Ricardo Panela
Born in Aveiro - Portugal, Ricardo has distinguished himself for his interpretation of the florid baritone Bel Canto roles, deemed beguilingly sonorous, a technical tour-de-force and mesmerising by different music publications.
Currently focusing on the main Lyric Baritone roles from the Classical Period to Verismo, the 2015 - 2016 season saw Ricardo debut to critical acclaim at his home country's National Opera House in Lisbon, in Poulenc's Les Dialogues des Carmelites, directed by Luís Miguel Cintra, one of the most influential portuguese actors/directors of his generation and a lifelong collaborator of award-winning film director Manoel de Oliveira.
This year will see Ricardo have another company and role debut in Opera Holland Park's Young Artist production of Don Giovanni, as Masetto.
Previous career highlights have included the London premieres of Saverio Mercadante's Don Chisciotte at Leighton House Museum and of Federico Ruiz's Los Martirios de Colón at the Southbank Centre.
Equally at home in Opera, Oratorio and Recital, Ricardo has also performed, amongst others, for Wexford Festival Opera, Longborough Festival Opera and Casa da Música - Porto, under the baton of conductors like Jeremy Silver, Andrew Bisantz, Jean Sébastien-Berau or Jean-Luc Tingaud.
He regularly gives Lecture-Recitals at London's Cadogan Hall for Opera Prelude, having recently completed a cycle of lectures where he researched and explored the impact of Censorship and Political Propaganda in Operatic Performance and Composition from the Baroque period through to the Second World War.
Ricardo is also a two-time bursary recipient of The International Opera Awards Foundation, who have generously supported him for the last 2 years.
Having started his musical studies with brazilian soprano Juracyara Baptista, Ricardo then continued studying at the University of Aveiro with portuguese bass-baritone António Salgado, where he achieved a BMus in Vocal Performance and Teaching with Distinction, before moving to London to work with Laura Sarti at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he completed his MMus in Performance. After Guildhall he furthered his studies at the Welsh International Academy of Voice with Dennis O'Neill.
Ricardo sang in masterclasses with artists such as Montserrat Caballé, Teresa Berganza, Sir John Tomlinson, Della Jones or Nelly Miricioiu.
Ricardo's website