Brazilian tenor Thiago Arancam has sung on some of the world’s great opera stages, from Milan’s La Scala to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. On Saturday night, he will trade those grand surroundings for a former church on Andalusia Avenue, bringing a voice trained for opera’s most demanding roles to a program that also embraces Broadway and popular song.
Arancam performs at 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at Sanctuary of the Arts, 410 Andalusia Ave. The concert, titled “Timeless Classics from Broadway, Opera & Unforgettable Songs,” promises music drawn from several traditions, although a detailed program and accompanist have not been announced.
For an artist whose career has taken him through major opera houses across Europe and the Americas, the Coral Gables appearance offers a different kind of encounter: a chance to hear a powerful operatic voice in an intimate theater.
A La Scala-trained tenor with an international career
Arancam was born in São Paulo, Brazil, where he began his musical education before continuing his studies at Milan’s prestigious La Scala Academy under soprano Leyla Gencer.
He was the first Brazilian admitted to the academy, according to published biographies.
His international breakthrough came in 2008 at Operalia, the singing competition founded by Plácido Domingo. Competing in Quebec, Arancam won three awards: second prize in opera, the audience prize and the Don Plácido Domingo prize for zarzuela, the Spanish theatrical tradition combining singing and spoken dialogue.
The same year, he made his American operatic debut as Don José in Bizet’s “Carmen” at Washington National Opera, opposite mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, with Julius Rudel conducting.
His career subsequently took him to Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bolshoi Theatre and opera houses in Frankfurt, Stockholm, Rome, San Francisco and Philadelphia, among other cities.
Arancam is classified as a lirico spinto tenor, a voice type that combines the lyrical qualities needed for expressive, sustained singing with the strength to project over a full orchestra during dramatic passages.
His repertoire reflects that combination. He has performed Cavaradossi in Puccini’s “Tosca,” Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly,” Radamès in Verdi’s “Aida” and the title role in Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier.”
These are parts that demand not only vocal power but also the ability to convey characters caught in moments of passion, conflict and tragedy.
His career crosses the boundary between opera and Broadway
Arancam’s experience extends beyond the traditional opera repertoire.
He has also portrayed the Phantom in a Brazilian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” a role that connects the dramatic intensity of opera with the storytelling and musical language of Broadway.
That versatility is central to Saturday’s concert.
Opera and musical theater share an emphasis on character and emotional expression, but they often make different demands on a singer.
An operatic aria such as “E lucevan le stelle,” sung by Cavaradossi in the final act of “Tosca,” calls for long, sustained phrases and a carefully controlled rise toward its emotional climax.
Broadway songs can place greater emphasis on conversational phrasing, the clarity of the words and subtle changes in a character’s emotional state.
The challenge for a classically trained singer is not simply to bring an operatic voice to familiar songs. It is to adapt the voice to the musical style and the story being told.
The concert’s advertised combination of opera, Broadway and popular favorites suggests that audiences will hear Arancam explore those different approaches. Without a published set list, however, the individual selections remain unknown.
A former church becomes an intimate concert venue
Sanctuary of the Arts occupies a former First Church of Christ, Scientist building in downtown Coral Gables.
The nonprofit arts organization, founded by attorney and arts patron Mike Eidson, secured a long-term lease on the property in 2019 and transformed it into a venue for music, dance, theater and arts education.
Its opening weekend in April 2022 featured classical music, ballet, contemporary dance and family programming.
The organization also provides rehearsal, teaching and performance space for smaller arts groups, helping address the shortage of affordable facilities for South Florida performers.
For Arancam, whose résumé includes some of the world’s largest opera houses, the smaller setting changes the relationship between performer and audience.
Rather than hearing a tenor project across a vast auditorium, listeners can experience the nuances of his phrasing, diction and vocal expression at close range.
The setting also reflects a broader cultural ambition in Coral Gables: finding new uses for distinctive buildings while expanding the city’s opportunities to experience live performance.
Saturday’s concert brings those two ideas together, placing an internationally experienced operatic tenor in a repurposed historic setting for an evening designed to move across musical genres.
If you go…
What: Thiago Arancam — “Timeless Classics from Broadway, Opera & Unforgettable Songs”
When: Saturday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m.
Where: Sanctuary of the Arts, 410 Andalusia Ave., Coral Gables
Tickets: Starting at $48, available through Sanctuary of the Arts. For information, call 786-362-5132.
Author: Coral Gables Gazette News Staff
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