-The tenor will be singing in the Belgian capital for the first time, and he will be taking the role of Ernesto in Don Pasquale
November 2018
The Spanish-born Puerto-Rican tenor Joel Prieto will make his debut at La Monnaie / De Munt opera house in Brussels this December as the tender Ernesto in the Donizetti opera Don Pasquale. The singer will travel to Belgium from Switzerland, where he has just triumphed with his acclaimed Ferrando in Mozart´s Così fan tutte at Lausanne Opera. His debut on stage at La Monnaie / De Munt will give Prieto the opportunity to return to a role in which he made his debut in 2013 at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome – where he will be returning next year with another Mozart role, Idamante, in Idomeneo, re di Creta– which he also sang in 2014 at Opera de Puerto Rico. “I am very excited about getting back to Donizetti” –the singer explains– “he is one of my favourite composers and every time I have taken on one of his roles it has brought me great joy. I am crazy about geting into the role of Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore and I just can´t wait to make my debut as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, a role which I am studying deeply and which I enjoy every note of”, he concludes.
In the Brussels Don Pasquale, Prieto will take the lead role in an imaginative Laurent Pelly production, sharing the stage with other great specialists in bel-canto such as Michele Pertusi and Danielle de Niese, members of the first cast in a series of eleven performances. Joel Prieto will appear in the performances programmed on the 9th (premiere), 12th, 14th, 16th, 19th and 21st December, all conducted by Alain Altinoglu. “Singing at La Monnaie in Brussels alongside a top-flight cast is fantastic; it is an opera house that I hadn´t performed at so far, and the opportunity has come to me at the best time”, the tenor explains.
Later, among his upcoming engagements and continuing to add new repertoire, are his return to the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (with Händel´s Rodelinda, in March) and the Teatro Real in Madrid (with Verdi´s Falstaff in April and May).