Aquiles Machado
B i o g r a p h y
He was born in Barquisimeto (Venezuela) and began his music studies at the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory. He studied with professor William Alvarado at the Simon Bolivar Music Conservatory in Caracas. Once he arrived in Spain, he attended the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía where he studied with maestro Alfredo Kraus, thanks to a scholarship from Banco de España and the Mozarteum Foundation in Venezuela.
In 1996 came his debut in Caracas with Elisir d´Amore, and in Europe that same year, with Macbeth at the Teatro Benito Pérez Galdós in Palmas de Gran Canaria. His career has been constantly evolving since then, with memorable performances in the most prestigious theatres worldwide as Teatro Sao Carlo in Lisbon, L´Arena di Verona, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro Regio di Parma, Opera di Roma, Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Gran Teatre de Liceu -Barcelona, Teatro Real de Madrid, Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Zurich Opera, Metropolitan Opera House and Teatro alla Scala di Milano, among others.
He has received many awards from different lyric associations, including one from the Parma Lyric Association for his Verdian performances. He also won first prize in lyric contests like Francisco Viñas in Spain, Cardiff Singers of the World in the UK, and Plácido Domingo’s world famous contest Operalia in 1997.
Throughout his career, he has perfomed alongside maestros like Plácido Domingo, Jesús Lopez Cobos, Ricardo Chailly, Mistlav Rostropovich, Daniel Oren, Leopold Hagger, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Friedrich Hayder, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Myung-Whun Chung, Alain Guingal, Marco Armiliato, Renato Palumbo, Bertrand de Billy, Sir Mark Elder, Gustavo Dudamel, Eve Queler, Massimo Zanetti and Gianliugi Gelmetti.
His repertoire consists mostly of French and Italian opera, with an ongoing interest in chamber music, recitals and oratorio.
He has recorded a great number of performances, from Bel-Canto to traditional music, which include: Bellini’s Norma with soprano Edita Gruberova and Maestro Friedrich Hayder; Donizetti’s Elisir d`Amore with Erwin Schrott and Valeria Sposito in Lo Sferisterio di Macerata; Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto in the Arena di Verona with Inva Mula and Leo Nucci; Verdi’s Requiem with Maestro Gerd Albrecht and the Tschechische Philarmonie Brno; and Franz von Suppé’s Requiem directed by Maestro Michel Corboz. He has also recorded Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with the Concertgebouworkest directed by Maestro Ricardo Chailly in the Ámsterdam Main Hall; Le Villi for radio with the Paris Philarmonic Orchestra directed by Maestro Marco Guidarini; La Bohème in the Teatro Real de Madrid with the Madrid Philarmonic Orchestra directed by Jesús López Cobos; Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann during the ABAO season (Bilbao Association of Friends of the Opera) directed by Alain Guingal with Giancarlo Del Monaco as scenic director, Isaac Albeniz´s opera Henry Clifford with the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid; Verdi´s La Forza del Destino at Teatro Reggio di Parma directed by Gianluigi Gelmetti; Verdi´s I Masnadieri in Naples directed by Nicola Luisotti; and Puccini´s La Bohème directed by Riccardo Chailly His repertoire consists mostly of French and Italian opera, with an ongoing interest in chamber music, recitals and oratorio.
He has recorded a great number of performances, from Bel-Canto to traditional music, which include: Bellini’s Norma with soprano Edita Gruberova and Maestro Friedrich Hayder; Donizetti’s Elisir d`Amore with Erwin Schrott and Valeria Sposito in Lo Sferisterio di Macerata; Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto in the Arena di Verona with Inva Mula and Leo Nucci; Verdi’s Requiem with Maestro Gerd Albrecht and the Tschechische Philarmonie Brno; and Franz von Suppé’s Requiem directed by Maestro Michel Corboz. He has also recorded Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with the Concertgebouworkest directed by Maestro Ricardo Chailly in the Ámsterdam Main Hall; Le Villi for radio with the Paris Philarmonic Orchestra directed by Maestro Marco Guidarini; La Bohème in the Teatro Real de Madrid with the Madrid Philarmonic Orchestra directed by Jesús López Cobos; Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann during the ABAO season (Bilbao Association of Friends of the Opera) directed by Alain Guingal with Giancarlo Del Monaco as scenic director, Isaac Albeniz´s opera Henry Clifford with the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid; Verdi´s La Forza del Destino at Teatro Regio di Parma directed by Gianluigi Gelmetti; Verdi´s I Masnadieri in Naples directed by Nicola Luisotti; and Puccini´s La Bohème directed by Riccardo Chailly at Palau de les Arts in Valencia.
He recently made his debut in Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore in Lo Sferisterio di Macerata, and performed titles like Un Ballo in Maschera, I Due Foscari, or La Forza del Destino. Among his future commitments, his performances in La Traviata (Oviedo), Tosca and Verdi´s Requiem in Lepizig, and his debut with titles like Gounod´s Romeo anf Juliet in Liegè (Belgium).
aPalau de les Arts in Valencia.
Among his future commitments, his performances in La Traviata (Moscow and Florence), Madame Butterfly (Wien) , Ballo in Maschera (Tel Aviv) and his debut with titles like Don Carlo at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and Cavalleria Rusticana in Pamplona.
Foto: Roberto Recanatesi