Tenor
World excluding USA, Spain
One of the leading tenors of our time and one of the most sought-after worldwide, Ramón Vargas was born in Mexico City. He studied at the Cardenal Miranda Institute of his hometown, with Antonio Lopez and Ricardo Sanchez. In 1982, after winning the Carlo Morelli National Vocal Competition, he made his debut in Haydn’s Lo Speziale, in Monterrey, Mexico. His breakthrough came in 1983, when the Mexican conductor Eduardo Mata hired him to sing Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff, and then Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Upon winning the Enrico Caruso Tenor Competition in Milan, in 1986, he moved to Austria, where he completed his vocal studies at the school of the Wiener Staatsoper, under the guidance of Leo Müller. After deciding to become a freelancer in 1990, he met in Milan the renowned teacher Rodolfo Celletti, who became his vocal coach.
Ramón Vargas’ international debut took place in 1992, when the New York Metropolitan Opera asked him to sing Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor opposite June Anderson, substituting Luciano Pavarotti. This was soon followed by a debut on the stage of La Scala, in 1993, where he sung Fenton in Strehler’s new production celebrating the centenary of Falstaff, conducted by Riccardo Muti. He regularly performs at all the major opera houses all over the world to great acclaim: Teatro Colón Buenos Aires (La Favorita), London Royal Opera House (Un ballo in maschera, La bohème, Rigoletto, La traviata), Teatro alla Scala di Milano (Falstaff, Rigoletto, La traviata, Simon Boccanegra), Metropolitan New York (Attila, La bohème, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier), Teatro Real de Madrid (Werther, Un ballo in maschera), Opéra National de Paris (La clemenza di Tito, Rigoletto, La traviata), San Francisco Opera (Un ballo in maschera, L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor), Vienna State Opera (Don Carlo, La bohème, L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux), Arena di Verona (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto) and many others.
In addition to his operatic career, he is also an accomplished concert singer, with an extensive repertoire ranging from Italian classical songs to romantic German Lieder and melodies by French, Mexican and Spanish composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1998 he gave a memorable recital at La Scala and his renditions of popular Mexican songs have been met with enthusiasm at massive concerts across Europe and Mexico.
He was awarded the Lauri Volpi Award for the Best Opera Singer of the 1993 Italian season, and in 1995 Italian critics were unanimous in decorating him with the Gino Tani Award for the Arts. In 2000, British Opera Now declared Ramón Vargas Artist of the Year. Each year, since 1999, Austrian Festpiele magazine has given him the first place among the best tenors in the world. In 2001, he received the ECHO Klassik – Singer of the Year Award from the German Phono Academy.
Ramón Vargas’ multi-awarded discography includes Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, La scala di seta, Tancredi, Maometto II, Il Turco in Italia; Donizetti’s La Favorite; Bellini’s Zaira, I Capuleti e i Montecchi; Massenet’s Werther; Granados’ Goyescas; Verdi’s Falstaff and Alzira; Mercadante’s Il proscritto for Opera Rara (Opera Award winner in 2024)
LATEST PERFORMANCES: Ariel Ramírez’ Misa Criolla at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse; Un ballo in maschera at Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires; belcanto recital at Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro; Giovanna d’Arco at Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; Norma in Japan; Carmen (Don Jose debut) in Graz; La bohème in Alicante; I lombardi alla prima crociata at Opéra Royal de Wallonie; Simon Boccanegra at Staatsoper Hamburg; Giovanna d’Arco at Opéra de Marseille; Tosca at Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens; at Barbican Centre London; Luisa Miller at Staatsoper Hamburg;Don Carlo at Vienna State Opera, at Los Angeles Opera and Opernhaus Zürich; La Gioconda at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse; Un ballo in maschera at Teatro Real de Madrid; Roberto Devereux in Los Angeles; I masnadieri at Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
FORTHCOMING PROJECTS: Tosca at Stadttheater Bonn; concert at KKL Lucern; La Juive at Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; Lucia di Lammermoor at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse.
