[:en]”It began with the tenor of Joel Prieto as Belmonte who, having won Domingo’s Operalia competition in 2008, was making his LA Opera debut. Handsomely tricked out as a traveling dandy of the era with ukulele and tennis racket, Mr. Prieto was a paragon of Mozartian vocal virtues with a smooth line, excellent passagework, and endless, endless, breath. During one particularly impressive moment of super-respiratory exhibitionism he actually glanced at his watch to the hilarity of the audience. His is a voice of real quality and although he made a bit of heavy weather in his last act aria the rest of his performance was literal perfection. He’s also dashingly handsome and made an appealing and sympathetic character of the Spanish nobleman rather than falling into standard “handsome hero” mode”.
Patrick Mack, Parterre.com
“Pitted against the larger than life Linklater, Joel Prieto’s endearingly clueless, exceptionally sweet-voiced Belmonte, dressed the same as his rival but with the additional kit of tennis racquet, balls and ukulele, seemed almost an afterthought at times”.
Laurence Vittes, Bachtrack
“Puerto Rican tenor Joel Prieto sang the role of her lover, Belmonte, with oboe-like tones that always seemed to come from the exact center of the note”.
Maria Nockin, Opera Today[:de]”It began with the tenor of Joel Prieto as Belmonte who, having won Domingo’s Operalia competition in 2008, was making his LA Opera debut. Handsomely tricked out as a traveling dandy of the era with ukulele and tennis racket, Mr. Prieto was a paragon of Mozartian vocal virtues with a smooth line, excellent passagework, and endless, endless, breath. During one particularly impressive moment of super-respiratory exhibitionism he actually glanced at his watch to the hilarity of the audience. His is a voice of real quality and although he made a bit of heavy weather in his last act aria the rest of his performance was literal perfection. He’s also dashingly handsome and made an appealing and sympathetic character of the Spanish nobleman rather than falling into standard “handsome hero” mode”.
Patrick Mack, Parterre.com
“Pitted against the larger than life Linklater, Joel Prieto’s endearingly clueless, exceptionally sweet-voiced Belmonte, dressed the same as his rival but with the additional kit of tennis racquet, balls and ukulele, seemed almost an afterthought at times”.
Laurence Vittes, Bachtrack
“Puerto Rican tenor Joel Prieto sang the role of her lover, Belmonte, with oboe-like tones that always seemed to come from the exact center of the note”.
Maria Nockin, Opera Today[:]