Andalusian tenor Pablo García-López is one of the rising voices on the European opera and concert scene.

The tenor has performed all over the world on such stages as the Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Opéra de Lausanne, Royal Opera House of Muscat, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, and Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, among others in leading and supporting roles.

However, García-López is not taking the obvious route. The tenor has performed many leading roles but has also gained a following performing in supporting roles sometimes thought of as comprimario ones that have garnered him rave reviews. He has also performed in zarzuela and has been a great advocate for contemporary works especially in his recital work.

OperaWire spoke to the tenor about his path in opera, the importance of not always being the leading role and being fulfilled in your work.

OperaWire: You recently did “Iris” at the Teatro Real de Madrid. This is a piece that is never heard. Tell me about your experience with it?

Pablo García-López: “Iris” has been an enriching experience. It’s a work that is never performed, so in rehearsals, you are a little unaware of what’s coming, so we were really surprised when the orchestra started to play. We realized what an incredible piece it was. With Ermonela Jaho, Gregory Kinde and and the rest of the cast, we heard these amazing orchestrations by Mascagni and all the colors he was able to create with the orchestra. And some moments remind you of “Turandot” and of “Cavalleria Rusticana.”

There is a moment in like Pastor’s aria in “Tosca” at the end of “Iris,” and the entire experience really surprised me. Sometimes you study the music alone with a piano, but when you arrive and hear the orchestra, it’s a completely different experience. I also think my voice sounded very free. We ended up receiving really great reviews, and it was a unanimous success.

It was also helpful to have maestro Daniele Callegari, who is so special and perfect for this type of repertoire. Plus, The Teatro Real is also a place where you work really well, and I think it is becoming one of the most important houses in the world where they are recovering a lot of works.

OW: How do we recover this work for the future?

PGL: I think we should record the work because “Iris” is a work that needs a new, fresh interpretation. There are so many recordings being made, and I think Ermonela has this sensitivity for this type of repertoire. And I think we need a young cast that shows this work.

OW: Tell me about the repertoire that you perform. You’re not always the leading man and you sing a variety of works from baroque to comic roles to zarzuela. How did you discover this about your voice and what it was capable of doing?

PGL: It’s curious because I think I have found my path and what I wanted as a singer. In Spain my type of voice does not exist that much. The work has to be intellectually understood by me so that I can then express it.

And that starts first with my studies in Salzburg and my love for lieder as well as concert music. That transformed when I realized that in Spain there wasn’t performances of Spanish concert music, which there is a lot. Later I started doing a lot of Haydn and Mozart and they kind of put me in this Mozartian box but circumstances made me do other types of strange roles. That is where I started to do more contemporary roles like those of Philip Glass. I also started to do some roles like Pong, which was thanks to Maestro Zubin Mehta who heard me and asked me to do it with him all over the world. That opened up doors and other possibilities.

But I think where it all starts is my passion for baroque music and I always respected that repertoire. I never thought I would do it and I needed time to do it. So a few years ago after some personal things, I was offered an album and that saved me and that really engaged my passion for this music. And that is how baroque opened up to me and I got a lot of offers.

I know I am eclectic in the work I do but at the end of the day, what matters is doing what I love and doing interesting projects. I know what to do with my voice and I know I may not do “La Traviata” or “La Sonnambula.”

OW: Sometimes people don’t realize how important these roles are because everyone is so obsessed with the leading man or role. Tell me about finding the importance of these smaller roles and how you have found a way to shine with them?

PGL: I have seen the transition in how things are changing. When I started, I did Mozart and Haydn but in Spain, I suddenly did not have so much work so I had to leave for Berlin. I had to live in a foreign country because the classical repertoire wasn’t done and the tradition was doing Verdi and Puccini. That is when I started to sing these smaller and character roles. Now what I have noticed especially in the United States, is that there is an emphasis in contemporary opera. The Metropolitan opera is an example and I know that not everything is always going to be great but I have found a place to be able to sing these type of roles in contemporary works. These roles allow me to be more musical and to sometimes think about it in an intellectual way. I think you can shine in these roles and I know people think that if you don’t sing Calaf, you can’t shine. But I believe in careers like Anna Sofie von Otter and Ian Bostridge, who don’t always pick the most obvious.

I also look at cinema and there are many actors who dedicate themselves to character roles. And I know that those actors are given a significant value, more than a comprimario in opera. But there are comprimario singers in opera who I admire and who mastered the type of role. They are a school in themselves and they are incredible. We have to value these roles more and without comprimarios, operas wouldn’t be performed. This is an art form.

Obviously I love people like Pavarotti but in the end I am doing opera, concerts, and recitals. I am not letting anyone box me in and I hope that I can open opportunities for new voices and singers especially in Spain.

OW: Tell me about singing Zarzuela and what have you done in this repertoire?

PGL: I haven’t done that much Zarzuela because the style and the orchestrations need very lyrical voices and you have to be very careful. I have done “El Caserio” in Madrid and “Doña Francisquita” in Toulouse and Lausanne, which is incredible that it wasn’t in Spain. The thing is that in those countries they have not established a certain voice type for those roles and they liked my voice for this repertoire.

And now, of course, Christof Loy has fallen in love with our Zarzuela and he is now directing a zarzuela company. He is opening up a world in which we are doing international co-productions and he is a person who doesn’t have the same influences that a Spanish person may have. He sees it in a different way and that is incredible.

This year I will be doing “El Retablo de Maese Pedro” by Falla in January. It is very Stravinsky like and it is a work that I love to do. I have another project at the Teatro de la Zarzuela that is coming and that I am very happy about it.

OW: What does it mean to sing at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, a theater with so much history especially for a Spaniard?

PGL: It is very emotional because at the end of the day it is the theater that speaks about our essence and our music. We all belong and it is a very big responsibility. I also love that I am going with Falla because his music is influenced by France and I have sung a lot of his chamber music. It is going to be a great production and I will definitely remember it.

OW: This season you started with concerts and are ending it with “Falstaff” and “Turandot,” two operatic productions. Tell me about this form of programming and how do you balance opera and concert?

PGL: From the start with my agent, I was very clear that I wanted to do 40 percent concerts and 60 percent opera. For me concerts are very important to balance with opera. I find something intellectual in concerts and I get to explore. In opera you are reviving and repeating things. But in recitals I am alone and I get to assume every role and the entirety identity of the evening. I also love to do concerts that include important choral masses. I learn a lot from these experiences.

“Turandot” will be with Mark Elder, a conductor who I admire a lot. I will also do “Falstaff,” which I love and which I did Fenton when I was 19 and now I am doing Bardolfo. This will be the farewell to Josep Pons from the Liceu so it will be very special. And the next seasons I will also balance concert music and opera. Chamber music is where I find my identity and I know where I am and what I doing with my voice. It gives me more energy to get to go and do these operatic productions.

OW: Tell me about your concert repertoire this season?

PGL: My recital with Ibermusica had some contemporary works and it is centered around a song cycle by Jesús Torres, a composer who wrote a role for me in his opera “Transito.” He wrote this new cycle for me and it was like a “Dichterliebe,” because it speaks of love and the past and it is very nostalgic. It speaks of a past that I think we have all lived. That recital also included Britten and Toldra.

That recital showed everything about who I am. I love singing female composers, queer composers and in different languages like Catalan. Spanish song started in Catalunya and thanks to that language and region, we have this repertoire. It is a rediscovery of our roots.

OW: You have a concert called “Negroni Sbagliato” this season. It is a great title for a concert. Tell me about it?

PGL: It is a great concert and I will be celebrating my 20th anniversary collaborating with my city’s orchestra, the Orquesta de Cordoba. I received a prize from the orchestra when I was 17 years old and now I will cerebrate 20 years making music with them. I have worked with them as much as possible. Cordoba is a smaller orchestra but it is one of the few that dedicates itself to classical music in the south of Spain. I want to work with them forever.

Aarón Zapico is the conductor on this concert and we just worked together for my latest album “De sópitu.” Zapico is a great conductor and he allows me to explore musically. He wanted me to sing Vivaldi and we mixed it with Monteverdi. The orchestra is very classical and I think this concert will be a very special evening.

It’s great to celebrate this 20th anniversary with Baroque music and it is very much who I am.

OW: Concluding the season, you will be in “Falstaff” and “Turandot.” How have these works evolved for you? What will be different this time?

PGL: “Falstaff” is a masterpiece. It is the opera that taught me to work in an ensemble. Verdi really changes his style in this work and he showed that he was capable of different things. As I noted, I first sang Fenton and it is a role I could still sing. It is close to what I do. But at the Liceu, I think singing Bardolfo is exciting and I think I can work with a different and nasal sonority. Plus the production will be by Laurent Pelly and I love to work with him.”Falstaff” is a musical study and if you don’t have it clear, you will be lost.

But it is the same with “Turandot.” Ping Pong Pang sing the most in the opera and it is a challenge. I have always sung Pong and on this occasion I will sing Pang. It is very close to Pong but you have to be very aware of the other ensemble members. I remember when I sang my first “Turandot,” I spent a month preparing with the other two cast members who were singing Ping and Pang. We worked with an assistant conductor so that when Zubin Mehta arrived we would be perfect. It is all about the musicality.

The idea is that you prepare so well that the audience doesn’t see the difficulty. These productions are also very physical so the music must be perfect. That is very important.