Giancarlo Monsalve
Giancarlo Monsalve at sunset over the Tuscan hills

Tenore & Maestro

GiancarloMonsalve

From Covent Garden to the Seoul Arts Center, from the Arena di Verona to Opera Hong Kong, his voice carried the great Italian school across four continents. Today he passes it on to a new generation.

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Giancarlo Monsalve teaching a student at The Old School of Singing®

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2006Debut, Teatro Comunale di Bologna
30+Opera houses on four continents
19Leading spinto roles
Giancarlo Monsalve as Otello

Videos

Otello by Giuseppe Verdi

Watch the complete opera, filmed live, then explore more performances: Tosca, Carmen, Aida and more, plus television appearances and the Carmen cinema broadcast from Taormina.

Repertoire

The roles

Highlights from his nineteen leading roles of the lirico spinto and dramatic repertoire, and what the press wrote about them.

Full repertoire
Giancarlo Monsalve as Otello

Otello

Otello · Verdi
An Otello that makes history
Full review

Monsalve collects the expressive force of some reference Otellos to draw his own: the animality and torment of a Ramón Vinay, the strength and sonorous brilliance of a Mario Del Monaco (with that steady emission and blade-cutting sonorous top) and the scenic ductility of a Plácido Domingo.

Toda la Cultura

Giancarlo Monsalve as Calaf

Calaf

Turandot · Puccini
A heroic version of Nessun dorma
Full review

The pièce de résistance arrived with Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve standing at the roof of the opera house, belting out a heroic version of Nessun dorma.

The National

Giancarlo Monsalve as Radamès

Radamès

Aida · Verdi
Brilliant high notes
Full review

With a voice as thick as a baritone and brilliant high notes, appreciated by worldwide opera experts, tenor Giancarlo Monsalve was the most beloved.

Jung Culture Magazine

Giancarlo Monsalve as Don José

Don José

Carmen · Bizet
Precious mezze voci
Full review

The Don José of the young Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve, a voice of strength built on a technique acquired from the Italian traditional school (Del Monaco, Cecchele, Corelli), but capable of precious mezze voci in the spirit of the character, correct and responsive to the writing, as in the closing of the romance “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée”.

I Vespri

Giancarlo Monsalve as Cavaradossi

Mario Cavaradossi

Tosca · Puccini
Lyrical pathos
Full review

Giancarlo Monsalve, in the role of Cavaradossi, dominated the scene and reached the lyrical pathos in the long-awaited and long-applauded “E lucevan le stelle”.

Scrissi d’Arte

Giancarlo Monsalve as Canio

Canio

Pagliacci · Leoncavallo
Big voice, fine actor
Full review

It is not very common for a tenor to sing the main parts (Turiddu and Canio) in both operas on the same night. Yet this is exactly what tenor Giancarlo Monsalve did. Monsalve has a fine big voice, a very handsome presence and is a fine actor.

The Malta Independent

Giancarlo Monsalve as Turiddu

Turiddu

Cavalleria rusticana · Mascagni
Undoubtedly a burnished and brilliant voice
Full review

In Cavalleria the Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve made his debut in Bologna in the role of Turiddu, with beautiful stage presence. No doubt he has high-quality material, good stage instincts, and the role of the passionate Latin lover fits him like a glove. Undoubtedly a burnished and brilliant voice.

Teatro.it

Giancarlo Monsalve as Manrico

Manrico

Il trovatore · Verdi
Intense and passionate interpretation
Full review

Manrico, the troubadour, gives no respite to his genuine love for Leonora, and with an intense and passionate interpretation the Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve kept the audience attentive to his story from beginning to end.

Toda la Cultura

Giancarlo Monsalve as Don Álvaro

Don Álvaro

La forza del destino · Verdi
Monsalve braves the curse
Full review

Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve braves the “curse” to play Don Álvaro. Monsalve thrives, particularly in his soul-tortured aria “La vita è inferno… O tu che in seno agli angeli”.

DC Metro Theater Arts

Giancarlo Monsalve as Pollione

Pollione

Norma · Bellini
Stentorian top
Full review

The debut of the tenor Giancarlo Monsalve was very welcome. With good presence, his rich harmonic instrument, of beautiful spinto timbre, shone above all in the central register, warm and round, and stentorian at the top.

L’Opera Magazine

Giancarlo Monsalve as Don Carlo

Don Carlo

Don Carlo · Verdi
Beautiful Italian singing
Full review

Beautiful Italian singing by the Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve in the title role of Don Carlo.

Rzeczpospolita

Giancarlo Monsalve as Andrea Chénier

Andrea Chénier

Andrea Chénier · Giordano
The admirable technique of Monsalve
Full review

A technique from the old school that allows him to support his vocal emission firmly and build a vibrant, ample, safe sound that runs with brightness, despite its natural dark baritonal accents. This is a true spinto tenor, from a good school, with timbral flashes of singers such as Mario Del Monaco, and with full awareness of his instrument and what he can achieve with it, giving him a personal identity that seeks no imitation.

