Singing from the heart

David Lomeli was just 25 years old in October 2006, when he scored a stunning double victory at Operalia, Placido Domingo's annual competition to find the best young opera voices in the world. Lomeli, a Mexican tenor, was the first singer ever to win the top prize in both the opera and zarzuela categories.

His first reaction: "I felt I was blessed, like [Leonardo] DiCaprio screaming, 'I'm the king of the world!' "

His second reaction: "Just after the prize was announced, and we were walking off the stage, an intendant from a very famous opera house asked me if I could sing Tosca in three months. I didn't know what to say. I was an engineer from Mexico. I was overwhelmed."

While it may not have been a typical start on a singing career, it was in keeping with Lomeli's unlikely trajectory to international stardom, which began in a musical family in Mexico City. "My grandmother is a soprano and my mother a mezzo, and I learned from them the concepts of support and resonance at an early age," Lomeli tells The Prague Post via e-mail.

But when he went to university, it was to study computer engineering. Singing was a way to earn money to put himself through school. He sang in university opera productions, but after graduation his musical interests lay elsewhere. "I had a boy band, a pop band, a rock band in bars, sang in musical theater and taught very young kids," Lomeli recalls.

Then his voice teacher, Cesar Ulloa, introduced him to Domingo and took him to Operalia and other singing competitions in the United States, Spain and Mexico. An impressive string of wins, along with a memorable last-minute stand-in for fellow Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón at a gala concert in Mexico City, led to apprenticeships with the Los Angeles Opera and the San Francisco Opera.

Since then, Lomeli has appeared in productions in Germany, France, Israel, Puerto Rico and throughout the United States, singing largely the classic Italian repertoire - Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti - and some Mozart and Gounod. Perhaps the best measure of how far he's come is his engagement this week with the Berlin Philharmonic to sing in Verdi's Requiem. And his schedule is rapidly filling up with future opera performances in Berlin, Santa Fe, Houston, Cologne and Frankfurt.

For all that, Lomeli's first and most enduring love is zarzuela, the Spanish form of operetta that is wildly popular in Mexico. "Zarzuela is near to my heart, so magnificent and passionate," he says. "I remember when I was a last-minute replacement for Rolando Villazón - I sang good through the night, but the more I sang, the more tranquil the crowd became. Finally, I sang "No Puede Ser" from La Tabernera del Puerto, and the crowd just jumped from their seats. It was a marvelous experience. Zarzuela is part of my life and soul."

Lomeli will be singing some zarzuela in Prague, along with selections from Donizetti, Puccini, Verdi and Gounod. Sopranos Eva Hornyáková and Kateřina Kněžíková will provide vocal support, and Charles Olivieri-Munroe will be at the podium conducting the North Czech Philharmonic orchestra.

This is a great time to see Lomeli, who has the pipes to be a major star but is still at a point in his career where he hasn't forgotten where he came from. He enjoys doing recitals, for example, because it gives him a chance to interact with the audience.

"I love recitals because it is me - not Rodolfo, not Faust, but David, the guy that jokes, laughs, gets emotional and cries," he says. "A guy proud of his roots who, at the end of the day, is a human being. I love to talk to the public, though sometimes it is considered breaking protocol if an opera singer speaks during the recital. I need it. It makes you and the audience a friendly circle."

All of which portends a good reception in Prague, where audiences love that sort of intimacy. This will be Lomeli's debut performance here, though not his first visit to the city.

"I went to Prague as a student to visit some friends in 2002," he says. "I love the city and the cultural offerings all over the map. As for the State Opera, I can't wait to be on the stage of such a historic venue, where the great [Alexander] Zemlinsky and Enrico Caruso passed."

His time here may have been brief, but Lomeli seems to have gotten an accurate read on the city. Asked what to expect at his concert, he says, "The people in Prague, as I remember, were so friendly: beer lovers and warm people. I expect to have a great time of music and fun."

Frank Kuznik can be reached at
fkuznik@praguepost.com