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Licio Bruno
bass-baritone
"El Holandés del bajo-barítono Licio Bruno desplegó gran dignidad vocal y escénica. Evitó el melodramatismo y el apasionamiento exagerado y su condena despertó piedad, porque todo lo que hizo impresionó como verdadero."
La Nación, 2013
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TERRITORY
Latin America - exclusive
BIO
Bass-baritone with a 35-year international career, specialized in Opera and Symphonic Repertoire at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and the Budapest Opera in Hungary, where he worked as a resident artist and guest performer. Licio Bruno is an Associate Professor and researcher at the Faculty of Music in Espírito Santo. He is the pedagogical coordinator of the Postgraduate courses at the Coletivo das Artes.
Winner of the Carlos Gomes Prize in 2004, he has received 10 awards in national and international Singing competitions. In 2015, he was awarded the "Order of Cultural Merit Carlos Gomes" by SBACE-SP and the Medal of the 50th Anniversary of UN Peacekeeping Forces - ABIFIP-UN.
Recognized as one of Brazil's acclaimed classical interpreters by specialized critics, he performs in various genres - opera, operetta, masses and oratorios, symphonic and chamber repertoire. He has been directed by Amir Haddad, José Possi Netto, Jorge Takla, Gianni Rato, Sérgio Britto, Werner Herzog, André Heller-Lopes, Carla Camurati, among others. He has also collaborated with various orchestras and conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Fabio Mechetti, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Kováts János, Roberto Minczuck, Pier Giorgio Morandi, and Marin Alsop, in theaters such as the Budapest Opera, Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Sala São Paulo, Teatro Colón in Bogotá, Argentino de La Plata in Buenos Aires, and Teatro El Circulo in Rosario.
He has sung over 80 leading roles in operas such as "Otello," "La Traviata," "Aida," "Falstaff," "Rigoletto," "Un Ballo in Maschera," "Ernani" by G. Verdi, "Carmen," "Les Pêcheurs de Perles" by G. Bizet, "Fidelio" by L.V. Beethoven, "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Elisir D’Amore," "Don Pasquale," and others by G. Donizetti, "Bluebeard Castle" by Bartok, "O Caixeiro da Taverna" and "Serafim e o lugar onde não se morre" by G. Bernstein, "Romeo and Juliet" by C. Gounod, "Iphigenie en Tauride" by C. W. Gluck, "Die Lustige Witwe" by F. Lehár, "Medeia" by Mario Ferraro, "I Pagliacci" by R. Leoncavallo, "Cavalleria Rusticana" by P. Mascagni, operas by W. A. Mozart such as "Die Zauberflöte," "Don Giovanni," "Le Nozze di Figaro," and "Cosi Fan Tutte," "La Serva Padrona" and "Livietta e Tracollo" by G. B. Pergolesi, "La Gioconda" by A. Ponchielli, operas by G. Puccini such as "La Bohème," "La Fanciulla del West," "Gianni Schicchi," "Madama Butterfly," "Manon Lescaut," "Tosca," and "Turandot," "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," "La Cenerentola," "L’Italiana in Algeri," and "Il Turco in Italia" by G. Rossini, "Die Fledermauss" by J. Strauss, "Salome" by R. Strauss, and in works by R. Wagner, such as Wotan in the Ring Cycle - "Das Rheingold," "Die Walküre," "Siegfried" – and in "Tannhäuser," "Lohengrin," and "Der Fliegende Holländer," among others.
REVIEWS
Fidelio, L. Beethoven
Theatro São Pedro
"It was, however, when basso-baritone Licio Bruno (the villain Don Pizarro) entered the scene that the spectacle grew. I have praised Bruno's acting qualities more than once, and once again, such attributes made a difference. As had happened last year in the production of Rusalka at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, his mere presence already exuded authority. His first act aria, Ha, welch ein Augenblick, accompanied by the chorus, was very well defended."
Leonardo Marques, April 28, 2025 notasmusicais.com
Fidelio, L. Beethoven
Theatro São Pedro
"Licio Bruno terrifying in his tyrannical role as Pizarro."
Jorge Coli, May 1, 2025 concerto.com.br
Fidelio, L. Beethoven
Theatro São Pedro
"The two great characters of the opening night were Pizarro and Rocco. Of the first, baritone Licio Bruno offered a portrait made of almost manic urgency in his desire for death."
