Marcelo Álvarez

Operatic tenor Marcelo Alvarez is a native of Cordoba, Argentina, and achieved international success in the late '90s, becoming one of opera's great success stories. Alvarez went to college in Argentina while working in a furniture factory, and studied singing as a hobby in his spare time. It took Alvarez's wife to finally persuade him to pursue singing as a career and they moved first to Buenos Aires and then Italy. Shortly after his arrival in Italy, Alvarez had his first big break, performing as an understudy for the opening-night production of La Traviata; since that time he has performed throughout the world. Alvarez has released two compact discs on Sony Classical. His debut Bel Canto featured a collection of popular Italian tenor arias from La Traviata, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, and L'Elisir d'Amore. His second album, Sings Carlos Gardel, pays tribute to the Argentine tangos of singer and composer Carlos Gardel. ~ Al Campbell