The Madison Opera is set to open its 2021-22 season with Donizetti’s masterpiece “Lucia di Lammermoor.” The opera is most famous for its soprano role and her corresponding mad scene. However, one cannot deny the prominence of the tenor role of Edgardo, especially considering that fact that it is this character that ends the work with a searing dramatic scene. This week rising Cuban-American tenor Andres Acosta takes on the role of Edgardo for the very first time.

The new role will be a return to “Lucia di Lammermoor” for Acosta, a work he performed in May at Opera San Antonio. However, for those concert performances, the tenor sang the small but crucial role of Arturo. Now Acosta will get to add another leading man to his Donizetti repertoire which already includes Gennaro in “Lucrezia Borgia” and Ernesto in “Don Pasquale.”

The upcoming performances will also mark Acosta’s return to the Madison Opera where he debuted in 2020 as Timothy Laughlin in “Fellow Travelers.” Critics raved about his interpretation, noting he turned in an “outstanding performance” that was also “sensual and realistic.”

Acosta is a recipient of Opera America’s 2018 Career Blueprints grant and a Gerda Lissner and Sullivan Foundation Award semifinalist. He also received an Encouragement Award as a Central Regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition in 2017 and is a winner of the Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Competition. A graduate of Indiana University and Florida State University, the tenor has performed at some of the leading stages in the U.S., including the Pittsburgh Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Bard Summerscape, and Glimmerglass Festival.

Over the years he has performed a varied repertoire that includes works by Mozart, Donizetti, Bizet, Verdi, Bernstein, and Rodríguez. He has also become one of the leading interpreters of Timothy Laughlin in “Fellow Travelers” and Arcadio in “Florencia en el Amazonas.”

And this season, the tenor will continue to add roles to his repertoire including Jasper in the world premiere of “Snowy Day” and Prince Charmant in “Cendrillon” at the Florentine Opera. He will also reprise the role of Timothy Laughlin in “Fellow Travelers” at the Florida Grand Opera.

​Recordings

For those not familiar with Acosta’s voice, here he is in two of his signature roles in “Fellow Travelers” and “Florencia en el Amazonas.”