– The Canary Islands tenor returns this Thursday to Madrid’s lyric coliseum to add Sorozábal’s popular title to his repertoire.
Celso Albelo triumphed last October at Madrid’s Teatro de La Zarzuela with his portrayal of Jorge in Marina, by Arrieta, and now returns “full of excitement” to the theatre on Calle Jovellanos to step into the role of Leandro in La tabernera del puerto, “a character I’m adding to my repertoire with great enthusiasm after having sung the fantastic romanza ‘No puede ser’ countless times, both in concerts and recitals,” he says. He continues: “It is a truly beautiful work of the genre, filled with major hits and spectacular vocal moments—not only for my character but also for my colleagues in the cast—all framed within a costumbrista tableau whose themes and atmosphere take on special significance in Mario Gas’s staging,” the Canary Islands tenor affirms. “It has also been quite a challenge to incorporate the dialogues, which in this work are particularly extensive and always pose an added difficulty for singers, as we must balance them with the sung sections. But the truth is that I have enjoyed the entire creative process of delivering the spoken text,” he confesses.
Joining Mario Gas’s stage direction in this production is the baton of maestro José Miguel Pérez-Sierra, musical director of the Teatro de La Zarzuela, who will lead the Orchestra of the Community of Madrid and the Chorus of the Teatro de La Zarzuela. Albelo will offer seven performances of Sorozábal’s work on June 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 19, and 21, sharing the stage with Serena Sáenz as Marola, César Sanmartín as Juan de Eguía, and Simón Orfila as Simpson, among other cast members.
At the end of the month, Albelo will also take the same title to the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków (Poland), once again alongside maestro Pérez-Sierra, the festival’s musical and artistic director, this time with the Kraków Philharmonic. Among other engagements, the 2025–2026 season promises a particularly Verdian focus for the Tenerife-born tenor, a repertoire in which he has continued to make successful inroads in recent seasons. Highlights include his return to the Ópera de Oviedo as Il Duca in Rigoletto and to Madrid’s Teatro Real as Manrico in Il Trovatore, as well as a Verdi Gala at the Teatro Regio di Parma, the cradle of Verdi tradition.