Bio

A wonderfully fresh and robust voice, with clarion top notes and a gift for sweet phrasing …

American tenor Matthew Polenzani is one of the most gifted and distinguished lyric tenors of his generation. His elegant musicianship, innate sense of style, dramatic commitment, and timeless artistry have established his continued presence at leading operatic, concert, and recital venues worldwide.

Mr. Polenzani opens his exciting 2025/26 season with a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, reprising his portrayal of Giasone in Sir David McVicar’s lush production of Cherubini’s Medea. He returns to The Metropolitan Opera for two productions this season, in the role of Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and he bows as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, a role he reprises later this season at Teatro alla Scala. Mr. Polenzani begins the new year in Budapest, with performances of Verdi’s Requiem at MUPA, followed by his role debut as Riccardo in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the Opéra Bastille. He brings his “spectacular” (Houston Chronicle) interpretation of Massenet’s Werther to Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu, before appearing as Florestan in Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. Mr. Polenzani will also perform in recital at Philadelphia’s Perelman Center, where he will sing selections by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, accompanied by pianist Ken Noda.

Mr. Polenzani’s 2024/25 season featured a series of favored title roles: Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Mozart’s Idomeneo in a new San Francisco Opera production directed by Lindy Hume. He bowed as Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at Teatro Real de Madrid, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, before taking on the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Gran Teatro del Liceu. Mr. Polenzani made a brilliant return to The Metropolitan Opera, as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème, and he joined Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra as Anatol in Barber’s Vanessa. His season also included recital appearances with pianist Julius Drake at the Hungarian State Opera and Oper Frankfurt, as well as a concert debut of Schubert’s Schwanengesang with the Chamber Music Society.

Career highlights from previous Metropolitan Opera seasons include the premieres of Bartlett Sher’s production of L’Elisir d’ Amore, which opened the 2012 season, Sir David McVicar’s production of Maria Stuarda (issued on DVD by Erato), as well as McVicar’s new production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, which was featured on PBS’ Great Performances at the Met. Further highlights include his role debut as Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Penny Woolcock’s production of Les Pêcheurs de Perles (issued on DVD by Erato), Willy Decker’s production of La Traviata, Robert Carsen’s production of Der Rosenkavalier (issued on DVD by Decca), Julie Taymor’s legendary staging of Die Zauberflöte (DVD available from The Metropolitan Opera), and revivals of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Rigoletto, Don Pasquale (Deutsche Grammophon DVD release), Don Giovanni, Roméo et Juliette, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Così fan tutte, Falstaff, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (DVD available from Deutsche Grammophon), and L’Italiana in Algeri. To date, he has starred in more than 300 performances at The Met.

Mr. Polenzani is continuously in demand for concert engagements with the world’s most influential conductors, including James Conlon, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Frizza, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Louis Langrée, Jesús López-Cobos, Riccardo Muti, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Möst, David Zinman, Riccardo Chailly, and Daniel Harding. He frequently performs with premiere ensembles in the United States and Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Orchestra del Santa Cecilia, Orchestre National de France, and the Münchner Philharmoniker.

In recital, Matthew Polenzani has appeared in numerous venues across America with pianist Julius Drake and at London’s Wigmore Hall (available on CD from the Wigmore Hall label). He has also appeared with noted pianist Richard Goode in a presentation of Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Vanished at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and in recital at the Verbier Festival with pianist Roger Vignoles (commercially available on CD from VAI). Mr. Polenzani was honored to have sung on all three stages of Carnegie Hall in one season: in concert with the MET Chamber Ensemble at Zankel Hall, in a solo recital in Weill Hall, and a Schubert Liederabend on the stage of Isaac Stern Auditorium.

Matthew Polenzani was the recipient of the 2004 Richard Tucker Award, The Metropolitan Opera’s 2008 Beverly Sills Artist Award, and a 2017 Opera News Award. An avid golfer, he makes his home in suburban New York with his wife, mezzo-soprano Rosa Maria Pascarella, and their three sons.

Last update: July 2025