Tenor Nico Darmanin debuts at Estonian National Opera

Maltese tenor Nico Darmanin received critical acclaim for his performance in the title role of Romeo in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette at the Estonian National Opera. The opera was premiered in Tallinn, Estonia on Friday 20 September with Nico in the role of Romeo and French soprano Perrine Madoeuf as Juliet. The opera was directed by Stephen Barlow whose repertoire includes work for the Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne and Covent Garden and was under the baton of Arvo Volmer, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Opera.

In his comments to the press after the opening night, Darmanin said that “it has been a long wait to finally have the opportunity to move slowly into this beautiful French Romantic repertoire full of fervour and passion. It is an honour and privilege to perform in this historical opera house in front of such an appreciative audience and work with a remarkable international cast and production team”.

Referring to Darmanin’s performance with Madoeuf, the opera reviewer of Estonian newspaper Postimees remarked that that ‘they were in perfect harmony. They offered what guest soloists should offer: talent and quality’.

Darmanin’s debut at the Estonian National Opera follows a busy opera season having performed the roles of Alberto in Rossini’s La Gazzetta at Salzburger Landerstheater, Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with the Welsh National Opera and Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte at the Teatru Manoel. Opera reviews continue to highlight the Maltese tenor’s flourishing operatic career on international stages.

Opernglas Magazine referred to his performance in La Gazzetta as ‘the surprise of the evening. With a full bodied Mediterranean timbre demonstrated perfected Rossini singing, met with precise ornamentation and diction’. For his performance in Don Pasquale, Opera Now magazine stated that, Darmanin’s “all-singing, all-dancing Ernesto offered the vocal highlights’. In another review Cardiff’s online magazine claimed that ‘Malta should be proud of Nico, who has a belter of a tenor voice, perfect for this repertoire.”

Soon after his debut at the Estonian National Opera with other performances in January 2020, the Maltese tenor will also be debuting the role of Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicci for the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck.

“It is has been an exciting season exploring this gorgeous, grand and lavish lyric repertoire,” Darmanin says. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming season which will also include my return to one my favourite roles, Don Ramiro from Rossini’s La Cenerentola for The Grange Festival in the UK conducted by world renowned maestro David Parry”.

Nico Darmanin is represented internationally by TACT International Art Management and in Malta by Culture Venture.