Argentine baritone Germán Enrique Alcántara is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and made his company debut in the 2018/19 season as Dancaïre in Carmen, going on to appear in La traviata, Andrea Chénier and Faust (the latter also on tour to Japan) as well as, in 2021/22, singing Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro under Sir Antonio Pappano and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Among his many successes in international singing competitions are First Prize in the José Carreras Grand Prix in 2021, the Gold Medal at the Manhattan International Competition in 2020 and First Prize in the Concours Lyrique International ad Alta Voce in Paris in 2016.
Previous roles include Marcello in La bohème and the title role in Rigoletto at Welsh National Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni at New Israeli Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles at Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. His concert repertory includes Mozart’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Handel’s Messiah, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle. He has recorded Misa Palatina with the Chamber Choir of the National University of Misiones.
Germán Alcántara studied at the School of Music in Misiones, Argentina, at the National University of Cuyo-Mendoza, at the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Paris (under Rosa Dominguez) and the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid (with Ryland Davies). He is currently studying for a PhD in Music and Performance at the University of Aveiro in Portugal with his project entitled ‘Cantocando: Self-accompaniment challenges’.
Lluís Calvet i Pey was a finalist and winner of numerous prizes in the 2024 Concurs de Cant Tenor Viñas, including the Placido Domingo Prize, the Zarzuela Prize, and the Audience Prize. He was also one of the finalists in the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition 2023 and won second prize at the Concours de Cant les Corts de Barcelona in 2020.
The Catalan baritone studied singing at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona with Maria Dolors Aldea and at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama with Adrian Thompson.
He gained his first stage experience in university productions at both institutions and in the Festival Internacional de Teatro clásico de Mérida with Paco Azorín. He also received the Eva Kleinitz scholarship from Opera Europa in 2022.
In the summer of 2023, he took part in L’Academia Rossiniana di Pesaro playing the role of Lord Sidney in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims.
From 2022 to 2024 he was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Hanover State Opera, where he played roles such as William in The Fall of the House of Usher, Sciarrone in Tosca, Ruggiero in La Juive, Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Ping in Turandot. During this time he also appeared as a guest at the Ruhrtriennale Festival as the little prisoner in Janáček’s From the House of the Dead and at the Stuttgart State Opera as Chou En Lai in Adam’s Nixon in China.
In the 2024-25 season, he joins Staatsoper Hannover Ensemble where his roles will include Silvio in Pagliacci, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Mr. Kallenbach in Satyagraha, Schaunard in La bohème and all men roles in Maria de Buenos Aires.
He debuted with Opera Rara, recording Publio from L’Esule di Roma by Donizetti and conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
Winner of the 2016 Premio Abbiati prize, Alaimo performs regularly in prestigious theatres and festival around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, Salzburg Festival, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Paris Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Teatro Real in Madrid, Deutsche Oper in Berlin and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The great success of his interpretation of the title role in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell has seen acclaimed performances in opera houses worldwide.
Recent engagements include: La Cenerentola, Il Turco in Italia and a Rossini Gala with Cecilia Bartoli directed by Gianluca Capuano; Simon Boccanegra (title role) in Antwerp; Adriana Lecouvreur in Palermo; La forza del destino at the Metropolitan Opera; La bohème in Bologna; Il trovatore in Monte Carlo; Falstaff in Budapest; La cena delle beffe, Le comte Ory and Il pirata at La Scala; and Messa di Gloria by Puccini in Madrid. He has collaborated with conductors including Maurizio Benini, Bruno Campanella, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Daniele Gatti, James Levine, Michele Mariotti, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Evelino Pidò and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
Future engagements include Falstaff in Venice and Tokyo; La forza del destino in Paris; Il barbiere di Siviglia in Monte Carlo; L’Italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola in Zürich; Nabucco and Roberto Devereux in Geneva; Simon Boccanegra in Florence; I due Foscari in Chicago; La Cenerentola and Adriana Lecouvreur in Toulouse and Guillaume Tell in Liège.
Carlos Alvarez is one of the most outstanding opera singers in the recent times.
