Carlos Cardoso

INTRODUCTION

Carlos Cardoso is an acclaimed tenor celebrated for his versatile lyric repertoire. Prize-winner of prestigious competitions—including Luísa Todi, Magda Olivero, and Rubini—he has appeared on major European stages such as La Scala, Teatro São Carlos, and the Dutch National Opera. Known for roles like Don José (Carmen), Rodolfo (La bohème), and Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), he is also active in concerts with top orchestras and conductors.

RECENT AND FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS

In the 2024/25 season, Carlos Cardoso made house debuts at Oper Leipzig and Landestheater Linz as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, returned to the National Theatre Prague in Carmen, and made his debut at Staatstheater Nürnberg in both Madama Butterfly and Carmen. He also sang Radamès in Aida for the first time at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Tirana as well as at Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon, and took part in Carmen at Opera Plovdiv (a house debut) and at the Opera Open Festival in Plovdiv (a return engagement). Further engagements included Stiffelio at the Klangvokal Musikfestival Dortmund, Carmen at the Pristina Festival, and Ismaele in Nabucco at Aalto-Musiktheater Essen.

In the 2025/26 season, Carlos Cardoso made his role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen (September ’25–January ’26) and his debut as Calaf in Turandot at Landestheater Linz (January ’26). Later on this season, he returns to Prague as Don José in Carmen, and revisits Oper Leipzig as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

In the 2026/27 season, debuts are planned with the Welsh National Opera (Rodolfo in La bohème), the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and Oper Köln (Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly), among others.

On the concert scene, he performed in La tempesta sul lago by Domenico Bartolucci in the Jubilee 2025 concert w. the Kosovo Philharmonic in Pristina and Rome. In March, he debuts with Verdi’s Requiem with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Oksana Lyniv at the Berlin Philharmonie. In April, he sings in Teatre Principal de Palma’s Easter concert (Donizetti’s Requiem).

BIOGRAPHY

Carlos Cardoso, born in Tarouquela (Portugal), is a versatile tenor. Originally trained as a trombonist, he worked as an orchestral musician before pursuing vocal studies with Paulo Ferreira in Beira Interior. Since 2015, he has continued his training in Verona with Annunziata Lia Lantieri.

A prize-winner of prestigious competitions, including Luísa Todi (1st prize), Magda Olivero (1st prize male voices), and the Concorso Rubini (3rd prize and debut as Ernesto in Don Pasquale), he took his first international steps at the Dutch National Opera (Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for young audiences), Teatro Filarmonico di Verona (Un giorno di regno), Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona (Ferrando in La Favorite in the foyer for young audiences), and La Monnaie in Brussels (Adriana Lecouvreur).

From 2011 to 2013, he attended the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, debuting in Rossini roles such as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola and Dorvil in La scala di seta, under the direction of Michieletto and conductor Rousset. During this period, he also debuted as Conte di Libenskof in Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad.

In 2015, he debuted as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Teatro Verdi in Busseto (stage direction: A. Pizzech). With this role, performed for two consecutive seasons in Busseto and as a cover at La Scala, he moved increasingly toward the lyric repertoire. Further debuts followed at the Landestheater Salzburg with Rossini (Don Narciso in Il turco in Italia), at Stadttheater Klagenfurt (Roberto in Maria Stuarda), and at Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon (Ismaele in Nabucco).

In the 2017/18 season, he joined the ensemble of the Aalto-Theater Essen, where he remained for seven seasons, performing roles that became central to his artistic path: the Duke in Rigoletto, Don José in Carmen, Rodolfo in La bohème, Alfredo in La traviata, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ismaele in Nabucco, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, and Pollione in Norma.

As a guest, he has appeared at Teatro Verdi Trieste (New Year’s Eve Concert, Duke in Rigoletto, and Rodolfo in La bohème), Teatro Regio di Parma (Christmas Concert), Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Rigoletto), Theater Dortmund (La bohème), Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Munich (Luisa Miller), Theater Magdeburg (La bohème), and Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen (Madama Butterfly and Carmen).

Since the 2023/24 season he has continued his career as a freelance artist, debuting at the National Opera Prague (Carmen), Teatro São Carlos Lisbon (Madama Butterfly, Cavalleria rusticana, Aida), Nuremberg Opera (Madama Butterfly and Carmen), Salzburg Easter Festival (cover of Enzo in La Gioconda under Sir Antonio Pappano with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia), Oper Leipzig (Madama Butterfly), Plovdiv Festival and Theatre (Madama Butterfly, Carmen), Landestheater Linz (Madama Butterfly), the National Opera of Tirana (Carmen, Aida), and Klangvokal Musikfestival Dortmund (Raffaele in Stiffelio).

Alongside his operatic career, he is also highly sought-after on the concert stage. His repertoire includes Dvořák’s Requiem with the Tonkünstler-Orchester in Grafenegg and at the Wiener Musikverein, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria in Wuppertal, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Millennium Festival in Lisbon, Donizetti’s Messa da Requiem at Teatro São Carlos, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Philharmonie Essen.

He has also performed with the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and appeared in a gala concert at Schloss Neukirchen as part of a televised summer concert with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen.