MARCELO LOMBARDERO
Born into a family of professional musicians, Marcelo Lombardero’s connections with opera and theater began in childhood. He sang first as a member of the Children's Choir of The Colón Theater in Buenos Aires and continued singing during his studies at The Colón Theater Art Institute. On graduating, he became a baritone soloist, performing in theaters of America and Europe. Later on, Lombardero’s career moved from singer to opera stage director and director of opera theaters.
Baritone
As a singer, Lombardero’s repertoire included the lead baritone roles in Rigoletto, Macbeth, Otello (Verdi), Der Fliegende Holländer, Tristan und Isolde (Wagner), Il Priggioniero, (Dallapiccola), Faust Damnation (Berlioz), Don Giovanni (Mozart), and Die Tote Stadt (Korngold). His last performances, before moving to opera and theater direction full-time, included El Cimarrón and L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (Henze) in Madrid, Der Freischütz (Weber) in Buenos Aires, and Rigoletto (Verdi) in Santiago de Chile.
Opera Stage Director
Marcelo Lombardero began his activities as opera stage director at the Experimentation Center of Colon Theater, Buenos Aires (CETC) in 1994, where he staged Brecht-Weill's Mahagonny Songspiel, Moonlight, with music by Monteverdi, Ravel and Debussy, and Lygeti's Aventures et Nouvelles Aventures.
In 1995 he debuted in the main hall of the Colon Theater with the staging of Bluebeard's Castle (Bartok). In 2002, also for the Colon Theater, he staged a new production of La fanciulla del West (Puccini), followed by Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc), Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Ullman), Der König Kandaules (Zemlinsky), Jonnyspieltauf (Krenek), Wozzeck (Berg), Parsifal (Wagner), Macbeth (Verdi), Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Weill-Brecht) and Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss).
Lombardero also directed operas for leading Latin America, USA and Europe theaters, where he staged titles as Carmen (Bizet), The Turn of the Screw and Billy Budd (Britten), The Brief Life (De Falla), Rusalka (Dvořák), Alcina (Handel), L ́incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi), Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute (Mozart), Maria de Buenos Aires (Piazzola), Tosca and Manon Lescaut (Puccini), Otello (both Rossini and Verdi versions), Lady Macbeth of Mstensk (Shostakovich), Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss), The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky), and Tristan und Isolde and Des Ring des Nibelugen (Wagner).
Theater Director
In 2000 Lombardero was named Director of the Colon Theater Chamber Opera (OCTC) staging performances in Buenos Aires and touring Argentina, Latin America, and Europe. With the OCTC, Lombardero presented Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Ullman) at São Paulo’s Théâtre Alfa, and at the Opera Comique in Paris.
In 2005 Lombardero became Artistic Director of the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, the preeminent opera house of Argentina and South America, where he remained until 2008 when he was named Artistic Director of the Argentino Theater, in La Plata, Argentina. Working there through 2013, he was lauded by critics for the most important and productive seasons of that institution.
In 2016 Lombardero returned to the Colon Theater Chamber Opera (OCTC) as Director. There he designed a program to bring operas to unconventional audiences throughout Argentina and abroad, promoting young artists and favoring rarely performed works from the Baroque to contemporary.
Lombardero also created TMC, the Contemporary Musical Theater, an independent company that produces and presents shows in Argentina and international festivals. The TMC highlight Bromas y Lamentos (Jokes and Moans), based on compositions by Monteverdi and Cavalli, has been enjoyed long runs in Buenos Aires, Miami, and Guadalajara (Mexico).
His interest in contemporary opera led Lombardero to co-found OLA (Latin American Opera Association) in 2007. He served as its first vice-president and is currently a board member. He collaborates actively with contemporary composers and writes about opera and musical theater for different local and international media. Since 2008 he has produced and appeared in a weekly radio program about opera (in Radio Nacional Clásica, Argentina).
Accolades
1995 Cabaret Songs (Actor)
2000 Clarín Award (Singer)
2003 Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Stage director)
2006 Le nozze di Figaro (Stage director)
2006 The Turn of Screw (Stage Director)
2007 Tristan und Isolde (Stage Director)
2009 Lady Macbeth of Msensk (Stage Director)
2009 Konex Award
2011 Mexico Lunas Award for Lifetime Achievement as manager and disseminator of culture and arts
2011 Best opera production in Poland's 2011-2012 season
2012/13 Carmen (Stage Director)
2013 Billy Budd (Stage Director)
2015 Don Giovanni (Stage Director)
2017 L ́incoronazione di Poppea (Stage director)
2019 Collaboration/Taking Sides (Director of dramatic work)
2019 Florencio Sanchez Theatre Award (Tristan and Isolde Stage Director)
2019 Konex Diamond award for lifetime achievements