MADRID.- The unique voice of the Venezuelan singer Samuel Mario, countertenor or, as he prefers, soprano, one of the recent world phenomena of classical music, will resonate in Teatros del Canal in the concert he will perform on March 20 accompanied by the Orchester de L’Orchester. Opra Royal de Versailles.
With a program composed of pieces by Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Hasse, Biber and Gluck, Samuel Mario’s vocal talent and his brilliant stage presence will show in the Madrid hall his ability to explore a wide range of operatic roles from the baroque and classical repertoire. , according to the organization.
In addition to pear arias like Arminius, Atalanta, Justin, The faithful nymph, Zedekiah, king of Jerusalem y Marc’Antonio e Cleopatrathe program includes the interpretation of three instrumental pieces by Vivaldi.
Initially trained as a ballet dancer at the National Dance School of Venezuela, Mario began his musical studies in piano and singing at the National Conservatory of Music. His first experiences with the opera repertoire were with the Camerata Barroca de Caracas, where he worked with directors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Helmuth Rilling and Theodore Kuchar. These collaborations ignited his passion for the baroque repertoire and led him to expand his studies at the Paris Conservatory.
This season, Mario performs the title role of Handel’s new pastiche opera, Sarrasine at the Handel Festival in Göttingen, while on the concert platform he reunites with his former collaborators the Orchester de l’Opra Royal de Versailles, with Gabetta Consorts at the Opra de Lausanne for a program of Handel’s arias, and makes her first appearances with Concerto di Cavalieri in Rome and on tour in Spain.
He also returns to the United States, after his debut in the American country last season, and offers a recital at the Pablo Casals Symphony Hall in Puerto Rico, accompanied by pianist Jonathan Ware.
International career
Mario debuted in British opera last season playing the role of Iris in Handel’s Smele, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Vclav Luks.
In concert, he performed for the first time in North America with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto and with the Camerata Pacifica in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. In Australia he joined the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra conducted by Paul Dyer.
In other concerts he performed the Mass in B minor Bach with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and his Coro directed by Zsolt Hamar, and arias by Cherub (The Marriage of Fgaro), Fiorilla (The Turkish in Italy) y Maria (West Side Story), and with Rolando Villazn at the Palais Garnier in the last concert of the Rolex Perptual Music cycle.
His latest record release, his first album on the Decca label, was Sopranista, nominated for two Opus Klassik awards in 2023. On the Versailles Spectacles label he recorded the Stabat Mater de Pergolesi with the Orchester de l’Opra Royal, and solo recorded Care pupille, a collection of rarities by Handel and Gluck with the Handelfestspielorchester Halle, published in Orpheus.
Samuel Mario received the Performance Award at the 2017 Marseille International Opera Singing Competition and won the Neue Stimmen Audience Award that same year. He is currently mentored by renowned soprano Barbara Bonney and has received a scholarship from the Rotary Club of Salzburg.
Following his passion for rediscovering music and innovating in period interpretation, Mario founded the Ensemble Teseo in 2019, with the aim of bringing forgotten baroque works and techniques to the opera and concert stages.
The Royal Opra of Versailles
Throughout its history, the Opra Royal de Versailles has hosted parties, operas, concerts and even parliamentary debates. Since 2009. It currently programs one hundred performances each season, staged operas and concert versions, recitals, plays and ballets.
Based on this qualified programming, in December 2019 the Orchester de L’Opra Royal was created in Versailles for performances of the opera ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’, by John Corigliano.
The orchestra brings together the best instrumentalists from the most prestigious ensembles and orchestras in Europe and serves the artistic projects programmed at the Opra Royal and its guest artists. With a baroque and romantic repertoire, among the concerts he has performed, the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi with countertenors Samuel Mario and Filippo Mineccia, under the direction of Marie Van Rhijn; the Leon de tnbres by Couperin directed by Stphane Fuget and recorded in June 2020; The characters of dance directed by Reinhard Goebel in February 2021, and the recital by Plcido Domingo in April 2022.
For this new season, the Orchester de L’Opra Royal will perform under the direction of several guest conductors such as Gatan Jarry or Stefan Plewniak and perform their productions in Versailles and on tour.
In Lyon, La Rochelle and Versailles he presents a recital with the soprano Sonya Yoncheva; in Barcelona and Versailles The Messiah by Handel under the direction of Franco Fagioli; in Snart and Versailles the creation of the staged opera Bastien and Bastienne from Mozart. He also performs in Asia and France with the three countertenors Samuel Mario, Filippo Mineccia and Siman Chung. In Versailles, the Orchester de L’Opra Royal will accompany the recital of Samuel Mario conducted by Stefan Plewniak and that of Bryn Terfel under the direction of Laurent Campellone.
FUENTE: Europa Press
