José Luis BARRETO, Baritone
	..."A fantastic baritone full of tenderness and passion"... This is how José Luis Barreto was described after his first performance in Europe in 1987 when he played the role of "El Duende" in the opera "Maria of Buenos Aires", produced by Astor Piazzolla. José Luis has always sung the tango and the opera with equal flair, despite the apparent differences between these two genres. Many prestigious musicians have invited him to sing, including the violinist Gidon Kremer, with whom he sang at the Gstaad International Festival in Switzerland, and the bandoneonist Juan José Mosalini, of whose large orchestra Barreto was a guest for four years. The Argentinian composer Jorge Zulueta has written parts specially for José Luis, including the role of "Augustín" in the opera-tango "Un tango pour Monsieur Lautrec", performed in 1999 at the Opera in Nancy, France, and the role of "Juan" in Zulueta's latest opera-tango "Che, Buenos Aires", performed as part of the 2000 Hannover Universal Exhibition, in Germany. José Luis also performed the oratorio "Paris-Tango", produced by Juan José Mosalini and Horacio Ferrer and directed by Michel Piquemal, in the "Abbaye of Royaumont". Together with his accompanist Stéphane Spira (piano), José Luis created "Tango-Lied", a recital of tangos specially interpreted by Spira to illustrate the musical depth and lyricism of Río de la Plata's wonderful poetry. In 1997, José Luis created his own Argentinian Tango Orchestra, "Tanguísimo", with Ludovic Michel (viola and guitar), with whom he has sung all over Europe.