María José Montiel Opens the 2025/2026 Season with Verdi’s Requiem
July 2025
- The Madrid-born mezzosoprano begins her season in September with performances in Logroño, the Basque Country, Tenerife, Madrid, and Murcia, among other cities, alongside her professorship at Berlin’s Universität der Künste and teaching at the Música en Compostela International Courses.
A work she has performed over a hundred times—often alongside orchestras and conductors of Maestro Riccardo Chailly’s caliber on global stages—Verdi’s Requiem has been a constant throughout María José Montiel’s career and remains one of her most cherished pieces. This September, following her annual summer masterclasses at the Música en Compostela International Courses (July 27–August 9), the Spanish mezzosoprano will return to La Rioja and the Basque Country to perform the Italian composer’s masterpiece.
Her tour, part of the IV RenHacer Festival organized by the Columbus Foundation, will stop in Logroño (September 11; Rioja Forum), Arantzazu (September 13; Sanctuary of Arantzazu), and Bilbao (September 14; Palacio Euskalduna). The Valencia-based foundation, where Montiel has served as Ambassador since 2017, will assemble a world-class lineup of soloists for the occasion: joining the Madrid-born mezzo are soprano Miren Urbieta-Vega, tenor Jonathan Tetelman, and bass George Andguladze, accompanied by the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa and the Orfeón Donostiarra under the baton of conductor Ramón Tebar.
October 2025: European Staged Premiere of Yerma
Montiel’s season continues at the Tenerife Opera, where she will take part in the European staged premiere of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ opera Yerma, based on Federico García Lorca’s tragic play. This co-production by the Auditorio de Tenerife, Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela, and the Amazonas Opera Festival (Manaus, Brazil) will feature stage direction by Paco Azorín and Maestro Luiz Fernando Malheiro leading the Sinfónica de Tenerife.
Winter Engagements: Berlin and Beyond
The Spanish artist, who balances her stage career with her Vocal Arts Professorship at Berlin’s Universität der Künste (a role she has held since 2019), will spend November and December in the German capital. She returns to Spain in January 2026 for a recital titled De Puentes y Almas (Of Bridges and Souls) on the 27th at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela, with pianist Miquel Estelrich, alongside additional recitals in Murcia and other European cities.
Mahler's "Second Symphony"
"El 'Urlicht', un nuevo Lied del Wunderhorn, como el anterior, permitió a María José Montiel lucir la opulencia de su voz de aterciopelado timbre, en la que derrochó el candor que el compositor exigía a sus intérpretes. El cambio a la tonalidad menor, subyugante. Eso es dirigir y eso es cantar".
El Periódico del Mediterráneo, Antonio J. GascóMahler's "Second Symphony"
“La mezzosoprano madrileña María José Montiel, Catedrática de Canto en la afamada Universität der Kunste de Berlín, brindó una labor perfecta al interpretar el lied O Rösschen rot (oh rosita roja) con el que abre luz el citado cuarto movimiento, también conocido como ‘Luz Pristina’, siguiendo, en perfecta dicción del alemán, el requerimiento de Mahler al solicitar que “se cante como un pequeño niño celestial”.
Beckmesser, Manuel Cabrera
