Monsalve first studied Fine Arts in his native Valparaíso. In 2001, he switched to vocal studies in Viña del Mar, and in 2004
moved to Italy, where he had a lot of illustrious teachers: first Mirella Freni, then Dano Raffanti; then he made his debut in 2006 in Bologna in Paolo e Francesca by Luigi Mancinelli, but
continued to employ the services of voice teachers for most of his career – Raffanti until 2007, next Leodino Ferri (an Italian basso
who taught him the Melocchi method, having once been one of the last Melocchi students himself), and then Nicola Martinucci for many years; additionally, he took lessons with Lando Bartolini, Montserrat Caballé, Corneliu Murgu
and Gianfranco Cecchele.
Laudable as it was to continue working on the voice (something that way too few singers do), it didn't help, nor did all those prominent
teachers: his singing remained quite amateurish, which was of course no obstacle for a respectable career.
He appeared in Lucca, Trapani, Trento, Sanremo, Zürich, Lausanne, Leipzig, Hannover, at the Bayerische Staatsoper München, Covent
Garden, the Arena di Verona, the Sferisterio in Macerata, the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, the Regio in Torino, in Nice, Nantes, Lisbon,
Warsaw, Washington or at the Royal Opera House Muscat (Oman).
His repertory was small, and Paolo, the role of his stage debut, was the only rarity; other than that, he sang Pollione, Don José,
Ismaele, Rodolfo (Luisa Miller), Manrico, Riccardo, Don Carlo, Don Alvaro, Radames, Otello, Turiddu, Canio, Andrea Chénier,
Rodolfo (Bohème), Cavaradossi, des Grieux (Manon Lescaut), Pinkerton and Calaf – a total of 19 roles.
And his career was short: his last year of regular stage activity was 1999. After the coronavirus lockdowns, he gave only very occasional
performances and – proud of his clumsy technique that he owed to so many renowned teachers – founded a singing academy that
offered lessons both online, and offline in Lucca, where he lived.
Reference 1 and picture source, reference 2:
Monsalve's website, reference 3
