Consistently praised for his smooth, powerful voice, thrilling top notes and magnetic stage presence, the award-winning Argentine-Australian baritone José Carbó has performed in the leading houses of the world including Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Seattle Opera and Opera Australia.

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Established as a Verdi specialist and “Australia’s leading Verdi lyric baritone” (Limelight Magazine), José's triumphant Verdi debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera at Opera Australia was described as “an object lesson in Verdi singing” (Sydney Morning Herald).  This led to further Verdi role debuts including the title role in Rigoletto, Rodrigo in Don Carlo and one of his signature roles; Germont La traviata.  Recent La traviata engagements for Opera Queensland (2022) and Opera Australia (2021) have seen him exceed seventy performances of Germont, opposite Ermonela Jaho, Corinne Winters, Jessica Pratt and more. In 2025, José brings his Germont back to the Sydney Opera House for Opera Australia.

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2023 saw José's debut in the title role of Macbeth for Opera Queensland and State Opera South Australia as well as his Iago debut in Otello for West Australian Opera. 2023 also included a return to Escamillo in Carmen for West Australian Opera/Perth Festival and soloist appearances in Opera Queensland's Festival of Outback Opera and 4MBS's Festival of Classics.

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Recent engagements include his house debut at the Ópera de Tenerife, Spain, in gala concert Nancy Fabiola y sus Invitados, his role debut as Scarpia in Tosca for Opera Queensland, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Victorian Opera, a tour of Australia with superstar Sumi Jo in their recital Mad for Love and Alfio/Tonio Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci for Opera Australia, for which he received his third Helpmann Award nomination, a Green Room Award nomination and was praised for his “peerless Prologue, sung with polished and glowingly powerful cantabile.” (Sydney Morning Herald).
 

Other recent appearances include Riolobo Florencia en el Amazonas for Los Angeles Opera,  Enrico Lucia di Lammermoor for Victorian Opera and Zurga Pearlfishers for Opera Australia. In 2015, José joined the roster of principal artists at the Metropolitan Opera.  

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José has performed his first signature role of Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia across three continents at Seattle Opera (his 2011 US debut) Teatro Real Madrid, Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, Victorian Opera and State Opera South Australia.  He made his European debut in 2005 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro and his La Scala debut in 2009 in Il viaggio a Reims.

 

In 2012 he won a Helpmann Award for his portrayal of Fritz Die tote Stadt with Opera Australia.  Other roles include the title role in Don Giovanni, Belcore L’elisir d’amore, Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello La bohème, Silvio Pagliacci, Escamillo Carmen, Dandini La cenerentola, Lescaut Manon, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte, Sonora La fanciulla del West and Tomsky in Pique Dame.

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On the concert platform with all the major orchestras of Australia and New Zealand, José has performed Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Mass in C and Choral Symphony, Carl Orff Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff The Bells, Fauré Requiem and Brahms Eines Deutsches Requiem, Ralph Vaughan-Williams Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn Paulus and Elijah and Elgar Dream of Gerontius.

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José’s debut album, My Latin Heart, released by ABC Classics, was nominated for the ARIA Classical Record of the year and debuted at No. 1 on the Limelight Magazine Classical Music charts.  He also appears on DVD/Blu-Ray and CD as Marcello in La Bohème for Opera Australia and on CD in Classical Spectacular and 50 Best Opera with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra released by ABC Classics.

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© Dec 2024