Le Fils De Cadix: Ismael Jordi

In 1973 tenor Ismael Jordi was born in Jerez de la Frontera, a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southwestern Spain situated midway between the sea and the mountains. His great-grandmother was the only one with musical abilities in his family. He was a semi-professional soccer player, but was always interested in singing. He took voice lessons with Argentinian tenor Daniel Munoz.

He attended Madrid's Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía starting in 1998. He studied voice with Alfredo Kraus for two years. He went on to take lessons with Suso Mariategui, Edelmiro Arnaltes, Teresa Berganza and Manuel Cid. He currently studies voice with Angelo Capobianco in Verona.

His opera debut was in 2000 at the Teatro Villamarta as Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

Various operas he has performed around the world include Don Pasquale (Stadttheater Bern, Opéra National du Rhin, Gran Teatro de Córdoba), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opernhaus Düsseldorf, Teatro Villamarta, Opéra de Bordeaux, Berlin Staatsoper), L'elisir d'Amore (Ópera de Oviedo, Teatro Villamarta, Teatro Cervantes de Málaga, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro de la Maestranza), La Traviata (Opéra de Marseille, Volksoper Vienna, Opéra de Bordeaux, Palacio de la Ópera in Coruña, Teatro Principal in Palma de Mallorca, Ópera de Oviedo, Teatro Villamarta, Staatsoper Hamburg, De Nederlandse Opera, Teatro de la Maestranza, Deutsche Oper Berlin) and Lucia di Lammermoor (De Nederlandse Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Semperoper Dresden).

In rehearsal with Plácido Domingo

His repertoire also includes I Capuletti et i Montecchi (Teatro Arriaga), Eugene Onegin (Palacio de la Ópera, Teatro Villamarta), Così fan tutte (Teatro Real), Rigoletto (Teatro Villamarta, Opéra de Avignon), Falstaff (Opéra National du Rhin), Gianni Schicchi (Théâtre du Capitole), Martha (Volksoper Vienna), Roméo et Juliette (De Nederlandse Opera, Teatro Villamarta), Lucrezia Borgia (Bayerische Staatsoper), Anna Bolena (Oper Frankfurt, Opéra Royal de Wallonie), Der Rosenkavalier (Théâtre du Capitole), Iphigénie en Tauride (Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía) and Mignon (Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique).

He has performed in such diverse operas as Die Zauberflöte and Oedipus Rex, with such extraordinary performers as June Anderson, Edita Gruberova, Plácido Domingo, Violeta Urmana, Mariella Devia and Marina Poplavskaya.

Traviata with Poplavskaya

His Zarzuela repertoire includes Katiuska, Los gavilanes and La Generala. His most famous work has been in Doña Francisquita, which he has performed in Córdoba, Toulouse, Madrid, Jerez and Seville. He also took on the French operetta Le Chanteur de Mexico in 2006 at the Le Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris to great acclaim.

He is also preparing new roles for Les Pêcheurs de Perles and Werther as well as the Zarzuela of Luisa Fernanda and La tabernera del Puerto. He hopes to do Faust one day, but also says he will probably never do Carmen or Don Carlo.

Barbiere with Mariella Devia

Future appearances include La Traviata (Seville), Lucia di Lammermoor (Bucharest), Don Giovanni (Jerez), Mignon (Paris), Doña Francisquita (Madrid), L’elisir d’Amore (Oviedo), Rigoletto (Hamburg), Eugene Onegin (Bilbao), Lucia di Lammermoor (Murcia), Der Rosenkavalier (Amsterdam), Linda di Chamounix (Barcelona).

In recital with Ainhoa Arteta

He will also be performing the Rossini Stabat Mater in Amberes, Gante, Festival de Música de Canarias and Auditorio Nacional in Madrid.

He frequently appears in recital and concert with a repertoire that combines Spanish music, Italian opera arias and zarzuela romances.

DISCOGRAPHY:

La Traviata, Martha, Doña Francisquita, Le Chanteur de Mexico

AWARDS:

Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain gave him the award for most outstanding student of Alfredo Kraus singing professor in 2000.

In 2009, he was given the Lyric Award by the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo for best singer of Zarzuela.

TRIVIA:

Singers he admires from the past include Renata Scotto, Ileana Cortrubas, Montserrat Caballé, Alfredo Kraus, Tito Schipa, Aureliano Nicolai Gedda and Luciano Pavarotti.

With teacher Alfredo Kraus

Before singing his role in Le Chanteur de Mexico at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, he studied the voice of Luis Mariano who portrayed it for the film version of Francis Lopez’s work.

Performing as the Chanteur

Before turning to the classic opera is dedicated, he sings many zarzuelas and concerts in his home country.

Singing Lucrezia Borgia in Liège with June Anderson

Important dates: 2000 (Professional opera debut/Teatro Villamarta/Don Pasquale), 2002 (French debut/ Opéra National du Rhin/Don Pasquale), 2007 (Holland debut/ De Nederlandse Opera/Lucia di Lammermoor), 2008 (Opernhaus Zürich debut/Lucia di Lammermoor)

He regularly performs at the Volksoper Vienna: Martha (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), La Traviata (2007) and a Zarzuela concert with Carlos Alvarez.

In his homeland of Spain, he has sung at Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro de la Maestranza Seville, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, Teatro Vill Amara de Jerez, Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo, Sala de los Espejos del Liceo de Barcelona, Festivals of Peralada, Valencia, Bilbao and Malaga.

He would like to record an album of Mexican rancheras and a disc of Luis Mariano hits.