Tenor Valerio Contaldo at Styriarte 2020
Born in Italy, he initially studied classical guitar before dedicating himself to singing at the Lausanne Conservatory. Our Styriarte visitors have already been able to experience the charismatic tenor at four Fux Opera Festivals. With opera roles and concert roles from Monteverdi to Frank Martin, Valerio Contaldo has delighted audiences from Tokyo to Aix-en-Provence.
About the artist
finalist at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig
Career
Born in Italy, Valerio Contaldo grew up in Switzerland. After training as a classical guitarist in Sion and Paris, he studied with Gary Magby at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne where he obtained a Master degree in singing performance. He has been among the finalists of the Leipzig Bach Competition in 2008 and attended masterclasses with Christa Ludwig, Klesie Kelly, David Jones and Julius Drake.
Oratorio
Very active and versatile, his oratorio repertoire includes the most important works of sacred music from Monteverdi to Frank Martin, including Bach (Passions, Cantatas), Mozart (Requiem, Davide Penitente, C minor Mass), Haydn (The Creation, The Seasons), Rossini (Petite Messe Solennelle, Stabat Mater).
On Stage
He performs in major European Festivals and concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Musikverein in Vienna, Beaune and Ambronay festivals, Mozartwoche in Salzburg, Les Folles Journées in Nantes, Bilbao, Warsaw and Tokyo, MA Festival in Bruges, Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht and at the opera, on the stages of the Opéra de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the theaters of Biel/Solothurn, the Opéra de Nice, the Opéra de Bordeaux, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, as well as at the Festivals of Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence and Graz (Styriarte).
Orfeo
In 2017, he has had the chance to perform the title role in L'Orfeo by Monteverdi, with Concerto Italiano (R. Alessandrini) in Barcelona, Adelaide, Shanghai and Beijing, as well as with the Cappella Mediterranea (L. García Alarcón) in Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris (Festival Saint-Denis), and on tour in South America (Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo).
Colaboration
Recently, he has also been heard at the Opéra de Bordeaux and the Opéra Comique in Mârouf, Savetier du Caire by Henri Rabaud, as well as L'Orfeo by Monteverdi, in Budapest, Vicenza and Geneva in a version by Iván Fischer or in Beethoven's 9th Symphony and in Haydn's Creation at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, under the baton of Leonardo García Alarcón.
Between 2021 and 2023 his performances include: Testo in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), the title role in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Evangelist in Bach's Matthäus Passion, Morphée in Lully’s Atys at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, as well as Damon in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, in Paris and Amsterdam (Concertgebouw).
He works under the baton of conductors such as: Leonardo García Alarcón, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Marc Minkowski, Michel Corboz, William Christie, Alfredo Bernardini, John Nelson, Philippe Herreweghe, Philippe Pierlot, Stephan MacLeod, Sébastien Daucé, Stéphane Fuget, Peter van Heyghen, Jean-Marc Aymes…
Recordings
Among his recent notable recordings: Monteverdi's L’Orfeo with La Cappella Mediterranea (Alpha), Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria (CVS), Bach's B minor Mass with Gli Angeli Geneva (Claves) or Dafne in Lauro by Fux with the ensemble Zefiro (Arcana), Monteverdi’s Il Setttimo Libro de’ Madrigali (Naïve) all highly acclaimed.
Styriarte
Styriarte visitors already know him from the Fux Festivals 2018 (Teucro), 2019 (Mercurio in Apollo & Daphne), 2020 (Il Sonno in Die Geschenke der Nacht) and 2023 (Orazio / Tarquinio in Costanza e Fortezza).
