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Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro
This artist was born in Geneva. His Chilean-born
parents made sure that he became acquainted
with American culture. From his youth, Gonzales-
Toro took oboe lessons and sang in the Les Pueri
choir, with which he performed at Geneva’s Grand
Théâtre. Despite making significant progress in
playing his instrument, he took up voice training
in his hometown, which he continued in London
and Nancy. The repertoire of his first solo concerts,
accompanied by French ensembles under the
direction of Michel Sorboz, was comprised of religious
music masterpieces (W. A. Mozart’s Requiem, masses
by F. J. Haydn, G. F. Handel’s Messiah, J. S. Bach’s
Mass in B minor, Passions and Christmas Oratorio).
With an extensive operatic repertoire at his disposal
– in roles from C. Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di
Poppea to G. Bizet’s Carmen and R. Strauss’ Salome
– he quickly became a frequent guest at festivals
and opera theaters in France, Holland, Spain and
Portugal, collaborating with such conductors as
William Christie, John Duxbury, Laurent Gay,
Laurent Gendre, Stephan Macleod, Jean-Claude
Malgoire, Christina Pluhar, René Jacobs, Stefano
Molardi, Jan Willem de Vriend, Giovanni Antonini,
Luca Pianca, Alessandro de Marchi, Emmanuelle
Haïm, Pinchas Steinberg, Bernard Têtu and
Emmanuel Joel-Hornak. Such groups as Ensemble
Orlando Fribourg, L’Arpeggiata, Les Talens Lyriques
and Le Concert Spirituel frequently engage the artist
for their recording projects. This season, Gonzalez-
Toro will perform in, among other places, the
United States (A. E. M. Grétry’s Le Magnifique, title
role), and begin a two-year tour with A. Vivaldi’s II
Farnace at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris.
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Photo: From the artist’s archives