Giancarlo Monsalve Leyton : (Giancarlo Monsalve) is globally recognized as one of the most versatile and secure leading lirico spinto tenors of his generation, acclaimed for his vocal mastery, acting skills applied on the most demanding operatic repertoire. Since his absolute debut in the 2006 season of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy, Giancarlo Monsalve has been invited as Leading Tenor guest on some of the world's most prestigious stages, including the Zurich Opera House; the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London; Teatro Regio of Turin; the Arena di Verona; the National Opera of Greece; l'Opera Nice Côte d'Azur; Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; the Washington National Opera; the Seoul Arts Center; Sferisterio of Macerata; The Dallas Opera; Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon; Municipal Theatre of São Paulo; Wielki Opera of Warsaw; Deutsche Oper am Rhein; Oper Köln; Staatsoper Hannover; Oper Leipzig; NCPA National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai; Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile; the Hong Kong Opera; Royal Opera House of the Sultanate of Oman in Muscat; the State Opera Stara Zagora in Bulgaria (Roman Amphitheatre Augusta Traiana); the National Opera of Albania in Tirana; a Gala Tour of Australia with the Melbourne Orchestra; among others. He has collaborated with renowned conductors and stage directors, and has received numerous awards and honors for his exceptional talent.
Monsalve's performances have been broadcast on radio and TV stations, as well as in cinemas, reaching a global audience. He made his cinema debut in 2015 with the live streaming of the opera Carmen. He has also been featured in numerous television and radio programs and shows, including interviews, news segments, concerts, and complete operas.
In addition to his successful career as a performer, Monsalve has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the arts. He was named Cultural Ambassador by the government of Chile and the city of Valparaíso and received the UNESCO Medal. He was also awarded the 35th Golden Mascagni by the Mascagnian Committee of Bagnara di Romagna, and was nominated for the Maria Callas Artist of the Year 2016 by Broadway World Magazine and the Dallas Opera.
In 2020, Master Giancarlo Monsalve established The Old School of Singing® Academy, where he imparts his own unique Singing Methodology (The Monsalve Leyton Method) that blends and revives the technical traditions and methodologies of a generational wealth of vocal expertise passed generation by generation: Arturo Melocchi; Del Monaco; Manuel Garcia; Campogalliani.
More information on www.theoldschoolofsinging.com
Giancarlo Monsalve's talent, passion, and dedication to the art of opera have earned him a place among the world's leading tenors.
Born in Valparaíso, Chile, Monsalve began his studies of fine arts at the School of "Bellas Artes", Monsalve began his musical studies in 2001 at the Conservatory Izidor Handler Viña del Mar with soprano Nora Lopez Von Vriessen (Ex student of Gina Cigna and Maria Caniglia). Since 2004, Monsalve continued to improve his technique in Italy with soprano Mirella Freni and bass Leodino Ferri, on the path of Ettore Campogalliani and Arturo Melocchi school. Monsalve had masterclasses with with soprano Montserrat Caballé and tenors Gianfranco Cecchele, Corneliu Murgu, Lando Bartolini, Dano Raffanti and Nicola Martinucci. He has been scenically trained with actor and Chilean director Juan Edmundo González del Valle and Hollywood Stars Coach Bernard Hiller.
Collaborations
Monsalve has worked with conductors such as: Patrick Fournillier; Yves Abel; Nayden Todorov; Riccardo Muti; Carlo Rizzi; Paolo Carignani; Xian Zhang; Antonello Allemandi; Oleg Caetani; Julian Kovatchev; Roberto Rizzi Brignoli; Carlo Montanaro; Jean-Yves Ossonce; Frank Beermann.
He has also worked with stage directors such as: Hugo De Ana; Francesca Zambello; Jean-Romain Vesperini; Patrice Caurier et Moshe Leiser; Giancarlo del Monaco; Gianni Quaranta; Peter Konwitschny; Lorenzo Mariani; Mario de Carlo; Gianfranco de Bosio; Liliana Cavani; Garnett Bruce; Alberto Triola; Stephen Langridge; Carlos Wagner.