Let’s remember some of his best interpretations: Salzburg Festival, where he sang Don Carlo conducted by Lorin Maazel (the international critic considered him as the best current Rodrigo); Otello with the London Symphony Orchestra (London) under the direction of Sir Colin Davis; I Pagliacci recorded in Amsterdam and conducted by Riccardo Chailly; Don Giovanni at the Scala with Riccardo Muti; Don Carlo at the Bastille in Paris; Rigoletto at the Arena di Verona (Italian critic said: Carlos Alvarez senza dubbio il miglior Rigoletto della scena lirica attuale). Other great successes were at the New York MET with Un Ballo in Maschera , Luisa Miller and Rigoletto; in Vienna La Forza del Destino conducted by Zubin Mehta or Otello in Salzburg under conduction of Riccardo Muti…
We must point out among other Carlos Alvarez’s recent performances Giovanna d’Arco (2015), Le Nozze di Figaro (2016) and Madama Butterfly (2016) at the Scala; Otello (2016) in Salzburg; Rigoletto (2016), La Fille du Regiment (2016, 2018), Otello (2017, 2020), Le Nozze di Figaro (2017), Carmen (2018); new production of Samson et Dalila (2018), Falstaff (2019) and Tosca (2019) at the Wiener Staatsoper; Tosca (2016), Falstaff (2017), Don Giovanni (2018) and Rigoletto (2019) at Teatro Regio di Torino; Falstaff (2017), Tosca and I Pagliacci (2019) at Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova; Rigoletto (2017), Don Giovanni (2017), Un Ballo in Maschera (2017), Andrea Chenier (2018) and Hamlet (2019) at Barcelona’s Liceo; Rigoletto (2017) at the Arena di Verona; Andrea Chenier (2017) in Oviedo, La Tempestad (2018), Katiuska (2018) and a Gala (2018) at the Zarzuela Theatre; Simon Boccanegra (2018) and Otello (2019) at the ROH Covent Garden; Gianni Schicchi (2019) at the New National Theatre Tokyo; I Pagliacci (2019) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Don Carlo (2019) in La Coruña or Otello (2019) and La Favorita (2020) at the Teatro Cervantes in Málaga; all of unbeatable success.
He has been granted numerous prizes in several occasions: Cultural Job Award (2001), Grammy (2001), Cannes Classical Award, Bellas Artes’ Gold Medal (2003), Artistic Excellence Gold Medal (2003), National Music Award (2003), Grammy (2005). On May 2007, he received the prestigious title Kammersänger by the Wiener Staatsoper; the Liceo’s Gold Medal on April 2013; recently: the Campoamor Best Opera Interpreter Award at Oviedo’s Campoamor Theatre and the Catalan Critics Award. Carlos Alvarez holds the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at University of Málaga.
Roland Wood studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, then at the National Opera Studio with support from the Peter Moores Foundation and English National Opera. In 2003 he was chosen as the English entrant for BBC Singer of the World in Cardiff. Between 2002 and 2004 he was a company principal at Scottish Opera, where roles included Dr Falke in Die Fledermaus, Marullo in Rigoletto and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. In 2002 he made his debut at English National Opera as The Baron in La traviata. Other ENO roles include Kissinger in Nixon in China (later reprised in Athens), Ajax II in La Belle Hélène and Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana. His concert work includes Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle with the Northern Sinfonia, L’enfance du Christ with the English Chamber Orchestra and Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Hallé. He can be heard on several Opera Rara recordings, including Margherita d’Anjou, Il diluvio universale, La straniera and Paventa Insano.
David Stout has rapidly established himself as one of the UK’s most versatile baritones, with a repertoire encompassing early music, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Britten, bel canto and twentieth-century works. Highlights this season include Count Douglas in Mascagni’s Guglielmo Ratcliff (Wexford Festival), the title roles of Le nozze di Figaro and Figaro Gets A Divorce (Welsh National Opera), and Posa Don Carlo (Grange Park). Recent highlights include the title role of Le nozze di Figaro and Fritz Kothner Die Meistersinger (English National Opera); Sandoval Le Duc d’Albe, Paolo Simon Boccanegra and the title role of Falstaff (with Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé); a critically acclaimed Sancho Pança Don Quichotte (Grange Park); Bach St John Passion (Aurora Orchestra at King’s Place); Oromazes in Rameau’s Zaïs (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment); and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas (English Concert/Bristol Old Vic). Other operatic appearances include Axel Oxenstierna in Foroni’s Cristina, regina di Svezia and The Dark Fiddler A Village Romeo and Juliet (Wexford); Zaretski Eugene Onegin and Pish Tush Mikado (English National Opera); Papageno Die Zauberflöte, Dr. Falke Die Fledermaus, Ping Turandot, Harašta The Cunning Little Vixen and Buddha Wagner Dream (Welsh National Opera); Angelotti Tosca, Roucher Andrea Chenier and Gratiano The Merchant of Venice (Bregenzer Festspiele);and Baron Douphol La traviata (Royal Opera House).
Baritone Mark Stone studied singing at the Guildhall School in London. In 1998 he was awarded the Decca Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and was nominated in the ‘Breakthrough Artist’ category of the 2005 South Bank Show Awards. As a company member of English National Opera, he was acclaimed for his performance as Don Giovanni and has since returned to ENO as Count Almaviva, Figaro (The Barber of Seville), Marcello (La Bohème), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) and as Prince Yamadori in the late Anthony Minghella’s production of Madam Butterfly. Other engagements include Valvert (Cyrano de Bergerac) and Sonora (La fanciulla del West) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the title role in Eugene Onegin at Glyndebourne. He made his US debut as Ford (Falstaff) for Philadelphia Opera and has sung Guglielmo in Santa Fe. Concert work includes Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Hallé Orchestra and Mozart arias with the Academy of Ancient Music. He has also performed with the LSO, City of London Sinfonia, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
