Marc Laho tenor
The Belgian tenor Marc Laho studied Voice and Trumpet at the Conservatoire Royal de Liège. He was 20 years old when he received the Vocation Prize at the International Singing Competition of Verviers. Subsequently, he studied with Alain Vanzo, Luigi Alva, Gabriel Bacquier and Nicolai Gedda.
In 1992, he made his debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, on the role of Officier in Massenet’s Thérèse. Then, with Renata Scotto in Fedora. In the same year, he was a finalist of Luciano Pavarotti’s Competition, Philadelphia.
A specialist of the French repertoire, Marc Laho also made his career singing Italian roles. He has already performed as Gérald in Delibe’s Lakmé, sharing the stage with Natalie Dessay, at Opéra Grand Avignon; Tonio in La Fille du Régiment, at Grand-Théâtre de Genève; Paris in Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène, conducted by Harnoncourt at Zurich Opernhaus; Elvino in La Sonambula, at Opéra-Comique de Paris and Wiener Staatsoper; Alahor in Donizetti’s Granada, at Teatro Massimo di Palermo; Fadinard in Nino Rota’s Le Chapeau de Paille d’Italie, at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse; and Lyonnel in Purcell’s King Arthur, at the Edimburg Festival. At the San Francisco Opera, he was acclaimed as Pape des Fous in Charpentier’s Louise and Fernando in Donizetti’s La Favorita. As Arturo in I Puritani, he performed in Liège, Brussels, Avignon and Essen. Subsequently, he sung Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, at the Capitole de Toulouse; Néocles in Rossini’s Le Siège de Corinthe, at Opéra de Lyon; Arvino in Verdi’s I Lombardi, at Opéra de Marseille; the title role of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory, at Glyndebourne Festival, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Opéra-Comique de Paris, La Corun͂a and Tenerife.
At the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz, Laho sung the title role in Auber’s Gustave III and, at Teatro Regio di Torino, Orphée in Offenbachs’ Orphée aux Enfers. In a tournee by Marseille, Caen, Nancy, Montpellier, Lausanne, Hong Kong, Trieste and Paris, he sung Piquillo in Offenbach’s La Périchole. At the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, he sung Berlioz’ Lélio, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
He also interpreted roles as Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Edgardo in Lucia di Lamermoor, Nadir in Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Hoffmann in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Laërte in Thomas’ Hamlet, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Don José in Carmen, Cavaradossi in Tosca, among others, performing in important theatres as Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Opéra National du Rhin, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opera Vlaanderen, Royal Opera House of Muscat, National Opera of Prague, Opéra National de Lorraine, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Grand-Théâtre de Genève, Opéra de Montpellier, Bolshoi Theatre, Staatsoper Stuttgart and Opéra de Rouen, and several others.
His discography includes Donizetti’s Lucia di Lamermoor (EMI), Freyhir by Emile Mathieu, Comala and Clair de Lune by Joseph Jongen (Music in Wallonia), Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (production by Glyndebourne, RCA Video), Thomas Hamlet (RM Associates), Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Belair Médias), Ropartz's Third Symphony (Timpani), Bellini’s I Puritani (Siparietto), Franck’s Stradella (Dynamics) and Grétry’s Guillaume Tell (Dynamics).
Among his next engagements, he will sing Samson et Dalila at Opéra Grand Avignon and Simon Boccanegra at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège.