ELIZABETH CABALLERO
SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
The New York Times describes Elizabeth Caballero as a “plush-toned, expressive soprano” and The Wall Street Journal exclaims that “Ms. Caballero is a find: her opulent soprano rings freely and lyrically throughout her range.” Ms. Caballero’s dramatically compelling interpretation of her signature role, Violetta in La Traviata, led to recent engagements to perform the role for houses across the country, such as The Metropolitan Opera, Opera Carolina, La Compañía Lírica Nacional in Costa Rica, Florentine Opera, Madison Opera, Pacific Symphony, and the Orlando Philharmonic.
Ms. Caballero recently made a series of house débuts, including Staatsoper Stuttgart as Mimì in La bohème, The Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City as Desdemona in Otello, Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid singing the title role of the European premiere of Cecilia Valdés based on the Cuban novel of the same name. 2020 engagements were to include a return to Staatsoper Stuttgart for Boito’s Mefistofele, Mahler’s 8th Symphony for Pacific Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem for Portland Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera for their production of La Traviata, and her role début as Tosca.
Last season, Ms. Caballero joined Oper Bern for her highly anticipated role début as Tosca, sang the title role in Florencia en el Amazonas with Nashville Opera and Opera San José, sang the title role in Madama Butterfly with Opera Naples, and brought her celebrated Mimì in La bohème to Fort Worth Opera. This season, she will reprise her Tosca in a return to Stadttheater Klagenfurt in Austria and return to Florida Grand Opera to sing Micaëla in Carmen.
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Recent engagements have included Amelia in Un ballo in Maschera with Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Mimì in La bohème at the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, the Countess in Madison Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro a return to Staatsoper Stuttgart as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Florida Grand Opera as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Madison Symphony for their Christmas Gala Concerts. Further concert engagements were as the soprano soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for the Colorado Symphony, John Rutter’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, Carmina Burana with the Florida Orchestra, Asheville Symphony, and the National Chorale, Previn’s Honey and Rue with the Pacific Symphony, and Verdi’s Requiem in Grand Rapids.
Caballero was engaged to perform the role of Musetta in La bohème for The Metropolitan Opera after grabbing the audience’s attention in the role at New York City Opera, where The New York Times praised Ms. Caballero for “the evening’s most show-stopping performance offering a thrilling balance of pearly tone, exacting technique and brazen physicality.” She subsequently returned to The Met in their new production of Carmen as part of The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD series and most recently in the role of Mimì in their production of La bohème.
A house favorite at Florida Grand Opera, she dazzled audiences as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Liù in Turandot, Mimì in La bohème, Micaëla in Carmen, Magda in La rondine, and Mother/The Moon in Before Night Falls. Additional recent operatic engagements include Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Nashville Opera, Inland Northwest Opera, and Pensacola Opera; the title role of Florencia en el Amazonas with Nashville Opera, New York City Opera, and Madison Opera; a return to Seattle Opera as the Governess in The Turn of the Screw and as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, which she also performed with Lyric Opera Kansas City; a return to New York City Opera in Pagliacci and La bohème; Micaëla in Carmen and Mimì in La bohème at Central City Opera; Liù in Turandot and Zemfira/Nedda in Aleko/Pagliacci both at Opera Carolina; and Liù in Turandot and Mimì in La bohème with Austin Opera.
Since her European début as Magda in La rondine at Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Italy, Caballero has fostered strong relationships with companies around the globe. This led her to portray some of opera’s greatest roles on international stages throughout the world including Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at the Staatsoper Berlin, Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, and the title role in The Merry Widow at Teatro Nacional Santo Domingo.
Ms. Caballero built a reputation as “an intelligently responsive actress” (Opera News) after a string of early successes throughout the United States: Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at New York City Opera, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Alice Ford in Falstaff with Virginia Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Madison Opera, and a turn as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro in her company début at Seattle Opera followed by a triumphant performance as Mimì in La bohème. Her company début at Hawaii Opera Theatre was in a double bill of another signature role, Nedda in Pagliacci and as soprano soloist in the scenic cantata Carmina Burana.
Ms. Caballero has impressed in the competition circuit as well. She was a National Grand Finalist in The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, a Gerda Lissner Foundation Award Winner, winner of the New York City Opera Diva Award, finalist in The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and she was named one of Miami’s Most Influential People by the Miami New Times. Additionally, she was the recipient of the 2013 Frost School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Miami.
Current as of September 1, 2024
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...[Caballero's] performance brought her to a new level as a powerful singing actress." – South Florida Classical Review
A Streetcar Named Desire – "Caballero’s traversal of Blanche’s Act II narrative of discovering that her former husband was gay and his subsequent suicide was overwhelming in its emotional impact. Her soft repetition of the play’s famous final line “I have always relied on the kindness of strangers” proved heart wrenching. Caballero even managed a plausible Southern accent. This talented soprano’s performance brought her to a new level as a powerful singing actress."
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"...plushtoned, expressive soprano..." – The New York Times
Florencia en el Amazonas – “The cast was excellent, starting with the plushtoned, expressive soprano Elizabeth Caballero as Florencia”
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"...making the vocal demands of the role seem easy and natural..." – Milwaukee Journal
La traviata – “Soprano Elizabeth Caballero delivered a marvelous Violetta, the courtesan, on Friday. She was animated, communicative and believable, singing with a big, facile, focused sound while making the vocal demands of the role seem easy and natural. She also was fearless onstage, playing the final scenes in a pale, disheveled, haggard state that lent reality to the illness that was about to claim her.”
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"...one of those rare sopranos without a hint of stridency, even at full throttle..." – Queen Anne News
La bohème – “Caballero’s Mimi was as warm and touching as her voice was stunningly radiant and crystal-clear. She is one of those rare sopranos without a hint of stridency, even at full throttle. The audience loved her, with a few shouts of “Brava” from the audience during the performance and a quantum leap in applause over that bestowed on the other singers.”
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"...sufficient range, power and control..." – The Spokesman Review
Verdi’s Requiem – “Although hearing her in the role of Musetta gave us a chance to enjoy the beauty of Caballero’s voice, we had only glimpsed a fraction both her vocal and dramatic range until Saturday night, when she showed herself to be a Verdi soprano – one of sufficient range, power and control to mine the deep veins of tragic pathos found in all of Verdi’s heroines. Her reading of the Libera Me, capped by a stratospheric octave leap to the last syllable of “Requiem” will live long in the memories of all who heard it.”