He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz. He studied at the Universidad Veracruzana with honors, and in 2004 he made his professional debut at the Palace of Fine Arts Mexican as Tonio in La Fille du Régiment. A leap that would take him two years later to join the Zurich Opera House.
Acclaimed in three productions at the MET New Yorker, with La Cenerentola (2014), Don Pasquale (2016) and La Fille du Régiment (2019), Javier Camarena successfully repeated La Hija del Regimiento at the Teatro Real in Madrid, at the Liceu in Barcelona, and at the Royal Opera Housewhere he agreed to the encore in each of his four functions.
With numerous distinctions on his shoulders, he is one of the “50 leaders who are transforming their nation” in Mexico, and one of the great tenors of the moment, who returns to Buenos Aires after his debut in the Colon Theater in 2017, to give a concert in which he will be accompanied by the Chilean soprano Alyson Rosales and the Cuban-born pianist Ángel Rodríguez (this saturday july 30 at 8 p.m.).
And on August 2, 4, 7, 10, he will put himself in the shoes of Nemorinothe naive peasant, protagonist of the elixir of love (L’elisir d’amore), the opera written by Gaetano Donizetti and Felice Romani, which is presented in August at the Buenos Aires Coliseum, with musical and stage direction by Evelino Pidò and Emilio Sagi, and costumes by the brilliant Renata Schussheim.
“Let’s sing Romeo and Juliet, and then we have Verdi, passages of French romanticism and Puccini. A repertoire had to adapt to the soprano that accompanies me, Alyson Rosales, with parts of operas that I will be singing in full soon, as is the case with Traviata and Manon. I’m going to be firing all this repertoire”, smiles Camanena in dialogue with NOTICIAS.
The Mexican tenor celebrates that this time he will spend more days in Buenos Aires. His previous visit to Colon Theater it was part of a Latin American tour that included performances almost daily. On this opportunity, you will be able to tour the city, its neighborhoods and restaurants: during the interview you recognize a in love with gastronomy and ask for recommendations.
Also celebrate the Colon Theater will give Rosales the opportunity. “A young Chilean woman whom I know as a student. She won international competitions, and one of those prizes was a participation with me in a concert. That’s why I thank Colón for the predisposition to present new singers. I do the same thing in Mexico, with the opera studios in Monterrey and Mexico City. It is important to generate new talents“, Explain.
He remembers that it was precisely in this way that his leap onto the international scene took place. “The Carlos Morelli contest may not be among the most important in the world, but it is an important one for the export of mexican voices like Ramon Vargas. It works as a filter. I won it in 2004 and that year I made my debut in Fine Arts with The Daughter of the Regimentuntil in 2006 I came to Switzerland”, Camarena reviews.
“I always loved music. I listened to everything. I grew up in the second part of the 70’s. At home we used to listen to charleston and foxtrot with my grandmother, Julio Iglesias, trios like Los Panchos, Los Diamantes and Los Aces. The bowlers of the time. But there was also Abba with my aunt, Kiss with my uncle, and my dad played Frank Pourcel, Ray Conniff, Ellis Regina, Leo Dan and Leonardo Fabio”, Lists the tenor, who came to the opera without intending to.
“Classical was not heard, but great voices of Mexican music that I love were heard. I didn’t know I was going to be an artist. I had no such ambition. But I imitated Los Parchis with my cousins. She marked the choreography for them. And I knew that he was in tune, he already sang in the church choir, which I later directed, ”Camarena continues.
“When I decided to make music my profession, one of the ones that covered all my expectations was the singing career. I thought that if I didn’t like it later I would switch to piano. but surprise, tied me up. First I entered with the idea of speaking other languages, English that I already spoke, and then Italian. And when I heard my first opera with Placido Domingo and Eva Marton, in a laser disc, I said this is where I want to go”, concludes Camarena, already consecrated.
by RN
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