Awards and Honors
● (Honor)
・ On August 11, 2010 the Government of Chile together with the city of Valparaíso have named Giancarlo Monsalve as Cultural Ambassador conferring him the UNESCO Medal.
● (Award)
・ On December 6, 2015 the Mascagnian Committee of Bagnara di Romagna, awarded Giancarlo Monsalve with the 35th Golden Mascagni.
● (Nomination)
・ In June 2016 Giancarlo Monsalve was one of 22 nominated by the Broadway World Magazine and the Dallas Opera for the prize (Maria Callas Artist of the Year 2016) for his Mario Cavaradosi in the Opera Tosca. The award was finally delivered to the mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato
Cinema, Radio and TV
● (Cinema)
・ On July 15, 2015 Giancarlo Monsalve made his debut in cinemas of the whole European continent with Live Streaming of the Opera Carmen and from December 2015 projected in the major cinemas of the world.
● (Radio and TV)
・ Giancarlo Monsalve was featured in some of the most important World television and radio programs and shows, with personal interviews, news, concerts and complete operas.
Updated on February 2020 please delete every previous version.
02
Vocal Technique
There are no limits to learn
First of all you have to know from where it comes the legacy of your knowledge, and the results of who gave you this legacy to later make one on your own.
Your goals have to be always unreachably high, because if you have reachable goals, once you're on the Top you can only start your fall, but if it is unreachable, you can just go higher and higher. That's why I love Arts in general, there are no limits. Giancarlo.
Giancarlo Monsalve TURANDOT / Prince Calaf
In the eternal study and research of the "Arte Canora" Monsalve studied with
The lineage
Four schools, one unbroken line
Monsalve’s technique was not learned from books. It was handed down, person to person, from the schools that produced Mario Del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Tebaldi and Mirella Freni. Follow each line to see how every teacher connects to him.
I
The García school
Bel canto · the foundation of modern technique
Manuel GarcíaThe great 19th-century teacher of singing
Mathilde MarchesiHis pupil in Paris
Emma CalvéPupil of Marchesi · the legendary Carmen
Gina CignaSeven years with Calvé
Nora Lopez Von Vriessen
Chilean Soprano former student of the Legendary Sopranos Gina Cigna and Maria Caniglia.
Monsalve studied with Lopez Von Vriessen in Vina del Mar and Santiago, Chile from the 2001 till 2003
Giancarlo Monsalve Viña del Mar & Santiago · 2001–2003
II
The beginnings
First steps · Viña del Mar
Carlos SantelicesChilean tenor
Mario Barrientos
Chilean Tenor former student of the Tenor Carlos Santelices.
Monsalve studied with Barrientos in Vina Del Mar, Chile in 2002 and 2003
Giancarlo Monsalve Viña del Mar · 2002–2003
III
The Pola & Campogalliani school
Breath · space · musical intelligence
Arrigo PolaModena · first teacher of Luciano Pavarotti
Ettore CampogallianiTeacher of Pavarotti, Tebaldi and Freni
The adviceLuciano PavarottiPupil of Pola and Campogalliani · it was Pavarotti himself who sent Monsalve to study with Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni
Italian Soprano former student of Ettore Campogalliani
"Campogalliani was also teacher of Renata Tebaldi, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Ruggero Raimondi"
Monsalve studied with Freni in her academy in Emilia Romagna, Italy, giving him the first Nicolai Ghiaurov Scholarship in 2004 and 2005
Giancarlo Monsalve Emilia-Romagna · 2004–2005
IV
The tenor’s craft
Pisa & Tuscany · 2006–2007
Rodolfo CellettiMusicologist, critic and voice teacher
Dano Raffanti
Italian Tenor former student of the famous musicologist, critic and voice teacher Rodolfo Celletti.
