Colombian opera singer Valeriano Lanchas will play the role of Bartolo in the New York Metropolitan Opera’s “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, reported local media on Friday.
“I’m very happy, I was asked to play the role of Bartolo in the opera ‘The Barber of Seville’ by Rossini. My official debut is scheduled for December 2015, as a starter. During this season I will be cover for the official singer,” Lanchas told newspaper El Tiempo.
The Colombian landed his dream role without even auditioning. The baritone appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington in a role in “The Force of Destiny” by Verdi, when he was spotted by two officials from the Met who then called Lanchas’s manager, reported newspaper El Tiempo.
Lanchas is currently performing in the opera ‘Turandot’ by Puccini, which opens on September 25 in Bogota at the Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Theater with further performances on the 27th and October 2 and 4.
Lanchas will be the first Colombian singer to appear in the prestigious opera house. The Metropolitan is one of the great temples of opera alongside theaters such as La Scala and the Bolshoi.
“Representing Colombia in such a theater fills me with pride and I hope to be a good ambassador for our people,” said the singer, reported El Espectador.
Valeriano Lanchas studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and with Armen Boyagian in New York.
Lanchas has shared the stage with such legends of opera as Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. During his career he has participated in the operas of Washington, Caramoor Festival in New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Madrid , Treviso, Bogota, Caracas and Santiago and he has given recitals in Lisbon, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Philadelphia, New York and Bogota.
Now he can add the Metropolitan to that list.