REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS | PRESS REVIEWS

Nabucco, Metropolitan Opera New York
October 2011
"Italian bass Carlo Colombara did an honorable job as Zaccaria, the high priest of the Hebrews".
Classical Music Rocks

"Carlo Colombara was a strong Zaccaria...his best moments in the performance were Come notte a sol fulgente and Del futuro nel buio discerno, where his voice sounded more at ease".
Ingrid Haas, Operaclick

La Bohème, Opernhaus Zürich
May 2011
"Carlo Colombara proved to be another audience favorite for his soundly sung, unusually specific Colline, whose "Coat Aria" was characterful and moving".
James Sohre, Opera Today

Anna Bolena, Opernhaus Zürich
May 2011
"Carlo Colombara (dressed like a mobster) as Enrico has a powerful bass voice, very effective".
Oper Aktuell

Norma, Festival de Oacute;pera de Las Palmas
March 2011
"The bass Carlo Colombara was perfect, with more than enough vocal authority and with a beautiful and powerful vocal instrument".
G. García Alcalde, La Provincia

"Carlo Colombara's solid, controlled and dark voice stood out".
Agustín Arocha, Ópera Actual

"Carlo Colombara confirms to be an experienced professional. He performed a severe but not cruel Oroveso, in fact he was very human, thanks to his voice which is one of the finest in his register. Finally he was imposing on scene".
Andrea Merli, L'Opera

Anna Bolena, Gran Teatre del Liceu
January 2011
"Carlo Colombara played the role of the treacherous Henry VIII with first-rate and expressive singing reflecting the violent and passionate character of the monarch, handling the difficulties of the high register".
Albert Vilardell, El Mundo

"As Henry VIII (a bass role which lacks arias but sings important duets), we had the solid bass Carlo Colombara, known in this house for his recent Gioconda and Aida, and with his acting he concealed that he is almost a little too young for the role of the tyrannical English monarch".
Roger Alier, La Vanguardia

"The bass Carlo Colombara played a very good Henry VIII: authoritarian, malicious and so in love with Jane Seymour as to put his second wife, Anne Boleyn, to death. Colombara was highly competant from beginning to end, with an excellent bass register".
Albert Galceran, Moments d'opera

"Carlo Colombara's Henry VIII did not disappoint, powerful and imposing".
J. A. Mendiola, DBalears

"The bass Carlo Colombara was a strong Enrico VIII with a noble voice".
Fernando Sans Rivière, Ópera Actual

I Masnadieri, Zürich Opernhaus.
December 2010
"Carlo Colombara, with his deep low notes and great acting, plays Massimiliano in a wheelcheer".
Thomas Schacher, Neue Zürcher Zeitung

"In the role of the old father, Colombara displayed a quality of voice of great power which more than filled the stage".
Anna Kardos, Tages Anzeiger

"Thanks to the powerful and significant portrayal of the character of Massimiliano by Carlo Colombara".
Herbert Büttiker, Der Landbote

"Carlo Colombara lent his noble, bass voice to the character of the tormented father, Massimiliano".
Stefan Degen, Neue Luzerner Zeitung

"Carlo Colombara's low notes flowed richly, playing the fourth role in the group of unfortunate lead characters in this opera, the father Conte di Moor".
Torbjörn Bergflödt, Zürcher Oberländer

Don Giovanni, Teatro del Giglio di Lucca/Festival Musica Bergamo/Teatro Coccia Novara.
October 2010
"The most eagerly awaited was, without doubt, the bass Carlo Colombara, who was taking on the dissoluto punito for the first time. On stage he added to his already excellent vocal abilities a note of authenticity and theatrical strength. His soft tone, which is powerful and decisive at the same time, portrayed a Don Giovanni worthy of the collective imagination: lively, insolent and cocksure".
Bernardino Zappa, L'Eco di Bergamo

"Carlo Colombara, with many years' experience in high profile opera houses, decided to try his luck in the ultimate role for basses and baritones, not to mention bass-baritones, the range most adapted to his voice. His is velvety and perfectly delivered and cedes the singer inflexions and precise intention even in this first reading".
Andrea Merli, Ópera Actual

"Carlo Colombara is a lead with a great bass baritone voice, with good tone over a wide range backed up by excellent projection and clear diction. His Don Giovanni is convincing and with good stage presence".
Andrea Dellabianca, GBOpera

"Carlo Colombara's Don Giovanni ... is the most convincing charact... he is a man of action and of seduction ... he does what he has to do well"
Diego Ragazzo, Corriere di Novara

"Colombara, as Don Giovanni, was excellent and knew how to command the stage like a great actor. His voice is extraordinary and he was able to portray the exact psychological features that characterise the role; he was much applauded".
Abdallo, La Tribuna di Novara

"In the centre of it all shone Carlo Colombara's Don Giovanni; eagerly awaited and appreciated, Colombara personified the role of Don Giovanni in the best way, a character to listen to and enjoy...Colombara commandeers the stage just as Don Giovanni does to his conquests".
Alessandro Fabbri, La Tribuna

Don Pasquale, Festival Castell de Peralada.
July 2010
"Carlo Colombara adapted well his solid voice to the role"
Roger Alier, La Vanguardia

