René Barbera

The tenor, a San Antonio native, is one of today’s foremost interpreters of bel canto repertoire. His successes in Rossini include Count Almaviva/The Barber of Seville (LA Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Vancouver Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Moscow’s Stanislavsky Theater, Vienna State Opera, Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice), Giannetto/La gazza ladra and Narciso/Il turco in Italia (both at Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival), Lindoro/L’italiana in Algeri (Metropolitan Opera), Don Ramiro/La cenerentola (San Francisco Opera), and Rodrigo/La donna del lago/Santa Fe Opera). Other major successes in bel canto include La sonnambula (Washington), Don Pasquale (Milan, Vienna, Chicago), Anna Bolena (Rome), The Elixir of Love (Vienna, Milan, St Louis), and I puritani (Stuttgart). Barbera’s repertoire extends from Mozart (La clemenza di Tito, Valencia; Idomeneo, Palermo) to Berlioz (Les Troyens, San Francisco), Verdi (La traviata, Palermo, Peralada), and Puccini (Gianni Schicchi, Toronto). The tenor can be heard on CD in Opera Rara’s recording of Donizetti’s Il paria. An alumnus of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, Barbara is a former winner of the three top prizes at the prestigious Operalia competition.