With a voice of beautiful timbre and a clear singing line, César San Martín is one of the leading baritones in Spain, not only for his vocal qualities but also for his great versatility.
Born in Madrid, he studied piano and began his singing studies with Lola Bosom. In 2008 he graduated from the Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid, obtaining the end of career award "Lola Rodríguez Aragón".
Since his debut in the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro at the Teatro Real in Madrid, he has performed several opera and zarzuela roles such as Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Conte di Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Joaquín (La del Manojo de Rosas), Vidal (Luisa Fernanda), Germán (La del Soto del Parral) or Julián (La verbena de la Paloma).
He has worked under the baton of internationally renowned maestros such as Alberto Zedda, Renato Palumbo, Eliahu Inbal, Miguel Roa or J. López Cobos. On stage he has been directed by renowned stage directors such as Robert Carsen, Peter Sellars, Mario Martone, Graham Vick, Emilio Sagi or José Carlos Plaza.
He has been awarded in several international singing competitions, including an Extraordinary Prize in the International Singing Competition "Francisco Viñas" and the First Prize in the International Singing Competition "Ciudad de Logroño".
His recent works include Luisa Fernanda, Benamor, The Magic Opal, Pan y toros, Policías y ladrones and Zarzuela en abierto at the Teatro de la Zarzuela; Carmen (Escamillo) at the Teatro Real in Madrid; Los Gavilanes (Juan) at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá; Rinaldo (Mago cristiano) at the Ópera de Oviedo; Il viaggio a Reims (Don Álvaro) at Les Arts; La Bohème (Schaunard) and Die Zaubertflöte (Papageno) at the Kursaal in San Sebastián; Il finto sordo (Pagnacca) at the Palacio Euskalduna and at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid; I Pagliacci at the Lyric season in Coruña; the role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Sabadell; a semi-staged project of La serva padrona together with the world premiere of A sombra de Cristal with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia; Massenet's Manon and Doña Francisquita at the Teatro Villamarta in Jerez; Luisa Fernanda and Doña Francisquita at the Santander Festival; María Moliner in the Zarzuela Season in Oviedo; Los Gerifaltes in Murcia; and concerts with the OCNE (Beethoven's Ninth), ORTVE (Carmen), OSCyL (Rossini's Stabat Mater) and the Malaga Philharmonic (La verbena de la Paloma and El reloj de Lucerna).
His engagements this season include Manon at the Ópera de Oviedo, the leading role in Las golondrinas (Puck) at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Rigoletto at the Teatro Real, Carmen at Baluarte, Doña Francisquita in Córdoba and La Traviata at the Teatro Villamarta in Jerez.
Date last modified: October 2023 Not to be altered without permission. Please delete any previous biographic material.
2021-2022 Performances
PAGLIACCI 24 September 2021 20:00 Teatro Colón, Coruña 26 September 2021 20:00 Teatro Colón, Coruña
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA 20 October 2021 20:00 Teatre La Faràndula, Sabadell 22 October 2021 20:00 Teatre La Faràndula, Sabadell 24 October 2021 18:00 Teatre La Faràndula, Sabadell 26 October 2021 20:30 Teatre Fortuny, Reus 31 October 2021 19:00 Teatre El Jardí, Figueres 03 November 2021 18:00 Teatre Kursaal, Manresa 05 November 2021 19:00 Teatre Auditori, Sant Cugat del Vallès 06 November 2021 18:30 Palau de la Música, Barcelona 07 November 2021 18:00 Teatre de la Llotja, Lleida 12 November 2021 19:00 Teatre, Tarragona 14 November 2021 18:00 Teatre Auditori, Granollers
LA SERVA PADRONA + A SOMBRA DE CRISTAL WITH THE REAL FILHARMONÍA DE GALICIA 09 December 2021 20:30 Auditorio, Galicia 10 December 2021 20:30 Auditorio, Galicia
MANON 28 January 2022 18:00 Teatro Villamarta, Jerez 30 January 2022 18:00 Teatro Villamarta, Jerez
THE MAGIC OPAL 02 April 2022 20:00 Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid 07 April 2022 20:00 Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid 09 April 2022 20:00 Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid
LUISA FERNANDA 29 April 2022 19:30 Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria 30 April 2022 19:30 Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria
MARÍA MOLINER 16 June 2022 20:00 Teatro Campoamor 18 June 2022 20:00 Teatro Campoamor
Gallery
Multimedia
Benamor
El canastillo de fresas
Reviews
THE MAGIC OPAL. TEATRO DE LA ZARZUELA. 2022
"The excellent baritone César San Martín, very knowledgeable of the Spanish repertoire, defined his character perfectly, and from the beginning, with a very attractive voice...". José María Marco (Ópera Actual)
"César San Martín performed again, a talented singer who portrayed a solvent Trabucos". Aurelio M. Seco (Codalario)
MANON. TEATRO VILLAMARTA. 2022
"Sin fisuras el recio y sólido César San Martín, otro barítono hispano, de la joven pléyade de nuestros días, a tener muy en cuenta." Arturo Reverter (Scherzo)
"Los barítonos (...) y César San Martín, vigoroso y asentado (Bretigni), son los otros nombres principales..." Arturo Reverter (EL Español)
El Villamarta ha conseguido en esta producción completar un reparto muy redondo, (...) y un César San Martín de voces poderosas y fraseos llenos de intencionalidad teatral." Andrés Moreno Mengíbar (Beckmesser)
LA SERVA PADRONA / A SOMBRA DE CRISTAL. ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA OF GALICIA SANTIAGO. 2021
"To bring it all to a successful outcome, of course, good singers were needed and (...) like César San Martín they earned an outstanding performance, both vocally, where everything flowed smoothly, and in the acting, so important, and so exposed, in both pieces. In Pergolesi, (...) he knew how to balance very well the buffo elements with that certain pity that ends up giving his character. And both of them gave the recitatives all the intention they demanded. In Buide's - more demanding for the soprano - they followed that same tone while demonstrating an admirable versatility and, by the way, what good singers we have among us - and so near - almost without realising it". Luis Suñén (Scherzo)
"The singers embodied the characters to perfection, both vocally and theatrically (...) and César San Martín, apart from his vocal quality, displayed the interpretative versatility he already showed in his performance as Silvio in the A Coruña Lyric Season." Julián Carrillo Sanz (Codalario)
BENAMOR . TEATRO DE LA ZARZUELA. 2021
"Among the male cast, César San Martín shone in the role of the Spanish prince Juan de León. He gave an interesting version of País del sol, commonly known as "la canción de Juan de León"; a musical number which is part of the great collection of songs of Spanish lyric theatre. The baritone not only sang heroically, but performed a theatrical role worthy of admiration," Jordi Lledó Palomares (Platea Magazine).
Among the principals, of course, baritone César San Martín must be singled out; he played the Spanish caballero with ease, presence and aplomb, and gave us a chance to appreciate his powerful voice in the "Canción española". "Jorge Baeza Stanicic (Bachtrack)
"The baritone César San Martín masterfully interpreted the Spanish caballero Juan de León, with a well-handled flowing voice." Federico Figueroa (Opera World)