"A solid Carlo Colombara responded to the vocal demands of Don Pasquale... vigorous and energetic, he played a part rather different from the usual old and worn out lead. Normally cast in dramatic roles, he acquitted himself quite auspiciously in this, his debut in a comic role"
César López Rosell, El Periódico

"Carlo Colomba debuted his first role buffo with the energy of a Maestro".
Pablo Meléndez Haddad, ABC

"Carlo Colombara was a welcome addition to the production. Little by little he got deeper into the role and, in spite of his youth, there were times when he truly shone, thanks to his excellent and noble voice....he shows promise, has the necessary technique and more importantly, he has fun with the role, which is fundamental if the audience is to enjoy watching him in the future".
Fernando Sans Rivière, La Razón

Macbeth, La Monnaie/De Munt, Bruxelles.
June 2010
"Carlo Colombara a voluminous Banco"
Joachim Lange, Kultirversum

"Carlo Colombara is a powerful Banquo"
Julia Spinola, Frankfurt Allgemeine

"Banco has the steady voice of Carlo Colombara".
Philippe Venturini, Les Echos

"Nowadays, Carlo Colombara is the great verdian bass".
Christian Merlin, Le Figaro

"Carlo Colombara imposes a way of singing that reflects his build, impressive and noble".
Sébastien Foucart, ConcertoNet

"Carlo Colombara is one of those rare stars among Verdian singers of our times, and he had it all yesterday: his voice is dark, large and voluminous, while keeping his scenic presence remarkable".
OperaCake

Norma, Teatro Real de Madrid.
April 2010
"Very good the Italian bass Carlo Colombara who performed a very dark and magnificent Oroveso, with vocal depth and compusure"
Alicia Huerta, El Imparcial

La Sonnambula, Festival de Ópera de Las Palmas.
February 2010
"Always at his best, Carlo Colombara"
Cayetano SÁNCHEZ, Ópera Actual

"Excellent in the middle and low register the bass Carlo Colombara"
G. García Alcalde, La Provincia

La Favorite, Teatro de La Maestranza of Seville.
December 2009
"Carlo Colombara lent his exuberant and well controlled voice to a character which he artfully performed".
Ismael Cabra, Ópera Actual

Verdi's Requiem, Tournée with the Orquestra of Euskadi.
October 2009
"Carlo Colombara was a sonorous bass, whose high notes were a good deal than I have heard on previous occasions. He was also always elegant and full of good taste".
José M Irurzun, Seen & Heard International

Buon Compleanno Maestro!, Teatro Comunale of Bologna.
October 2009
"Colombara...boasts a secure and brilliant vocality, especially in the middle register".
Filippo Tadolini, Operaclick

Mefistofele (Boito), Savonlinna Festival.
July 2009
"The new Mefistofele, Carlo Colombara makes the opera worth seeing. He has suitable experience to be theatre villain and stage authority which is demanded. He is great red suited, horn headed theatre leader who smugly enjoys the fooling around of his "customers" and his power".
Hannu-Ilari Lampila, Helsingin Sanomat

"Colombara's Mephistofele stood out over all the others. A sonorous bass of great power, also moving in the extreme situations . . . what more could one ask?".
Sune Manninen, Der Neue Merker

"Carlo Colombara is strong voiced, majestetic Mefistofele-devil. He gives balance and attraction to the musical yield of the opera. Lower voices are rich and the higher sounds for bass sound good".
Riitta-Leena Lempinen-Vesa, Itä-Savo

"...Carlo Colombara seems to have lived through all the sins of the world imaginable".
Karjalainen

Nabucco, Zurich Opernhaus.
May 2009
"Colombara was on very good form and played Zaccaria with great vocal presence".
Gerhard Ottinger, Ópera Actual

Verdi's Requiem, Stuttgart Bachakademie.
April 2009
"Carlo Colombara gave us an exemplary performance. His Mors stupebit conjured noticeable shivers of death down our spines, with Confutatis he made the flames of Hell burn".
Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung

"With cool aplomb and without letting himself be irritated by the tempi, Colombara in the bass role provided some of the few high points of the night".
Stuttgarter Zeitung

Aida, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome.
January 2009
"Carlo Colombara was a good Ramfis, delicate and authoritarian without going over the top".
Enrico Stinchelli, Operaclick

"It was a real luxury to have the great verdian bass that is Colombara portraying Ramfis".
Mauro Mariani, Ópera Actual

Aida, Covent Garden
2003
"Most communicative of his soloists was the bass Carlo Colombara, his voice cavernous yet flexible;..."
Erica Jeal, The Guardian

Jerusalem, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova
2000
"Carlo Colombara has the deep and black voice that suits Roger"
Guido Tartoni, Opéra International

Norma, Huston
1996
"Carlo Colombara was noble and dignified as Norma's dad, the head priest Oroveso"
Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal

Caterina Cornaro, New York Carnegie Hall
1994
"The other find of the evening was Carlo Colombara, a bass making his New York debut as Mocenigo. Mr. Colombarass sound is deep and rounded, and he projected Mocenigo's malign character powerfully but without forcing it"
Allan Kozinn, New York Times

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