Pro Opera, Mexico

Giancarlo Monsalve as Rodolfo

Rodolfo

Luisa Miller · Verdi
Ringing spinto tenor voice
Full review

The Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve, as a rebellious hothead Rodolfo, shone with his ringing spinto tenor voice in an exciting and passionate musical interpretation.

Recklinghäuser Zeitung

Giancarlo Monsalve on stage

Biography

From Valparaíso to Covent Garden

Born in Valparaíso, Chile, Giancarlo Monsalve debuted at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 2006 and went on to sing the central spinto roles at the Royal Opera House, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Arena di Verona, the Dallas Opera, the Seoul Arts Center and many more. In 2010 Chile named him Cultural Ambassador.

On stage

Four continents, one tradition

Europe

  • Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London
  • Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich
  • Zurich Opera House
  • Arena di Verona
  • Teatro Regio, Turin
  • Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari
  • Teatro Antico di Taormina
  • Sferisterio, Macerata
  • Teatro Comunale di Bologna
  • Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Petersburg
  • Oper Köln and Oper Leipzig
  • Deutsche Oper am Rhein
  • Staatsoper Hannover
  • Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur
  • Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon
  • Teatr Wielki, Warsaw
  • Greek National Opera
  • National Concert Hall, Dublin
  • Albanian National Opera, Tirana
  • Vilnius City Opera
  • Stara Zagora State Opera
  • Angers-Nantes Opéra
  • Avenches Opera, Switzerland

North America

  • Washington National Opera
  • The Dallas Opera
  • Florida Grand Opera, Miami
  • Opéra de Montréal
  • Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado, Mexico

South America

  • Teatro Municipal de Santiago
  • Teatro Regional del Maule, Chile
  • Theatro Municipal de São Paulo

Asia and Middle East

  • Seoul Arts Center
  • Sejong Center, Seoul
  • Opera Hong Kong
  • NCPA, Mumbai
  • Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman

Conductors

Riccardo Muti, Carlo Rizzi, Paolo Carignani, Xian Zhang, Patrick Fournillier, Yves Abel, Antonello Allemandi, Oleg Caetani, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Frank Beermann, Jean-Yves Ossonce, Julian Kovatchev, Nayden Todorov, Carlo Montanaro.

Stage directors

Francesca Zambello, Liliana Cavani, Hugo De Ana, Peter Konwitschny, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, Stephen Langridge, Gianfranco de Bosio, Lorenzo Mariani, Jean-Romain Vesperini, Carlos Wagner, Garnett Bruce, Gianni Quaranta, Alberto Triola, Mario de Carlo.

Press

What the critics said

All reviews

Monsalve, as Mario Cavaradossi, frequently struck gold.

Robert Kilborn, Scena
Tosca, Opéra de Montréal, 2017

A full-throated and testosterone-laden Don José in the tradition of singers like Mario del Monaco.

Peter Gordon, Asian Review of Books
Carmen, Opera Hong Kong, 2018

A strong, virile, bronze-like tenor with high Italianate coloring in abundance.

Greg Stepanich, Palm Beach Arts Paper
Norma, Florida Grand Opera, 2016

Excellent the Cavaradossi of Giancarlo Monsalve; large and powerful voice, balanced and supported with expertise.

Maria Teresa Giovagnoli, MTG Lirica
Tosca, Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari, 2016

His voice is rounded and full, his performance emotive yet real.

Monica Hinman, Dallas Observer
Tosca, The Dallas Opera, 2015

Sung with matching vocal power and a strapping stage presence.

Michael Dungan, The Irish Times
Cavalleria rusticana, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 2015

Honours

Recognition

  1. Named Cultural Ambassador by the Government of Chile and the city of Valparaíso, with the UNESCO Medal. More about this

  2. Carmen from the Teatro Antico di Taormina, with Monsalve as Don José, broadcast live in cinemas across Europe, then worldwide.

  3. 35th Mascagni d’Oro, awarded by the Mascagnian Committee of Bagnara di Romagna.

  4. Nominated for Maria Callas Artist of the Year by BroadwayWorld and The Dallas Opera, for his Cavaradossi.

Media

Watch, listen, look

Interviews
Giancarlo Monsalve as Radamès

Teaching

The Old School of Singing®

In 2020 he founded The Old School of Singing® to pass on the García, Melocchi and Campogalliani traditions through the Monsalve Leyton Method, with masterclasses in Italy, Germany and Spain.

  • Manuel Garcíathrough Marchesi, Calvé, Cigna and López Von Vriessen
  • Arturo Melocchiteacher of Mario Del Monaco, through Leodino Ferri
  • Mario and Marcello Del Monacothrough Murgu, Cecchele and Martinucci
  • Pola and Campogallianithrough the academy of Mirella Freni

Contact

Let’s talk

Exclusive events, press and masterclasses.

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Press

Interviews, photographs and biography.

Press area

Masterclasses

Study with the maestro.

The school