Virginia Tola - Floria Tosca (March 6^th, 8^th, 11^th)

Winner of the Operalia Prize in Barcelona, Mrs. Tola began a career that brought her to important theaters such as: Colòn in Buenos Aires, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Teatro Real in Madrid, Washington National Opera, Opéra in Monte Carlo, Arena in Verona, La Monnaie in Brussels, Los Angeles Opéra, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Regio in Turin and the opera houses in Klagenfurt, La Plata and Santa Fe. After her successes as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Contessa d’Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Violetta in Traviata, Desdemona in Otello, Luisa Miller (title role) and Mimì in La Bohème, she has recently added new roles to her repertoire, singing Lina in Stiffelio, Abigaille in Nabucco, Nedda in Pagliacci, Amelia in Un ballo in Maschera. Mrs. Tola sang Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Regio in Parma, at the Colon in Buenos Aires, at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo,  Desdemona in Otello in Modena and Piacenza and Lina in Stiffelio in Monte-Carlo; Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in Oviedo; Falstaff in Sao Paulo. Besides her opera appearances. Mrs. Tola usually performs in concerts all over the world: she recently appeared in recital besides Placido Domingo in Japan. Mrs. Tola’s discography includes Ginastera’s Don Rodrigo and Milena and Bacalov’s Triple Concerto for Delos International. Virginia Tola recently gained great success singing Leonora in La Forza del Destino at the Teatro Regio in Parma and as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Comunale in Bologna, Vick directing and Mariotti conducting, she also sang Ernani at the Opera in Florence.

Among her future plans it is worth mentioning Un ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; I Due Foscari in Marseille; Nabucco at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège; Don Carlo in Madrid and at the Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo.

Aquiles Machado - Mario Caravadossi (March 4^th, 8^th, 11^th)

After his successes gained in I Masnadieri in Naples, La Gioconda in Palermo and Rome, La Forza del Destino at the Festival Verdi in Parma, Ernani in Bilbao, Un Ballo in Maschera in Liège and Simon Boccanegra in Berlin, Aquiles Machado returns to sing Puccini’s masterpice. Among his recent engagements, it is worth mentioning: Cavaradossi in Tosca in Leipzig, as well as at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Beijing, Berlin (Deutsche Oper) and Vienna (Wiener Staatsoper); Carmen and Un Ballo in Maschera in Las Palmas; Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra in Zurich; Alfredo in La Traviata in Florence; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly  in Torre del Lago and Vienna; Rodolfo in La Bohème in Valencia, Riccardo Chailly conducting; Norma at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna; Il Trovatore at the Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata; La Traviata at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo and at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia under Zubin Mehta; Roméo et Juliette in Liège; Don José in Carmen in Bilbao; I Due Foscari in Toulouse; La Bohème at the Terme in Caracalla (Rome) and in Dresden; Cavalleria Rusticana in Pamplona; Madama Butterfly and Carmen in St.Petersburg; Tosca in Cagliari under Gianluigi Gelmetti; Don Carlo and La Traviata at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Aquiles Machado performed Verdi’s Requiem in Bologna then on tour in Moscow at the Rostropovich Festival under Michele Mariotti, in Cincinnati and St. Louis under Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, at the Gewandhaus Leipzig under Anthony Bramall.

Future plans: La Traviata in Florence, Zubin Mehta conducting ; Carmen in Minorca; Faust, Simon Boccanegra, Werther, Don Carlo  in Las Palmas; La Bohème in Liège; Un Ballo in Maschera in Tel Aviv again under Zubin Mehta.