BIO
Michel de Souza is a Master with distinction from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and was part of the Jette Parker program at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (ROH) in London.
He made his debut at the ROH in the 2012/2013 season as Shaunard in La Boheme in John Copley's production conducted by Sir Mark Elder. He has performed alongside artists such as Jonas Kaufmann, Roberto Alagna, Bryn Terfel, Diana Damrau, Simon Keenlyside, and with conductors like Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, Maurizio Benini, Donald Runnicles, Leonard Slatkin, Placido Domingo, among others.
In opera, Michel has appeared in Le Nozze di Figaro (Count Almaviva), The Magic Flute (Papageno), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), La Boheme (Marcello, Shaunard), War and Peace (Prince Andrei), Carmen (Escamillo), The Cunning Little Vixen (Forester), Hansel und Gretel (Peter), L'elisir d'amore (Belcore), Il signor Bruschino (Gaudenzio), Tosca (Angelotti), Tales of Hoffmann (Dr. Miracle), Ariadne auf Naxos (Harlequin and Music Teacher), Samson and Delilah (High Priest of Dagon).
He has also performed in works such as Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat, Mass in B Minor, Cantatas BWV 56, 82, 140, and 147 by Bach, Requiems by Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, Brahms, and Verdi, Vespers by Monteverdi, Messiah and Dixit Dominus by Handel, Carmina Burana by Orff, Belshazzar's Feast by Walton, Five Mystical Songs, and Serenade to Music by Vaughan Williams in concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London in THE BBC PROMS series.
He recently performed a series of concerts with the Orchestre National de Lyon, highlighting the Berlioz Festival in La-Côte-Saint-André where he interpreted Scene Heroique and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, as well as the opening of the 2015-2016 season at the Lyon auditorium.
He participated in the Emerging Artist program at the Scottish Opera in the 2010/2011 season and was part of the soloists' ensemble at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2014/2015.
In Brazil, he won the 1st prize in chamber music at the Maria Callas competition in São Paulo in 2007 and studied singing with Benito Maresca and Isabel Maresca. He graduated in organ with the highest honors from the UFRJ School of Music, where he also studied singing with Inacio de Nonno.
He began his musical studies and career at the Instituto dos Meninos Cantores de Petrópolis, his hometown. Currently, Michel resides in Luxembourg.
reviews
The versatility of de Souza as singer and actor is remarkable. His electrifying entry aria, ‘Largo al factotum della città’ (‘I am the factotum of the city’), showed how capable he is of playing a wide range of roles. Many will remember him as the domineering, interfering Giorgio Germont for Nevill Holt’s 2019 La traviata. As Figaro he shows his many-sided versatility in abundance, as well as his significant virtuoso skills.
Seen and Heard International – Clive Peacock – 24th June 2022
Michel de Souza was a poised and self-possessed Figaro, one who was always in control and delighted in it. De Souza’s approach to his famous aria was vividly done, without making too much of the buffo element (easy enough to do given the lively staging), and throughout there was a sense of the character anchoring the action, guiding it and always there was a lively gleam in De Souza’s eye. A strong performance that made its presence felt not only in the aria, but as a lively partner in the recitatives and ensembles.
Planet Hugill – 26th June 2022
The three principals, all alumni of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, were estimable, with Michel de Souza as Germont Père outstanding both in timbre and conviction. This is always an ambivalent role, emotionally stifled yet ultimately humane, but de Souza had its measure; indeed, he surmounted the near-doggerel of “Di Provenza” with such sincerity that doubts about its value seemed fatuous.
Opera – Mark Valencia, November 2021
Best of all was Michel de Souza’s Germont, his character revealed as a blend of harshness and sympathy, expertly realised from a vocal point of view.
Opera Now – George Hall, October 2021