With a voice of beautiful timbre and clear singing line, César San Martín is one of the reference baritones in Spanish, not only for his vocal qualities but also for his great versatility.
Born in Madrid, he studies piano and begins his vocal studies with Lola Bosom. In 2008 he graduates from Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid, obtaining the graduation award "Lola Rodríguez Aragón"
Since his opera debut in Il Barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro at Teatro Real of Madrid, he has performed several opera and zarzuela roles, including Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Conte di Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Dottore Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Joaquín (La del Manojo de Rosas), Vidal (Luisa Fernanda), Germán (La del Soto del Parral) Julián (La Verbena de la Paloma).
He has worked under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Alberto Zedda, Renato Palumbo, Eliahu Inbal, Miguel Roa and J. López Cobos, and on stage, he has been directed by well-known stage directors such as Robert Carsen, Peter Sellars, Mario Martone, Graham Vick, Emilio Sagi and José Carlos Plaza, among others.
He has been awarded in various international singing competitions, among those listed are the Premio Extraordinario at the Concurso Internacional de Canto “Francisco Viñas” and the Primer Premio del Concurso Internacional de Canto “Ciudad de Logroño”.
He is currently developing his career at an international level in Europe and America. In the 18/19 Season he took part in the productions of Carmen performing the role of Escamillo at Teatro Real of Madrid and Schaunard in La Bohème at Kursaal of San Sebastián, the role of Juan in Los Gavilanes at Teatro Colón de Bogotá. In 2019 performed Papageno from Die Zaubertflöte at Kursaal of San Sebastián and Pagnacca from Il Finto Sordo at the Palacio Euskalduna and at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid.
Among his engagements for the 19/20 Season we hilight Rinaldo (Mago cristiano) at Ópera de Oviedo, Il viaggio a Reims (Don Álvaro) at Palau de les Arts and Zarzuela en abierto at Teatro de la Zarzuela, among others .
His recent and future engagements include 20/21 Luisa Fernanda and Benamor at Teatro de la Zarzuela, a concert with Filarmónica de Málaga, I Pagliacci at the Programación Lírica de Coruña, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Sabadell, his return to Teatro de la Zarzuela with The Magic Opal, Manon by Massenet at Teatro Villamarta in Jerez, La traviata at Teatro Calderón in Valladolid, María Moliner in Oviedo and a semistage project of La serva padrona alongwith A sombra de cristal (A glass shadow) with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, among others.
Date last modified: October 2021 Not to be altered without permission. Please delete any previous biographic material.
2021-2022 Performances
PAGLIACCI 24 September 2021 20:00 Teatro Colón, Coruña 26 September 2021 20:00 Teatro Colón, Coruña
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA 20 October 2021 20:00 Teatre La Faràndula, Sabadell 22 October 2021 20:00 Teatre La Faràndula, Sabadell 24 October 2021 18:00 Teatre La Faràndula, Sabadell 26 October 2021 20:30 Teatre Fortuny, Reus 31 October 2021 19:00 Teatre El Jardí, Figueres 03 November 2021 18:00 Teatre Kursaal, Manresa 05 November 2021 19:00 Teatre Auditori, Sant Cugat del Vallès 06 November 2021 18:30 Palau de la Música, Barcelona 07 November 2021 18:00 Teatre de la Llotja, Lleida 12 November 2021 19:00 Teatre, Tarragona 14 November 2021 18:00 Teatre Auditori, Granollers
LA SERVA PADRONA + A SOMBRA DE CRISTAL WITH THE REAL FILHARMONÍA DE GALICIA 09 December 2021 20:30 Auditorio, Galicia 10 December 2021 20:30 Auditorio, Galicia
MANON 28 January 2022 18:00 Teatro Villamarta, Jerez 30 January 2022 18:00 Teatro Villamarta, Jerez
THE MAGIC OPAL 02 April 2022 20:00 Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid 07 April 2022 20:00 Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid 09 April 2022 20:00 Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid
LUISA FERNANDA 29 April 2022 19:30 Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria 30 April 2022 19:30 Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria
MARÍA MOLINER 16 June 2022 20:00 Teatro Campoamor 18 June 2022 20:00 Teatro Campoamor
Gallery
Multimedia
Benamor
El canastillo de fresas
Reviews
THE MAGIC OPAL. TEATRO DE LA ZARZUELA. 2022
"The excellent baritone César San Martín, very knowledgeable of the Spanish repertoire, defined his character perfectly, and from the beginning, with a very attractive voice...". José María Marco (Ópera Actual)
"César San Martín performed again, a talented singer who portrayed a solvent Trabucos". Aurelio M. Seco (Codalario)
MANON. TEATRO VILLAMARTA. 2022
"Sin fisuras el recio y sólido César San Martín, otro barítono hispano, de la joven pléyade de nuestros días, a tener muy en cuenta." Arturo Reverter (Scherzo)
"Los barítonos (...) y César San Martín, vigoroso y asentado (Bretigni), son los otros nombres principales..." Arturo Reverter (EL Español)
El Villamarta ha conseguido en esta producción completar un reparto muy redondo, (...) y un César San Martín de voces poderosas y fraseos llenos de intencionalidad teatral." Andrés Moreno Mengíbar (Beckmesser)
LA SERVA PADRONA / A SOMBRA DE CRISTAL. ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA OF GALICIA SANTIAGO. 2021
"To bring it all to a successful outcome, of course, good singers were needed and (...) like César San Martín they earned an outstanding performance, both vocally, where everything flowed smoothly, and in the acting, so important, and so exposed, in both pieces. In Pergolesi, (...) he knew how to balance very well the buffo elements with that certain pity that ends up giving his character. And both of them gave the recitatives all the intention they demanded. In Buide's - more demanding for the soprano - they followed that same tone while demonstrating an admirable versatility and, by the way, what good singers we have among us - and so near - almost without realising it". Luis Suñén (Scherzo)
"The singers embodied the characters to perfection, both vocally and theatrically (...) and César San Martín, apart from his vocal quality, displayed the interpretative versatility he already showed in his performance as Silvio in the A Coruña Lyric Season." Julián Carrillo Sanz (Codalario)
BENAMOR . TEATRO DE LA ZARZUELA. 2021
"Among the male cast, César San Martín shone in the role of the Spanish prince Juan de León. He gave an interesting version of País del sol, commonly known as "la canción de Juan de León"; a musical number which is part of the great collection of songs of Spanish lyric theatre. The baritone not only sang heroically, but performed a theatrical role worthy of admiration," Jordi Lledó Palomares (Platea Magazine).
Among the principals, of course, baritone César San Martín must be singled out; he played the Spanish caballero with ease, presence and aplomb, and gave us a chance to appreciate his powerful voice in the "Canción española". "Jorge Baeza Stanicic (Bachtrack)
"The baritone César San Martín masterfully interpreted the Spanish caballero Juan de León, with a well-handled flowing voice." Federico Figueroa (Opera World)