João Luiz Sampaio, April 22, 2025 concerto.com.br
Nona Sinfonia, L. Beethoven
Sala Minas Gerais, OFMG
"The entrance of baritone Licio Bruno with “O Freunde” – Oh, friends! Not these sounds! Let us intone more pleasant and joyful songs – was emotional, with a well-placed and resonant voice, after the tense struggle at the beginning of the movement."
Nelson Rubens Kunze, February 23, 2025 concerto.com.br
Dia Mundial da Ópera – Recital de Canto e Piano Carlo Bergonzi 100 anos
Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro
"An excellent actor, Licio Bruno dominated the stage not only by singing the selected excerpts for the performance, but by literally interpreting the characters for whom such passages were created. The basso-baritone sought to transmit, viscerally, the nature of these characters."
Leonardo Marques, October 27, 2024 notasmusicais.com
Russalka, A. Dvořák
Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro
"Using his great experience, basso-baritone Licio Bruno gave authority to Vodník (Water Goblin), combining an irreproachable stage performance, of striking presence, with a secure and expressive vocal performance. His second act aria, Celý svět nedá ti, nedá, was very well defended. His gestures, his facial expressions, his very posture on stage, everything conveyed a meticulous construction."
Leonardo Marques, November 27, 2024 notasmusicais.com
Russalka, A. Dvořák
Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro
"Basso-baritone Licio Bruno displayed a warm and not too dark timbre, not at all harsh, which perfectly suited this Water Goblin who suffers with his daughter. An excellent interpreter, he knew how to create an engaging and moving character."
Fabiana Crepaldi, November 24, 2024 notasmusicais.com
O Contractador de Diamantes, F. Mignone
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
"In excellent form, Licio Bruno, one of the most sought-after baritones in the country, ably faced a collection of fortissimo notes, hallmarks of a character in a constant state of proclamation, almost Wagnerian."
Márvio dos Anjos, July 1, 2024 concerto.com.br
Les Noces, I. Stravinsky
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
"...and bass Licio Bruno, who expressed the text well, bringing to the foreground the joyful spirit present in several parts of the work, exploring witty interjections with good projection."
Ana Cursino Guariglia, May 27, 2024 concerto.com.br
La Fanciulla del West, G. Puccini
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
"Licio Bruno, as Rance, builds a convincing stage presence. ... had his best moment in the first act, a solid Rance with an interesting coloring."
João Luiz Sampaio, July 19, 2023 concerto.com.br
Il Guarany, A. Gomes
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
"The other interpreters demonstrated a high level, starting with bass Licio Bruno, superb in his invocation of the god of the Aimorés."
Jorge Coli, May 15, 2023 concerto.com.br
Il Guarany, A. Gomes
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
"And Licio Bruno, an imposing chieftain."
João Luiz Sampaio, May 15, 2023 concerto.com.br
Salome, R. Strauss
Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro
"[...]and basso-baritone Lício Bruno, recognized as one of the best artists in the current Brazilian lyric scene with excellent performances throughout his career, who embodies the prophet Jochanaan (John the Baptist)."
André Effgen
Aleijadinho, E. Aguiar
"as well as Licio Bruno lent solemnity and authority to the interpretation of Lobo de Mesquita!"
João Luiz Sampaio, May 9, 2022 concerto.com.br
El Niño, J. Adams
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
"Among the soloists, I begin by noting Licio Bruno. The presence he instilled in the character of Joseph, his furious perplexity when he discovers Mary's pregnancy, was immense. Until the end, his contribution to the score remained gigantic."
Jorge Coli, December 18, 2018 concerto.com.br
Otello, G. Verdi
La Plata
"Licio Bruno reiterated his dazzling Iago from La Plata. It is not a huge voice to win Olympiads, but it is a voice that works and that the artist uses intelligently, putting it at the service of an exceptional interpretation that totally dominates the action."
Luis G Baietti, 2015 Opera in the World
2o Festival de Música Erudita do Espírito Santo
"baritone Lício Bruno chose pieces suitable for his vocal register, standing out for his comic verve when singing “Non più andrai,” from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and for his stage presence when facing Offenbach's emblematic “Scintille diamant” (an aria usually used in productions of “The Tales of Hoffmann”)."
Érico de Almeida Mangaravite, November 4, 2014 movimento.com
Der Fliegende Holländer, R. Wagner
"The Dutchman of basso-baritone Licio Bruno displayed great vocal and scenic dignity. He avoided melodramatism and exaggerated passion and his condemnation aroused pity, because everything he did impressed as true."
La Nación 2013
Der Fliegende Holländer, R. Wagner
"The renowned Licio Bruno composed his Dutchman with vigor and genuine German version."
Mario F. Vivino, eldia.com.ar