaim for his appearances at La Scala, the mammoth Arena of Verona, and other prestigious Italian and European opera companies, Salvatore Licitra discovered his voice by accident. When he was 18 he and his parents were vacationing in Sicily, where he had taken a summer job as a graphic artist. One day, after work, he at home listening to the radio and heard someone sing a song he liked. He started imitating the singer on the radio, when his mother called the garden, “WHO is that singing?!” When he told her it had been he, she was surprised at the basic quality of the voice and urged him to seek a teacher. While still a graphic artist, he joined a chorus, singing in churches and concerts. The chorus master was a woman who also gave private lessons on the side. Young Salvatore became a student of hers, but when she felt she could no longer give him the kind of lessons he needed she turned him over to a woman who had taught her. He stayed with her for a number of years only to discover that natural voice had almost been ruined. As if guided by divine intervention, he came to the attention of Carlo Bergonzi, the famous tenor of the latter part of the last century. Bit by bit, the old master found again the fundamental voice that had been there from the start and began building on its natural foundation. It was in this study period that Licitra felt positive enough about his voice to enter 6 different voice competitions – and lost all of them. (None of those who won, however, have made a career so far.) He also began appearing in legitimate opera productions in small roles, like Gastone in La Traviata. In 1998 he auditioned for the Arena of Verona and received a contact to cover the tenor leads in Rigoletto, Aida and Un Ballo in Maschera. At one rehearsal he had to step in for the tenor who was to sing the role of king Gustavo at the opening night of Un Ballo in Maschera. After the rehearsal Daniel Oren, the conductor, was so impressed with Licitra that he insisted the young tenor be given the premiere, instead of the other tenor. Fortified by the great audience reception and by glowing reviews, the rather inexperienced young tenor did something that is typical of innocent rashness – he auditioned for the pinnacle of Italian opera houses, La Scala. This audition was, of all things, for the fiendishly difficult role of Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, which was to be mounted in new production under the baton of La Scala’s music director, Riccardo Muti. Although the maestro was not at that first audition he heard enough positive reports about it that he asked for a separate private audition that landed Licitra a contract to make his La Scala debut in the alternate cast of La Forza del Destino. His success in that production led to follow-up engagements at La Scala as Cavaradossi in Tosca, Gustavo in a new production of Un Ballo in Maschera, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino during the La Scala tour in Japan, Macduff in a new production of Macbeth and Manrico in the new production of Il Trovatore which not only opened the 2000/2001 season of La Scala but also was its first homage to Verdi in the year-long centennial of his death. When a young tenor with such credentials appears on the scene, the international houses, of course, take notice. Already behind him are debuts at the Vienna State Opera and the companies of Rome, Zurich, Lisbon, etc. while future commitments between now and 2006 include debuts at the Paris Bastille Opera, London’s Covent Garden, Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and returns to La Scala, the Arena of Verona, the Metropolitan Opera, etc. On the immediate horizon, his new repertoire will include leading roles in Aida, Andrea Chenier, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Adriana Lecouvreur, Simon Boccanegra, Norma, Aida and Turandot. As the English critic Rupert Christiansen wrote after hearing him in the above-mentioned Il Trovatore. “Licitra’s vocal promise is sensational.” |
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