Alain Damas – lyric tenor

Tenor, Alain Damas, renowned for his musical expressiveness, recently returned to the Teatro Real Madrid in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District under the baton of Hartmut Haenchen and director Martin Kusej. He also gained critical acclaim for his portray of the title role in Don Gil de Alcalá by Manuel Penella at the Festival de Zarzuela de Canarias, where the performances were conducted by Giancarlo del Monaco and Jorge Rubio. Other engagements in 2010 and 2011 include Beethoven’s 9th with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española, under the baton of Pablo Mielgo, Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Madrid’s Festival de Otoño, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Orquesta Filarmónica Mediterránea, a solo recital in the Sala Gayarre at the Teatro Real Madrid, Alfredo in La Traviata at the Teatro Nuevo Alcalá and as Gustavo in Jacinto Guerrero’s Los Gavilanes at the San Marcial Festival.

In recent years, Alain Damas has successfully interpreted many roles of the lyric repertoire, such as Mozart’s Ferrando, Don Ottavio, Gomatz (Zaide) and Bastien (Bastien und Bastienne), Monteverdi’s Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and Apollo (Orfeo), de Falla’s Paco (La vida Breve) and Maese Pedro (El retablo de maese Pedro) as well as Rinuccio, Nemorino, Werther and Fenton. In 2008 he debuted at the Teatro de la Zarzuela as Calixto in La Celestina by Joaquin Nin-Culmell. He also performed in Austrian operetta such as Johann Strauß’ Eine Nacht in Venedig, where he sang the role of the Herzog, which marked his debut at the Teatro de Cristóbal Colón Bogotá in 2002. His professional opera debut was in 1994 at the Bayreuther Festspiele, where he sang one of the Vier brabantische Edle in Wagner’s Lohengrin.

Through numerous concerts, Alain Damas has become known as a specialist in the Spanish zarzuela repertoire, which he performed in international venues such as the Blumental Festival in Tel Aviv, the Teatro Buero Vallejo in Guadalajara, the Teatro Nuevo Alcalá in Madrid and the Euskalduna Concert Hall in Bilbao. Other concert repertoire includes Mahler’s Lied von der Erde which he most recently performed at the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Orff’s Carmina Burana (Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra), Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Asturias Symphonic Orchestra, Orquesta de Cámara Reina Sofía in performances with acclaimed Radovan Vlatkovic on the horn), Dvořák’s Stabat Mater (Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid under the baton of Jésus López Cobos), Mozart’s Requiem (Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española under the baton of Pablo Mielgo) as well as Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Helmuth Rilling, Händel’s Messiah with Maximiano Valdes, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with Christopher Hogwood, and many more.

Alain Damas completed his musical studies at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid with Teresa Berganza. He also worked with Maestro Claude Thiolas, with the pianist and composer Felix Lavilla (Spanish Canción), and with Wolfgang Rieger (German Lied). At present, he continues his studies with the renowned Greek mezzo, Daphne Evangelatos and Enzo Spatola.