José Carbó

Baritone

Argentine-Australian baritone José Carbó is one of the most exciting operatic artists of his generation; he has performed in the leading opera houses of the world including Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Seattle Opera, Opera de Tenerife and Opera Australia. His triumphant Verdi debut in 2013 as Renato in Un ballo in Maschera for Opera Australia led to further important Verdi role debuts including the title role in Rigoletto, Rodrigo in Don Carlo and his now-signature role of Germont in La traviata. He returns to Opera Australia as Germont in 2025.

2023 saw two more Verdi role debuts – the title role in Macbeth for both Opera Queensland and State Opera South Australia and Iago in Otello for West Australian Opera; he also sang Escamillo (Carmen) in Perth and was soloist for Opera Queensland’s Festival of Outback Opera and the 4MBS Festival of Classics.

​Most recently, José toured Australia with superstar Sumi Jo, sang Scarpia (Tosca) and The Count (Le nozze di Figaro) for Opera Queensland and performed Germont, Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Zurga (The Pearlfishers) and Alfio/Tonio (Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci) for Opera Australia – receiving Helpmann Award and Green Room Award nominations for his work.  Other appearances include Riolobo (Florencia en el Amazonas) for Los Angeles Opera and Germont, Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia) for Victorian Opera. In 2015, José joined the roster of principal artists at The Metropolitan Opera, New York.

​He made his US debut as Rossini’s Barber at Seattle Opera – also singing this role at Teatro Real Madrid, Opera Australia, Opera Queensland and State Opera of South Australia; his La Scala debut saw performances of Il viaggio a Reims.  In 2012, he won a Helpmann Award for his portrayal of Fritz (Die tote Stadt) with Opera Australia.  Other roles include the title role in Don Giovanni, Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Marcello (La bohème), Silvio (Pagliacci), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Lescaut (Manon), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and Tomsky (Pique Dame).

​On the concert platform with the major orchestras of Australia, New Zealand and Japan, José has sung Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Mass in C and Choral Fantasy, Carl Orff Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff The Bells, Fauré Requiem, Brahms Eines Deutsches Requiem, Ralph Vaughan-Williams Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn Elijah and Paulus and Elgar The Dream of Gerontius.

​José’s debut album My Latin Heart (released by ABC Classics) was nominated for the ARIA Classical Record of the year and debuted at No. 1 on the Limelight Magazine Classical Music charts. He also appears on DVD as Marcello for Opera Australia and on CD in Classical Spectacular with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.