RenéBarbera

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Tenor
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René Barbera
René Barbera

Contact

For availability and general enquiries:

For availability and general enquiries:

For contracts and logistics

Seb Mallet

Seb Mallet

Associate Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

About René

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.

In the 2024/25 season, René will make major role debuts with Roberto Devereux at Teatro di San Carlo, Arnold Guillaume Tell at New National Theatre Tokyo, and Gennaro Lucrezia Borgia at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. He will begin the season with a return to Dutch National Opera in the role of Duca di Mantua Rigoletto and makes a debut at Teatro Regio Torino as Nemorino L’elisir d’amore. Other roles in this season include returns to the roles of Arturo I Puritani at Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Nemorino L’elisir d’amore at Teatro Massimo Palermo and Duca di Mantua Rigoletto at Los Angeles Opera. On the concert scene he will sing Verdi’s Requiem at Concertgebouw Amsterdam and an Opera for Peace Concert at the Eiffel Tower.

In the 2023/24 season, René performed the roles of Ernesto Don Pasquale and Alfredo La Traviata at Opéra national de Paris, Ricardo Percy Anna Bolena at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Don Ottativo Don Giovanni at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Il Conte d’Almaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Arena di Verona.

René is based in Paris

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Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Sep 2024 - Oct 2024
Dutch National Opera
Rigoletto (Duca di Mantua) Antonino Fogliani (conductor) Damiano Michieletto (director)
Nov 2024
New National Theatre Tokyo
Guillaume Tell (Arnold) - role debut Ono Kazushi (conductor) Yannis Kokkos (director)
Dec 2024 - Jan 2025
Tiroler Festspiele Erl
I Puritani (Arturo) Lorenzo Passerini (conductor) Festival debut

Selected Repertoire

BelliniI puritani (Lord Arturo Talbo)   •   La sonnambula (Elvino)
BerliozLes Troyens (Iopas)
BizetLes pêcheurs de perles (Nadir)
DonizettiAnna Bolena (Riccardo Percy)   •   Don Pasquale (Ernesto)   •   Il paria (Idamore)   •   La fille du régiment (Tonio)   •   L'elisir d'amore (Nemorino)   •   Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
MozartCosì fan tutte (Ferrando)   •   Die Zauberflöte (Tamino)   •   Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio)   •   Idomeneo (title role)   •   La clemenza di Tito (Tito)
PucciniGianni Schicchi (Rinuccio)
RossiniAdelaide di Borgogna (Adelberto)   •   Guillaume Tell (Arnold Melchtal)   •   Il barbiere di Siviglia (Il Conte d’Almaviva)   •   Il turco in Italia (Narciso)   •   La Cenerentola (Don Ramiro)   •   La donna del lago (Rodrigo)   •   La gazza ladra (Giannetto)   •   L'italiana in Algeri (Lindoro)
StraussDer Rosenkavalier (An Italian singer)
VerdiFalstaff (Fenton)   •   Rigoletto (Il Duca di Mantova)   •   La traviata (Alfredo Germont)

News

Press

  • L'elisir d'amore

    Teatro Regio di Torino
    Jan 2025 - Feb 2025
    • René Barbera è oggi una delle voci più interessanti e versatili nel repertorio donizettiano per sicurezza dei mezzi vocali, eleganza stilistica e buona presenza scenica. Qualità che il numeroso pubblico torinese ha ben apprezzato nel corso della serata regalando un caloroso applauso ad “Una furtiva lacrima” andata diritta al cuore per finezza negli accenti riflessivi e malinconici. La voce sonora e luminosa di Barbera si espande bene in un ambiente teatrale ma a voler fare i pignoli pecca un po’ di monocromaticità soprattutto per quanto riguarda l’espressività delle dinamiche." [Translated] "Coming to the voices and starting with Nemorino, René Barbera is today one of the most interesting and versatile voices in the Donizetti repertoire for the security of his vocal means, stylistic elegance and good stage presence. Qualities that the large Turin audience appreciated well during the evening, giving a warm applause to “Una furtiva lacrima” which went straight to the heart for the finesse in its reflective and melancholic accents. Barbera's sonorous and luminous voice expands well in a theatrical environment but if we want to be picky it lacks a bit of monochromaticity especially with regard to the expressiveness of the dynamics.

    • Nemorino di umanità disarmante, qui interpretato da René Barbera, tenore di comprovata fama nel repertorio belcantistico, apprezzato per il timbro luminoso, la sapienza nell’uso dei fiati e per l’ottimo fraseggio. Artista in crescendo, Barbera connota il suo Nemorino di sfumature e delicatezza che esaltano l’innocente ingenuità del personaggio, paragonato al povero Pinocchio che da tutti è maltrattato: gran finale con l’attesa Una furtiva lagrima che gli vale calorosi e scroscianti applausi." [Translated] "Nemorino of disarming humanity, here interpreted by René Barbera , a tenor of proven fame in the bel canto repertoire, appreciated for his luminous timbre, his skill in the use of wind instruments and for his excellent phrasing. An artist in constant growth, Barbera characterizes his Nemorino with nuances and delicacy that enhance the innocent naivety of the character, compared to poor Pinocchio who is mistreated by everyone: grand finale with the long-awaited Una furtiva lagrima that earns him warm and thunderous applause.

    • René Barbera, rôle qu’il interprète souvent, n’est pas moins impressionnant, avec une belle couleur du timbre, une technique aguerrie dans les deux airs solistes du finale de l’acte I puis dans le très célèbre « Una furtiva lagrima » : en grand artiste qu’il est, le chanteur n’a pas cédé aux exagérations dans certains effets faciles, mais a au contraire conservé une ligne vocale d’une grande pureté." [Translated] "The very likeable Nemorino of René Barbera , a role he often plays, is no less impressive, with a beautiful colour of tone, a technique seasoned in the two solo arias of the finale of Act I and then in the very famous "Una furtiva lagrima": as a great artist that he is, the singer did not give in to exaggerations in certain easy effects, but on the contrary maintained a vocal line of great purity.

    • René Barbera interpreta, con un’intimismo particolarissimo, il personaggio di Nemorino, rendendolo sognante con dei filati delicatissimi. La sua è una lama luminosa, perfettamente idonea a questo ruolo, e lo stile esecutivo è aggraziato percepibile in toto in Adina, credimi, da cui emerge tutto il sentimentalismo del tenore, dotato di ottimo fraseggio e solida tecnica." [Translated] "René Barbera interprets the character of Nemorino with a very particular intimacy, making him dreamy with very delicate threads. His is a luminous blade, perfectly suited to this role, and the executive style is graceful, perceptible in its entirety in Adina, credimi, from which emerges all the sentimentality of the tenor, gifted with excellent phrasing and solid technique.