RenéBarbera

Tenor René Barbera has quickly established himself as one of today’s most exciting vocal artists. The first-ever recipient of all three top awards of the Operalia Competition in 2011 and winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008, René has earned critical praise and audience acclaim for his effortless singing, his “old-fashioned warmth” (Opera News), and his expressive musicality.

This season, René returns to Opéra national de Paris for two productions: Ernesto Don Pasquale and Alfredo La traviata. He stars as Lord Riccardo Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and then returns to Tokyo to sing Ferrando Così fan tutte with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy. He concludes the season with his debut as Ottavio Don Giovanni at Teatro Comunale di Bologna. On the concert stage, René sings Verdi’s Requiem with Orchèstre de la Suisse Romande and Myung-Whun Chung.

In the 2022/23 season, René starred as Il Duca di Mantova Rigoletto at Dallas Opera and returned to the Metropolitan Opera as the Italian Singer in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. He made his highly anticipated role debut as Fenton Falstaff at Teatro La Fenice and starred as Elvino La Sonnambula at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège. Additionally, he sang Nemorino L’elisir d’amore at Royal Opera House Muscat, Ernesto Don Pasquale at Teatro Massimo, and Lord Riccardo Percy Anna Bolena at Teatro di San Carlo. He concluded the season with his debut as Adelberto in Rossini’s Adelaide di Borgogna at the Rossini Opera Festival. On the concert platform, he performed Verdi’s Requiem with both the NHK Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Fabio Luisi, and Orchestre de Paris under the baton of Jaap van Zweden.

Other operatic highlights include Nemorino L’elisir d’amore, Ernesto Don Pasquale andAlfredo La Traviata at Teatro alla Scala; Il Conte d’Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia at Wiener Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Dutch National Opera Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, and the New National Theatre in Tokyo; Alfredo La traviata at Dallas Opera, Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Festival Castell Peralada; Don Ramiro La Cenerentola at Bayerische Staatsoper, San Fransico Opera, Seattle Opera, and Los Angeles Opera; Lindoro L’italiana in Algeri at The Metropolitan Opera; Edgardo Lucia di Lammermoor at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Iopas Les Troyens at San Francisco Opera; Arturo I puritani at Opéra national de Paris and Staatstheater Stuttgart; Ernesto Don Pasquale at Wiener Staatsoper and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Tonio La fille du régiment with Opernhaus Zürich, Austin Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Greensboro Opera; Giannetto La gazza ladra and Narciso Il turco in Italia at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; Uberto La donna del lago in Santa Fe Opera; the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ricardo Percy Anna Bolena at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; and the title role in Idomeneo at Teatro Massimo di Palermo.

On the concert platform, René has performed Verdi’s Requiem with Teatro alla Scala and Riccardo Chailly on tour to Padova, the Philharmonie de Paris and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg; Seattle Symphony; Melbourne Symphony; Moscow Conservatory; Wiener Konzerthaus and The Shed in New York City with MusicaAeterna led by Teodor Currentzis. He has also performed Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Orchestre Philharmonie Luxembourg led by Gustavo Gimeno, Teato alla Scala led by Myung-Whun Chung and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. René was a featured artist at the annual Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung Gala benefit concert in Berlin.