Monsalve studied with Raffanti in Pisa, Italy from 2006 until 2007.
Giancarlo Monsalve Pisa · 2006–2007
Nicola MosconaBass of the Metropolitan Opera
Lando Bartolini
Italian Tenor former student of the MET Bass Nicola Moscona.
Monsalve studied with Bartolini in Tuscany, Italy in 2007.
Giancarlo Monsalve Tuscany · 2007
V
The Melocchi school
Dramatic power · open throat · affondo
Arturo MelocchiTeacher of Mario Del Monaco
The advice
Giancarlo Del Monaco
Italian Regisseur, son of the legendary Tenor Mario Del Monaco. (This is a special mention); In 2008 Giancarlo Del Monaco heard Monsalve in his debut of Luisa Miller in Leipzig, Germany.
After that G. Del Monaco decided to give Monsalve a few tips with some of the secrets of his father and strongly adviced Monsalve to study with Leodino Ferri and follow the Melocchi school that made his father one of the bigest Tenors in history.
Giancarlo Monsalve Leipzig · 2008
Leodino Ferri
Italian Bass. One of the last direct former students of Maestro Arturo Melocchi.
Monsalve learned the Melocchi method with Ferri in Rome, Italy in 2009.
Spanish Soprano, former student of the Wagnerian Singer Eugenia Kemeny who has teached her the superb "Fiato" technique that made her famous in the world.
Monsalve studied with Caballé in a Masterclass in Zaragoza, Spain in 2009.
Giancarlo Monsalve Masterclass in Zaragoza · 2009
VII
The Del Monaco line
The tenors of Mario & Marcello Del Monaco
Mario & Marcello Del MonacoThe great dramatic tenor, his brother and their pupils
Nicola Martinucci
Italian Tenor former student of Marcello Del Monaco.
Monsalve studied with Martinucci in Rome, Milan and Taranto, Italy from 2009 until 2015.
Giancarlo Monsalve Rome, Milan & Taranto · 2009–2015
Corneliu Murgu
Romanian Tenor former student of Marcello Del Monaco
Monsalve studied with Murgu in Timisoara, Romania in 2010 between his performances of Tosca.
Giancarlo Monsalve Timișoara · 2010
Gianfranco Cecchele
Italian Tenor former student of Mario and Marcello Del Monaco
Monsalve studied with Cecchele in Galliera Veneta, Italy in 2011, between his performances in ROH in London and Arena di Verona.
Giancarlo Monsalve Galliera Veneta · 2011
GM
Giancarlo Monsalve
Every line leads to one voice
Giancarlo Monsalve CARMEN / Don José · Royal Opera House Muscat
03
Acting Skills
You can not just play a character, you have to live it and feel it!
It is impossible to transmit emotions if you do not feel them (Logically keeping your consciousness of the real world). If you live your character on stage, the audience will feel it and forget that they are watching an opera and they will feel part of that parallel world that we bring to life on stage. That's the difference between performer and artist. Trying to give emotions without feeling them, is like trying to give money to someone when you have no money. Giancarlo.
Giancarlo Monsalve OTELLO / Otello
Giancarlo Monsalve was trained in acting by
Bernard Hiller
American acting teacher, producer, writer, and success coach.
Bernard has coached Cameron Diaz, Billy Crystal, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Garner, Chace Crawford and many others
Monsalve studied with Hiller in Rome, Italy, in 2013
Juan Edmundo Gonzalez del Valle
Chilean Actor and Theatre Director.
One of the pioneers of Chilean street theater in the 80's.
Monsalve studied with Juan Edmundo Gonzalez in Valparaíso, Chile, in 1995.
Giancarlo Monsalve CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / Compare Turiddu · Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The adviceLuciano PavarottiPupil of Pola and Campogalliani · it was Pavarotti himself who sent Monsalve to study with Mirella Freni
