IT\u2019S A LONG TIME since Italy, the country that invented opera produced the most important singers. Today\u2019s stars are increasingly coming from far-flung countries, not least in Africa and Asia, but South America has always been a rich source of tenor talent.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
The 20 Greatest Tenors of all Time<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
What are the different classical voice types?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
The 20 Greatest Sopranos of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Best Latin American composers of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
Are these South America\u2019s greatest tenors?<\/h2>\n\n\nAt the top of this pantheon must be <\/span>Ram\u00f3n Vinay<\/i><\/span><\/strong> (1911-96), the Chilean who enjoyed fame above all as a powerful interpreter of <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/giuseppe-verdi\/"\">Verdi<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Otello. Two of the most elegant tenors to have come from the continent crop up in Fl\u00f3rez\u2019s conversation, both also born in Lima, and both paving the way for him with their success in <\/span>Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Luigi\" alva=\"\" don=\"\" giovanni=\"\" il=\"\" mio=\"\" tesoro=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MUnDXmJaiko?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<h3 class=\""p2"\"\/>\nLuigi Alva<\/i><\/span><\/strong> (b1927) was the outstanding <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-bel-canto\/"\">bel canto<\/i> <\/a><\/strong>tenor of his generation, who stuck to a narrow range of roles to preserve his purity of tone; almost a generation later, <\/span>Ernesto Palacio<\/i><\/span><\/strong> (b1946) followed a similar path, excelling in <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/gioachino-rossini\/"\">Rossini<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/mozart\/"\">Mozart<\/a><\/strong>, and has since guided Fl\u00f3rez\u2019s career.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Jos\u00e9\" cura=\"\" dorma=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NgHExHWJl9k?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nWith one notable exception (Santiago\u2019s Teatro Municipal), most of South America\u2019s theatres are too unstable to nurture major careers, and so the big names are familiar to audiences in Europe and North America. Argentina\u2019s <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Cura<\/i><\/span><\/strong> and <\/span>Marcelo \u00c1lvarez<\/i><\/span><\/strong> are among the most prominent of these, though one should not overlook the powerful <\/span>Dario Volont\u00e9<\/i><\/span><\/strong>, one of the survivors of the sunk warship General Belgrano. <\/span><\/p>\n<iframe title=\""The\" famous=\"\" tito=\"\" beltr=\"\" singing=\"\" dorma=\"\" giacomo=\"\" puccini=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7RmJW5UrdzQ?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nOne tenor who scuppered his own career is the Chilean<\/span> Tito Beltr\u00e1n<\/i><\/span><\/strong>,<\/strong> now making appearances following a spell in prison. Other names to listen out for include <\/span>Luciano Botelho<\/i><\/span><\/strong> (Brazil), <\/span>Dario Schmunk<\/i><\/span><\/strong> (Argentina) and <\/span>Aquiles Machado <\/i><\/span><\/strong>(Venezuela). And while he has concentrated on a career in Buenos Aires and La Plata, <\/span>Enrique Folger<\/strong><\/i><\/span> is worth hearing if you\u2019re lucky enough to visit that part of the world.<\/span><\/p>\nTop image by Getty Images<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By BBC Music Magazine Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am IT\u2019S A LONG TIME since Italy, the country that invented opera produced the most important singers. Today\u2019s stars are increasingly coming from far-flung countries, not least in Africa and Asia, but South America has always been a rich source of tenor talent. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":17581,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/07\/south-americas-best-tenors-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By BBC Music Magazine Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am IT\u2019S A LONG TIME since Italy, the country that invented opera produced the most important singers. Today\u2019s stars are increasingly coming from far-flung countries, not least in Africa and Asia, but South America has always been a rich source of tenor talent. The…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/17580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}