– The tenor from Tenerife takes on Verdi’s masterpiece in Madrid before heading to Germany for Marina de Arrieta at the Rossini Festival, a production he will also record for Naxos.
Tenor Celso Albelo is set to reprise the iconic role of Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore at Madrid’s Teatro Real, following his widely acclaimed performances in the same role at ABAO Bilbao Opera in May 2023. The Spanish singer approaches the engagement with great enthusiasm, though he is fully aware of the weight it carries: “It’s both a responsibility and a wonderful challenge to return to Madrid with such a defining character,” he says.
Albelo has carefully balanced his career by never fully letting go of the bel canto roles that have accompanied him throughout—such as Arturo in I Puritani, Gualtiero in Il Pirata (both by Bellini), and Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor—while gradually adding heavier Verdian parts to his repertoire. Among these are Macduff in Macbeth and Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, a role he performed just last May during the Ópera Menorca season. In Albelo’s view, many of Verdi’s characters are not so far removed from his more familiar repertoire: “They come from a bel canto tradition where vocal line, elegance of phrasing, colour, and diction are all part of the same fabric. Manrico is a fascinating role, and that’s why I’m thrilled to be returning to the Teatro Real with such a complex part in an iconic opera, surrounded by the finest possible cast.”
Albelo will sing Il trovatore in four performances, scheduled for 1, 4, 15, and 20 July, featuring alternating casts that include sopranos Marina Rebeka and Saioa Hernández as Leonora, and mezzosopranos Anita Rachvelishvili and Ksenia Dudnikova as Azucena. The musical direction will be in the hands of Nicola Luisotti, leading the Teatro Real’s Chorus and Orchestra, with stage direction by Francisco Negrín.
Following his Madrid Trovatore, Celso Albelo has a busy schedule ahead, including his debut at the Rossini Festival in Wildbad (Germany) in late July, where he will sing Jorge in Arrieta’s Spanish opera Marina, under the baton of maestro José Miguel Pérez-Sierra—a production that will be recorded for the Naxos label. Other upcoming engagements include a recital in Vigo alongside soprano Désirée Rancatore in September, his debut as Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the revival of the zarzuela La Bruja at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela after decades out of the repertoire, and a zarzuela gala at Pamplona’s Baluarte Auditorium.◆