(Credit: Juan Diego Castillo)

Few Colombian singers have reached the heights of bass-baritone Valeriano Lanchas. The Bogotá-born singer competed and won four international competitions including the Pavarotti International Voice Competition in 1995, Operalia in 2001, Licia Albanese-Puccini Fundation of New York 2001, and the Toto Dal Monte in Treviso, Italy in 2004. Since then his career grew and he has become one of the most successful Colombian singers of all time, singing at the Teatro Real, Metropolitan Opera and Washington National Opera alongside such giants as Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Pons, Juan Diego Flórez, Martha Senn, Anna Netrebko, and Olga Borodina.

This week Lanchas celebrates his 25th anniversary on stage, returning to his hometown for a new production of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at the Teatro Mayor. The bass-baritone will sing his signature Dr. Bartolo, which he took to the Metropolitan Opera in 2015 and received raved reviews that noted that Lanchas “brought the appropriate bluster to his patter numbers.”

The bass-baritone has had a number of successes with the Opéra de Colombia, including singing the title role of “Falstaff,” and performing in “La Cenerentola”and “Der Rosenkavalier,” among other operas. This new production is sure to be another hit in the singer’s historic career.

And for those not in Bogotá for the occasion, Lanchas has a busy season ahead of him, including appearances at the Palau de les Arts and Teatro La Maestranza in Seville.

Recordings

While Lanchas does not have any commercial recordings, there are a number of videos available online that demonstrate the singer’s virtuosic powers.

Here he is alongside Plácido Domingo in “Cyrano de Bergerac…”

..and here he is in “La Bohème” from the Teatro Real.