Carlos Mena
Countertenor Carlos Mena's repertory extends from the Baroque to 19th and 20th century works. Featured on more than 50 albums, he is also an important educator.
Mena was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain's Basque country in 1971. In his home city, he attended the Conservatorio Superior de Música Jesús Guridi. After master classes with Charles Brett, he moved to Basel, Switzerland, for studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His principal teachers there were René Jacobs and Richard Levitt. Mena received his diploma in 1997 and soon found opportunities to perform with such leading early music groups as the Ricercar Consort, the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, and Al Ayre Español. After appearing with several ensembles on recordings of the 1990s, he made his solo debut in 2001 with the album Lágrimas Corriendo on the Almaviva label. The following year, he was featured on the Ricercar Consort album De Æternitate on the Mirare label. That album earned a Diapason d'Or award in France, and Mena made several more albums for Mirare over the next few years.
Mena has a large repertory of Baroque opera roles, including the lead in Handel's Radamisto, Speranza in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, and Disinganno in Handel's allegory Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno. His interests extend to 20th century music, and he has appeared in John Cage's Europera 5. As a concert artist, Mena is in demand internationally; he has appeared in various Western European countries, North and South America, Australia, and Japan, often with top conductors. In addition to Mirare, Mena has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Glossa, and Naïve, among other labels. Mena moved to Sony Classical in 2023, appearing with the ensemble La Madrileña in the recital Dixerunt. Mena had been widely active as an educator. Since 1998, he has taught at the Academia de Música Antigua at the University of Salamanca, Spain. In 2018, he joined the faculty at Musikex, the Extremadura School of Music (Cáceres, Spain), and he is also a member of the faculty at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Northwestern Switzerland. Mena has served as a visiting professor at the Teatro Real de Madri, the University of Alfonso X in Madrid, the University of Alcalá de Henaries, and various music schools in Spain and beyond.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Antonio Literes: Sacred cantatas for alto
Carlos Mena, Concerto 1700, Daniel Pinteño
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by 1700 Classics on 24 feb. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Phantom Songs
Alberto Iglesias, Carlos Mena, Juan Pérez Floristán
Klassiek - Released by Quartet Records on 27 okt. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria: Et Jesum, Motets for solo voice (Carlos Mena, Juan Carlos Rivera, Francisco Rubio Gallego)
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 11 mei 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
De aeternitate
Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot and Carlos Mena
Klassiek - Released by Mirare on 21 okt. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sances, Bertali & Schmelzer: Stabat Mater
Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot, Carlos Mena
Klassiek - Released by Mirare on 25 okt. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Per voi ardo
Carlos Mena, Manuel Minguillón
Klassiek - Released by IBS Classical on 2 apr. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zelenka: Missa sanctissimae trinitatis
Carlos Mena, Adam Viktora, Inégal Ensemble
Klassiek - Released by Nibiru on 3 dec. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cueurs desolez
Kamermuziek - Released by IBS Classical on 5 jul. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los Tambores Te Llaman (Morena Remix)
Dance - Released by Ocha Records on 7 apr. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sances, Bertali & Schmelzer: Stabat Mater
Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot, Carlos Mena
Klassiek - Released by Mirare on 25 okt. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tambores Te Llaman (David Harness Remix)
Dance - Released by Ocha Records on 10 nov. 2023
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In risi, in pianti
Klassiek - Released by Tonstudio Waldenburg on 1 jan. 2024
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Earth Meets Heaven
Dance - Released by Ocha Records on 19 apr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hidden Mountain
Wereldmuziek - Released by Carlos Mena on 27 jun. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trip to Wendy's
Jazz fusion en jazz rock - Released by Carlos Mena on 22 apr. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Azania Deep (Casamena Remixes)
Azania Brothers, Carlos Mena, CASAMENA
Dance - Released by Ocha Records on 13 dec. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los Tambores Te Llaman (The Heavy Quarterz 3am Dose)
Osunlade, Carlos Mena, The Heavy Quarterz
House - Released by Ocha Records on 9 apr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crudo Amor
Forma Antiqva, Carlos Mena, Eugenia Boix
Klassiek - Released by Winter & Winter on 3 feb. 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mzansi Love [Presented by Casamena]
Dance - Released by Ocha Mzansi on 29 nov. 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo