Performance Year: 2017
Tenor René Barbera, a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, has swiftly established himself as a dominant presence in the opera world. In Plácido Domingo’s Operalia 2011, he was awarded first prize for opera, first prize for zarzuela, and the audience prize. He is the first artist to be the sole recipient of all three awards since the competition began in 1993.
Of his 2014 performances with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, as Nemorino in L’elisir d’Amore, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch raved, “On Saturday night he brought out Nemorino’s innate lovability while singing with melting beauty and an effortless high range. It’s no wonder Adina comes around.”
Mr. Barbera began the 2015–16 season at San Diego Opera with his North American solo recital debut. Following this, he performed the tenor solo in the Berlioz Te Deum with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and sang the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with Piedmont Opera, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the San Francisco Opera, the Italian Tenor in Der Rosekavalier with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Teatro Massimo di Palermo, and Almaviva in Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. To close the season, Mr. Barbera returned to the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro for his role debut of Narciso in Il Turco in Italia.
In addition, Mr. Barbera is the featured soloist in the Naxos release of William Bolcom’s Canciones de Lorca/Prometheus.
