Elaine Alvarez

Vocalists — Soprano

Manager: Elizabeth Crittenden, Damon Bristo
Management Territory: Worldwide

“In tone and in stage comportment, Elaine Alvarez's Micaela was reminiscent of the young Maria Callas.” —Robert Carreras, Opera News, July 2010 - Micaela in 'Carmen' at Florida Grand Opera (debut and role debut)

“The Micaela of Elaine Alvarez is a luxury in this production. Having a singer of her stature--who has interpreted Traviata's and Mimi's--in a smaller role, is something that must not be missed, because the young soprano knows how to use every moment she is on stage and credit must be given to [Renaud] Doucet for his direction of the character.” —Daniel Fernandez, El Nuevo Herald, April 27, 2010 - Micaela in 'Carmen' at Florida Grand Opera (debut and role debut)

“At the podium was the ideal pairing of Elaine Alvarez and Joseph Calleja: two equally strong, extremely homogenous and bright open voices, which literally ignited together. Excellent was the timbre of Elaine Alvarez with plenty of power in the top and a sparkling middle.” —Bernhard Uske , Frankfurter Rundschau, March 2009 - Magda in "La rondine" with Oper Frankfurt at the Alte Oper

About

"Luminous" declared the Chicago Sun-Times of Elaine Alvarez's Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Mimì in 'La bohème'. In a production directed by Renata Scotto and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, the critics were unanimous with praise for the Cuban-American soprano: "Conveying lyric pathos seems to come as naturally to Alvarez as breathing" (Chicago Tribune). Major successes followed as soprano soloist in Rossini’s 'Stabat Mater' under the baton of Riccardo Muti with the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on tour in Ravenna, Mazara del Vallo, and Athens, as well . . . as celebrated performances of Magda de Civry in ‘La rondine’ for Oper Leipzig. Ms. Alvarez made her Bayerische Staatsoper debut as Violetta in 'La traviata' with Jonas Kaufmann and Simon Keenlyside, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson.

Ms. Alvarez begins the 2010 – 2011 season with a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Micaela in 'Carmen'. Also this season, she will sing performances of Contessa Almaviva in 'Le nozze di Figaro' at the Saito Kinen Festival in Tokyo under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. This same production will travel to Carnegie Hall in New York and then to the Théâtre du Champs-Elysées in Paris, again with Seiji Ozawa.

In the 2009 – 2010 season with her Oper Frankfurt debut in 'La bohème' and returned for concert performances of 'La rondine' later in the season at Frankfurt's Alte Oper. She also made her Arizona Opera debut in 'La bohème' followed by a much-anticipated Florida Grand Opera debut in her hometown of Miami as Micaela in 'Carmen'. Additionally, Ms. Alvarez made her Carnegie Hall debut as a featured artist in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Annual Recital.

Recent seasons have also seen Ms. Alvarez as the Countess in Mozart’s 'Le nozze di Figaro' with Opera Cleveland, Mimì in 'La bohème' at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova with Daniel Oren conducting and a new production of 'La traviata' for Theater St Gallen in Switzerland, under the baton of Maurizio Barbacini. At Oper Leipzig, she has been seen as Violetta in 'La traviata', Mimì in Peter Konwitschny's 'La bohème', Magda in 'La rondine', Donna Anna in 'Don Giovanni', and Pamina in 'Die Zauberflöte'. She also toured to Hong Kong for a series of performances of Mozart’s 'Mass in C minor' with the Leipzig Ballet and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. For Glimmerglass Opera she created the role of La Comtesse de Breville in the world premiere of Stephen Hartke’s 'The Greater Good', now commercially available on Naxos Records.

Recitals for Ms. Alvarez have included her Washington DC debut with the prestigious Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and a Marilyn Horne Foundation recital residency at the University of Pittsburgh – Bradford, both in the fall of 2007. As a grand prizewinner of the MHF Competition, Ms. Alvarez made her New York recital debut under the auspices of the Horne Foundation in April 2007.

(Updated June 2010)

Learn More