Matthew Polenzani (born 1968) is an American lyric tenor. He has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna State Opera, and San Francisco Opera, among others. He has also sung with numerous symphony orchestras. His younger sister is independent folk musician Rose Polenzani. His grandfather is Lynn Hauldren, known as the "Empire Guy".
Born in Evanston, Illinois, Polenzani earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University in 1991, and a master's from the Yale School of Music where he studied with Richard Cross and Doris Yarick-Cross (chair of Yale's opera department) in 1994. After graduating from Yale, he began studying with Margaret Harshaw. He then went on to be a member of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, now the Ryan Opera Center, with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. [1] After Ms. Harshaw's death in 1997, he began studying with his current teacher, Laura Brooks Rice, another student of Ms. Harshaw, in 1998, with whom he continues to study today.
Polenzani made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1997, in Boris Godunov . He has since gone on to give more than 300 performances in over 20 roles with that company, including Ferrando in Così fan tutte , Tamino in The Magic Flute , Il Duca in Rigoletto , David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore and the title role in Roberto Devereux . [2]
Polenzani made his debut in the title role of Verdi's Don Carlos (sung in French) at the Metropolitan Opera on 28 February 2022 in a new production by David McVicar conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth, Jamie Barton as Eboli, Étienne Dupuis as Rodrigue, and Eric Owens as Philip II. Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times stated that Polenzani gave "a triumphant turn in the title role ... not the swaggering, trumpeting Franco Corelli-style tenor generally associated with the part — though he rises, stylishly, to fiery intensity — but rather a vocalist of refinement, inwardness and melancholy." [3] The performance of 26 March 2022 was simulcast as part of the Met Opera Live in HD series and is available for streaming at Met Opera on Demand. [4] [5]
Making his European debut as Gérald in Delibes' Lakmé with Opéra national de Bordeaux in France in 1998, he has also appeared in productions of Don Pasquale and La traviata at the Teatro Comunale in Florence, on a tour of Japan with Turin’s Teatro Regio, I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Paris Opera, L'elisir d’amore at the Vienna State Opera as well as the Bavarian State Opera, Naples' Teatro San Carlo and Rome Opera; Così fan tutte at Covent Garden with Sir Colin Davis and in Paris with Philippe Jordan; Lucia di Lammermoor at Frankfurt Opera and Paris Opera, La Damnation de Faust in Frankfurt and Berlin, "La Bohème" at Gran Teatre del Liceu and Manon at Covent Garden and La Scala.
Polenzani won the Richard Tucker Award in 2004, [6] as well as the Beverly Sills Award in 2008. He is married to fellow Yale alumna mezzo-soprano Rosa Maria Pascarella and they have three children.
Carlo Bergonzi was an Italian operatic tenor. Although he performed and recorded some bel canto and verismo roles, he was above all associated with the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, including many of the composer's lesser known works he helped revive. He sang more than forty other roles throughout his career.
Luis Ernesto Alva y Talledo, better known as Luigi Alva is a Peruvian operatic tenor. A Mozart and Rossini specialist, Alva achieved fame with roles such as Don Ottavio, Count Almaviva and Fenton. He retired from the stage in 1989.
Jeffrey Black is an Australian baritone who has had an active international performance career since the early 1980s. A frequent performer with Opera Australia and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, he has performed leading role with the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra Bastille, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bavarian State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, among other opera houses. He is particularly known for his portrayals of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Count Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville.
Marcelo Raúl Álvarez is an Argentine lyric tenor who achieved international success starting in the mid-1990s.
Vittorio Grigolo is an Italian operatic tenor.
Gösta Winbergh was a Swedish tenor.
Alessandro Corbelli is an Italian baritone opera singer. One of the world's pre-eminent singers specializing in Mozart and Rossini, Corbelli has sung in many major opera houses around the world and won admiration for his elegant singing style and sharp characterizations, especially in comic roles.
Sesto Bruscantini was an Italian baritone, one of the greatest buffo singers of the post-war era, especially renowned in Mozart and Rossini.
Fernando Corena was a Swiss bass who had a major international opera career from the late 1940s through the early 1980s. He enjoyed a long and successful career at the Metropolitan Opera between 1954 and 1978, and was a regular presence at the Vienna State Opera between 1963 and 1981. His repertoire encompassed both dramatic and comic roles in leading and secondary parts, mainly within Italian opera. He was highly regarded for his performances of opera buffa characters and is generally considered one of the greatest basso buffos of the post-war era. He was heralded as the true successor to comic Italian bass Salvatore Baccaloni, and in 1966 Harold C. Schonberg wrote in The New York Times that he was "the outstanding buffo in action today and the greatest scene stealer in the history of opera".
Antonio Giuseppe Anselmi was an Italian operatic lyric tenor. He became famous throughout Europe during the first decade of the 20th century for his stylish performances of lyric roles. He never sang in the United States.
Paulo Szot is a Brazilian operatic baritone singer and actor. He made his opera debut in 1997 and his international career has included performances with the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala di Milano, Opera de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Australia, Liceo de Barcelona, among many others. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of South Pacific, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Theatre World Award. In 2012 he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for best actor in a musical, and in 2014 was nominated for the MAC Award for best Celebrity Artist becoming the first Brazilian to receive such honors. His other stage credits include portraying the role of Juan Perón in the Sydney Opera House production of Evita, starring as Billy Flynn in the 2020/2021 cast of Broadway’s Chicago, and originating the role of Lance in the hit Broadway musical & Juliet.
Barry Banks is a Grammy Nominated English/American lyric tenor who, after a long association with The Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera, has achieved acclaim as one of finest interpreters of the Italian bel canto repertoire.
Stephen John Costello is an American operatic tenor and a recipient of the 2009 Richard Tucker Award. Costello has performed in noted opera houses around the world including Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2010, Costello originated the role of Greenhorn (Ishmael) in the world premiere of Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick at the Dallas Opera.
Giuseppe Filianoti is an Italian lyric tenor from Reggio Calabria.
James Valenti is an American operatic tenor with an active international career specializing in leading roles in the Italian and French repertoire. Born and raised in New Jersey, in the United States, he attended St. Helena School and North Hunterdon High School before becoming a graduate of West Virginia University and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Valenti also holds a Master of Voice Pedagogy degree from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Valenti made his professional debut in 2003 as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Rome Opera, and was the 2010 winner of the Richard Tucker Award.
Frank Lopardo is an American operatic tenor who was born in Brentwood, New York. Early in his career he specialized in the repertoire of Mozart and Rossini and later transitioned to the works of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti and Bellini.
Juan Francisco Gatell (born November 28, 1978, in La Plata, Argentina Juan Francisco Gatell is an Argentinian operatic tenor who specialises in the bel canto repertoire.
Saimir Pirgu is an Albanian international opera singer (tenor). In 2014 he was awarded the Italian citizenship by the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano.
Marina Rebeka is a Latvian soprano, active on both opera and concert stages. Associated with Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, she performs primarily in the 19th-century Italian and French repertoire, most notably works by Gioachino Rossini, in addition to Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, another frequent role.
Arthur Davies was a Welsh tenor who had an active international performance career from the 1970s through the 1990s. He performed leading roles with The Royal Opera in London, the Welsh National Opera, the Scottish Opera, and the English National Opera.