Fernando del Valle

Ancestry

He took the name del Valle in honour of his grandfather, Fernando Meléndez del Valle, who was also a tenor and diplomat for El Salvador at the consulate of El Salvador in New Orleans. He is the great, great grandson of Andrés del Valle, President of El Salvador in 1876 and a direct descendant of Colonel José María San Martín, President of El Salvador (1854–56) and founder of Santa Tecla, El Salvador. He is the grandson of the Honorable Judge Robert J. Skinner, former recorder and treasurer (for the City of New Orleans), a regimental sergeant-major in World War One, and the great grandson of Judge Edward King Skinner, who served on the city, criminal and civil district court benches, successively, over a total period of 52 years In 1880 He was appointed to first district court after the Civil War. A year after his retirement attorneys gave civil district court a portrait in oils of Judge Skinner. The portrait by John Paul Parker, was presented to the court by United States Attorney Rene A. Viosca, who was then president of the New Orleans Bar Association.

Biography

He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. A graduate of Brother Martin High School, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tulane University as the recipient of the Treville Scholarship in Voice, and the Artists Diploma from Southern Methodist University as the Haggar Scholar. As a winner of The Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition he was awarded a Career Grant from The Dallas Opera, the winner of the Stewart Award, the Austin Lyric Opera Vocal Competition, the Fort Worth Opera Competition and the Vocal Competition of the San Antonio Opera judged by Evelyn Lear and Richard Gaddes. He is an alumnus of the San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program where he studied under the direction of Patrick Summers in 1992 and 1993. He later won the "Bel Canto" competition of Chicago and subsequently relocated to Italy where he studied under Carlo Bergonzi and, later, Thomas Hayward and Nicolai Gedda.

Early years

Del Valle made his operatic debut at the age of seventeen (1981), as the First Shepherd in John Blow's Venus and Adonis (Blow), at Loyola University followed by roles in La rondine, conducted by Maurice Peress, Brigadoon, Shenandoah (musical) opposite Bryan Batt and The Merry Widow. The next year, after the intervention and advice of his Tulane professor, Deborah Drattell, he became tenor soloist in Bach's "St Matthew Passion" with the New Orleans Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Massey, conducting. In 1986, he made his Boston debut in that composer's "Christmas Oratorio", in Jordan Hall, as the winner of the Boston Premiere Ensembles Young Artist Competition. The following spring, his New York debut took place at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, with the Beethoven Society of New York. Elsewhere, he continued his career as a concert tenor with a repertoire that included Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and the Requiems of Verdi, Britten and Lloyd Webber. The tenor's Carnegie Hall debut occurred in 1993, with Mozart's "Great" Mass in C minor with the American Symphony Orchestra. He performed the tenor solos in George Frideric Handel's Messiah for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in 1994. He made his European debut in 1995, singing in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Alun Francis, conducting

Del Valle's European operatic debut took place with the role of 'don José' in the Hugo de Ana production of Carmen at the Teatro Comunale di Treviso under the vocal direction of Regina Resnik and conducted by Peter Maag. In 1996, he appeared as Rodolfo in La bohème, at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Vladimir Jurowski, conducting.

1997 – present

In 1997, del Valle appeared as 'don José' at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Isaac Karabtchevsky, conducting 'Pinkerton' in Madama Butterfly with the Palm Beach Opera, Anton Guadagno, conducting and 'Faust' in Colmar, France. He made his German debut in 1998 as 'Rodolfo' with the Frankfurt Opera, under the direction of the venerated pedagogue/conductor, Klauspeter Seibel, immediately following he appeared to critical acclaim, at the Wexford Festival in Ireland as 'Paolo' in Fosca (opera) by Antônio Carlos Gomes. A series of important engagements followed, and since 1999, del Valle has appeared around the world, including performances in Frankfurt Alte Oper, Strasbourg (Beethoven 9th Symphony, op. 125, with John Storgards conducting), Maastricht, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater Dortmund, Teatro Carlo Felice, Bremen, Bergen, Costa Rica, Munich Gasteig, Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, Belo Horizonte in Brazil, the HIFA Festival in Harare, Zimbabwe, Malmö, The New Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, Bulgaria, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Torino, Baveno, Inaugural concert of the Umberto Giordano Festival with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, National Theatre Mannheim, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Staatstheater Kassel, Hamburg and Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden . For some years, del Valle was engaged as the Principal Tenor at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, at the invitation of Marc Albrecht. His career followed by performances in Israel, Korea, Catania, Sydney (recording Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius at the Sydney Opera House), Lisbon and Prague.

He has collaborated with some of the most notable conductors in the world including, Vladimir Jurowski, Asher Fisch, Anton Guadagno, Roberto Paternostro, Claudio Abbado, Eduardo Mata, Benjamin Zander, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Peter Maag, John DeMain, Carl St. Clair, JoAnn Falletta, John Nelson, Dan Ettinger, Carlo Maria Giulini, Alexander Lazarev. Stefan Blunier, Philippe Entremont, Joseph Rescigno and Richard Bonynge.

In 2003 his portrait was realised by Ricarda Jaccobi protégé of Oskar Kokoschka. On the occasion of the 150th (1854–2004) Anniversary of Santa Tecla, El Salvador, Mr. del Valle was invited by former Salvadoran Ambassador Ernesto Rivas-Gallont to present 2 Concerts. A devoutee of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Tenor requested that the first performance take place on September 23, the feast-day of Saint Thecla, the Saint for whom the city is named.

Since 2004, due to health issues, he cannot perform in big productions anymore but he still works as singer, for instance at charity events. He keeps on training his voice and also rehearsals with a piano-player to keep his repertoire in good shape.

Health

In 1995 he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 31 years old, and treated at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Legally blind, he suffers from diabetic retinopathy, Glaucoma, macular degeneration, Ocular ischemic syndrome, Cataracts, macular edema, Diabetic cardiomyopathy and diabetic neuropathy.

Roles sung on stage

Bizet

Boito

Donizetti

Giordano

Gomes

Gounod

André Ernest Modeste Grétry

Lehar

Leoncavallo

Mascagni

Massenet

Mozart

Ponchielli

Jacques Offenbach

Puccini

Johann Strauss

Strauss

Verdi

Discography