One of the leading tenors of our time and among the most sought- after worldwide.
His breakthrough came when the Mexican conductor Eduardo Mata hired him to sing Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff, and later Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Upon winning the Enrico Caruso Tenor competition of Milan in 1986, he moved to Austria, where he completed his vocal studies at the Young Artist Program of the Wiener Staatsoper, under the guidance of Leo Müller. He then had his European debut at the Luzerner Theater in 1988 as Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. In 1990, he met the renowned teacher Rodolfo Celletti in Milan, who became his vocal coach. Ramón Vargas Metropolitan Opera debut took place in 1992, singing Edgardo while substituting Luciano Pavarotti in Lucia di Lammermoor opposite June Anderson. This was soon followed by a debut on the stage at the Teatro alla Scala, in 1993, where he sang Fenton in Strehler's new production celebrating the centenary of Falstaff, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
He now regularly performs at all the major opera houses around the world to great acclaim: Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires (La Favorita, The Tales of Hoffmann), Royal Opera House (Un Ballo in Maschera, La Bohème,Rigoletto, La traviata), Teatro Alla Scala (Falstaff,Rigoletto, La Traviata), Metropolitan Opera New York, performing 19 different roles and over 220 performances (Attila,La bohème, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L'elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier), Teatro Real (Werther, Un Ballo in Maschera), Opéra National de Paris (Rigoletto,La Traviata, Luisa Miller, Idomeneo and Titus), San Francisco Opera (Un Ballo in Maschera, L'elisir d'amore,Lucia di Lammermoor), Wiener Staatsoper (La bohème, L'elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux, Don Carlos, Un Ballo in Maschera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Arena di Verona (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto), and many others.
In addition to his operatic career, he is also an accomplished concert singer, with an extensive repertoire ranging from Italian classical songs, romantic German Lieder, and melodies by French, Mexican, and Spanish composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1998, he gave a memorable recital at La Scala and his renditions of popular Mexican songs have been met with enthusiasm at massive concerts across Europe and Mexico.
He was awarded the Lauri Volpi Award for the Best Opera Singer during the 1993 Italian season, and in 1995 Italian critics were unanimous in decorating him with the Gino Tani Award for the Arts. In 2000, the British magazine Opera Now declared Ramón Vargas Artist of the Year. In 1999, Austrian Festspiele magazine has awarded him among the best tenors in the world. In 2001, he received the ECHO Klassik - Singer of the Year Award from the German Phono Academy. In 2005 he was given the Puccini Award by the Puccini Foundation.
In Guadalajara, Mexico he was awarded the Moncayo Award in 2015. In Martina Franca, Italia Mr. Vargas received the Rodolfo Celletti Award in 2017, and soon after the Opera News Award in New York 2018. In 2020 he traveled back to Mexico, where he received the Ortiz Tirado Award in Sonora.
Ramón Vargas' multi-awarded discography includes Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Scala di Seta, Tancredi, Maometto II, Il Turco in Italia; Donizetti's La Favorite; Bellini's Zaira, I Capuleti e i Montecchi; Massenet's Werther; Granados' Goyescas; Verdi's Falstaff and Alzira; I Masnadieri at Opéra de Monte- Carlo, Don Giovanni at Grand-Théâtre de Genève, Un Ballo in Maschera at Hamburgische Staatsoper, Grand-Théâtre de Genève and Teatro Real de Madrid.
Among his recent and future engagements we highlight Roberto Devereux (Ópera de Los Ángeles), Un Ballo in Maschera (Teatro Real, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), Les contes d’Hoffmann (Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires), Un ballo in maschera (Grand-Théâtre de Genève, Hamburgische Staatsoper and Wiener Staatsoper), Don Carlo (Los Angeles), I masnadieri (Opéra Monte-Carlo); La Bohéme (Staatsoper Berlin), Don Giovanni (Grand-Théâtre de Genève), La clemenza di Tito (Opéra de Paris), Jerusalem (Teatro Regio di Parma), Don Carlo (Wiener Staatsoper), Simon Boccanegra (Opéra de Paris and Opéra Monte-Carlo), Tosca (Greek National Opera), La Gioconda (Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse), Luisa Miller and Simon Boccanegra (Hamburgische Staatsoper), I lombardi alla prima crociata (Opéra Royal de Wallonie), Tosca (Teatro Cervantes in Malaga and Naples) and Das lied von der erde (Alicante).
Date Last Edited: October 2021 Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
2021-2022 Performances
LA GIOCONDA 24 September 2021 20:00 Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse 26 September 2021 15:00 Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse 28 September 2021 20:00 Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse 01 October 2021 20:00 Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse 03 October 2021 15:00 Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse
DAS LIED VON DER ERDE WITH MUSIQUE DES LUMIÈRES 07 October 2021 20:00 Salle Paderewski, Lausanne 10 October 2021 17:00 Espace La Velle - Ancienne Eglise, Le Noirmont
OTOÑO LÍRICO 2021 PASIÓN GALA 16 October 2021 20:00 Teatro Afundación, Vigo
TOSCA 26 November 2021 20:00 Teatro Cervantes, Málaga 28 November 2021 19:00 Teatro Cervantes, Málaga
LUISA MILLER 16 February 2022 19:30 Staatsoper Hamburg 19 February 2022 19:30 Staatsoper Hamburg 23 February 2022 19:30 Staatsoper Hamburg
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA 26 April 2022 20:00 Teatro Pérez Galdós, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 28 April 2022 20:00 Teatro Pérez Galdós, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 30 April 2022 20:00 Teatro Pérez Galdós, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
CONCERT WITH THE GYÖR PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 3 May 2022 19.30 Olimpic Sport Park, Győr, Hungary
LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN 8 June 2022 20:00 Teatre Principal de Palma 10 June 2022 20:00 Teatre Principal de Palma 12 June 2022 20:00 Teatre Principal de Palma
TOSCA 28 July 2022 21:00 Athens Epidaurus Festival Greek National Opera 30 July 2022 21:00 Athens Epidaurus Festival Greek National Opera