Arturo Chacón-Cruz is Giving Voice to Opera
Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz returns to the Maryland Lyric Opera for a production of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera that "people should not miss."
“In Mexico, when you propose to your significant other, you propose by bringing a serenade with the mariachis,” says Arturo Chacón-Cruz, who started singing with the mariachis at age 14 in his native Sonora, Mexico. “My name started becoming more popular and people would ask for me. I was doing serenades a few times a week — late at night, sometimes one after the other.
He continued doing that for years until his mother intervened. “My mother wasn’t too happy with this, and she put me in private voice lessons so I would find discipline.”
He found discipline specifically in the world of opera, where he’s made a name for himself as an acclaimed, award-winning tenor, one who regularly tours the world performing with leading opera companies.
“I know it sounds a little bit cheesy, but opera keeps me [convinced] that you can still have hope and believe in the good of humanity, the good of the universe,” Chacón-Cruz says. “Opera is something that helps you reach your potential. If you have trouble forgiving, if you have trouble loving, if you have trouble finding people, opera is really something that will open you up.”
Chacón-Cruz is gearing up for his second engagement with the Maryland Lyric Opera, and his debut in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. “This is very special,” he says, praising the organization’s “outstanding orchestra” as well as its leadership team.
“MDLO is a company that is borne out of love for the music,” he continues. “It’s a company that does opera the proper way, with love and respect for music as the first choice.”
Un Ballo in Maschera is “is a very dramatic opera,” says Chacón-Cruz, who sings the principal role of Riccardo. “The role is fantastic. He’s a guy with the noblest of feelings. It’s very human. And that’s what I think opera is — finding the strongest of emotions and expressing them to the max, with the human voice [at] its fullest capacity.”
Arturo Chacón-Cruz performs in the Maryland Lyric Opera’s Un Ballo in Maschera on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. Tickets are $59 to $150. Visit www.mdlo.org or call 301-581-5100.
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