Plácido Domingo presides over the final phase of auditions at the Centre de Perfeccionament

– Artists from different graduating classes of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo perform songs, arias, romances and duets from opera and zarzuela

– Tickets for each session have a single price of 15 euros

Valencia. The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía hosts the 'Veus Valencianes' recital series from June 23 to 25 at the Teatre Martín i Soler, an activity that is part of the program of the VII Festival del Mediterrani.

Tenor Mario Cerdá, mezzo-soprano María Luisa Corbacho, sopranos Dolores Lahuerta and Yolanda Marín, mezzo-soprano Susana Martínez and baritone Lluís Martínez-Agudo, all artists from different promotions of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo, perform songs, arias, romances and duets from opera and zarzuela.

The recitals begin at 8:00 p.m. The Palau de les Arts has set a single price of 15 euros for each of the 'Veus Valencianes' sessions.

On Monday, June 23, Susana Martínez and Lluís Martínez-Agudo , accompanied on the piano by Stanislav Ángelov , will perform a varied repertoire with excerpts from operas by Donizetti, Dvořák, Gounod, Händel, Martín i Soler, Mozart, Puccini and Rossini, as well as zarzuelas by Chapí, Guridi, Martínez Valls and Moreno Torroba.

Susana Martínez studied piano and voice at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory in Valencia, her hometown. She attended masterclasses with Nancy Argenta, Ana Luisa Chova, Ileana Cotrubas, Gloria Fabuel, Pedro Lavirgen, and Ana María Sánchez, among others. In 2009, she joined the Plácido Domingo Centre for Advanced Studies, where she worked with Ana Luisa Chova, Enedina Lloris, José Miguel Pérez Sierra, Roger Vignoles, Alejandro Zabala, and Alberto Zedda. She is a member of the Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana (Choir of the Valencian Government).

Lluís Martínez-Agudo studied singing with Gloria Fabuel at the Valencia Conservatory, his hometown. He received instruction from his father, Ángel Martínez, as well as Ernesto Palacio and Roberto Scandiuzzi, and won prizes in several competitions. He has participated in productions of Così fan tutte , Manon , Don Giovanni (Masetto), Madama Butterfly (Yamadori), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Don Bartolo), and La Cenerentola (Dandini), at the Palau de la Música and the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, the Pesaro Festival, and the Teatro Real, Teatro Farándula, Teatro Arriaga, Teatro Calderón in Valladolid, and Teatro Maestranza, among others.

Stanislav Angelov trained as a pianist and choral conductor in Bulgaria, his country of origin. In 1997, he served as musical assistant to Kent Nagano in Manchester for a production of Tosca . He has worked as an accompanist at the Sofia Opera, Opera a Catalunya, and the Liceu ( Rigoletto , Madama Butterfly , Turandot , Manon Lescaut ), and has also collaborated with La Scala on West Side Story . Since the 2008-2009 season, he has worked at the Palau de les Arts under the baton of conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, Lorin Maazel, and Zubin Mehta, among others.

Mezzo-soprano María Luisa Corbacho and tenor Mario Cerdá, with José Ramón Martín on piano, will focus their recital on June 24th on the work of Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi with arias and duets from such well-known works as L'elisir d'amore and La Favorita , by Donizetti, or Don Carlo and Il trovatore , by Verdi.

María Luisa Corbacho studied with Francisco Lázaro and Alberto Zedda at the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo. She has also performed at the Palau de les Arts in productions of Cavalleria rusticana , Les Troyens , La vida breve , and Die Walküre, under the direction of musical and stage directors such as Giancarlo Del Monaco, Valery Gergiev, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, and Carlus Padrissa. She has sung in the operas Aida , Gianni Schicchi , Nabucco , Suor Angelica , and Il trovatore . Most recently, she appeared in the Palau de les Arts production of Maror .

Mario Cerdá began singing at the Escolania de la Mare de Déu dels Desemparats and continued his training at Musikene (San Sebastián) with Ana María Sánchez. After performing in operas such as Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni , he made his debut at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Orfeón Donostiarra in 2007. He was a member of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo. At the Palau de les Arts, he has sung in operas such as I due Foscari , the duet from 'La Africana' , La forza del destino , Otello , La vida breve , and Die Zauberflöte , among others.

The Valencian pianist José Ramón Martín joined the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo in 2007, where he specialized as a rehearsal pianist with Alberto Zedda. Since 2008, he has participated in the Pesaro Festival. He is a rehearsal pianist at the Palau de les Arts, where he has worked with Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, and Georges Prêtre, and has been assistant conductor to Omer Meir Wellber ( Il barbiere di Siviglia , I due Foscari , Rigoletto , Tosca , Eugeny Onegin ) and Riccardo Chailly ( La Bohème ).

Valencian sopranos Dolores Lahuerta and Yolanda Marín will close the 'Veus Valencianes' cycle on June 25, accompanied on piano by José Ramón Martín. Their program will feature arias and duets from essential operatic works such as Verdi's Rigoletto and La Traviata , and La Bohème. and La Rondine , by Puccini, or Le nozze di Figaro , by Mozart, as well as fragments of zarzuela, songs and duets by composers such as Fauré, Ginastera, Guastavino, as well as the famous 'Clavelitos' by Joaquín Valverde.

Dolores Lahuerta has already performed important operatic roles. Among her most recent performances are the successful Traviata in the Òpera a Catalunya series, Lucia di Lammermoor in Málaga, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Mallorca, and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare in Egitto in Cairo and Alexandria. As a member of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo in 2009, she participated in La Scala di seta , Madama Butterfly , and Les Troyens , conducted by Alberto Zedda, Lorin Maazel, and Valery Gergiev, respectively.

Yolanda Marín studied singing with soprano Gloria Fabuel and received masterclasses from Montserrat Caballé, Ileana Cotrubas, Raina Kabaivanska, Enedina Lloris, Ernesto Palacio, Ana María Sánchez, and Alberto Zedda, among others. She has made her stage debuts at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Teatro Campoamor, Teatro Arriaga, and Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. In 2010, she joined the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo. She recently performed in Maror at the Palau de les Arts.