Homecoming

For nearly a decade, this tenor could be seen and heard all over Spain. Kunde had an enormous following in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, and Valencia. And now…. it’s been eight years since Kunde last sang in Valencia. And it’s only last season that he had the opportunity to return to Madrid in concert at the Teatro Real with dear friend and colleague Ermonela Jaho for Mascagni’s Iris.

Kunde is more than happy to be back. “Returning to Valencia is really like coming home. And I’m truly glad to see that so many of the people I met years ago here at Les Arts are still here, making great opera. They are some of the most professional, most passionate people I know in the business. It’s a joy to be here.”

The tenor has sung at Les Arts in seven productions before returning for this season’s new production of Puccini’s Turandot. Over the years, audiences have applauded the tenor’s transformation from lyric to dramatic tenor, from Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Idomeneo to La Forza del Destino, Samson et Dalilah, I Vespri Siciliani, Otello, and Peter Grimes.

For this production, Kunde is also enjoying singing with some familiar friends, including the mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk, soprano Carolina López Moreno, bass Liang Li, and tenor Pablo Garcia-López. Maestro Sir Mark Elder and the tenor have collaborated on several occasions as well, including Samson et Dalilah at the Metropolitan Opera and Das Lied von der Erde at the Proms.