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.

The 26/27 season reunites Mr. Polenzani with some of his most lauded roles. He will appear at The Metropolitan Opera in four engagements this season, bowing as Chevalier Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, the Italian Singer in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, and soloist in the Diamond Jubilee: 60 Years at Lincoln Center, a gala featuring staged scenes from over 30 operas. 

He opens his season at Semperoper Dresden as Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen, a role he has previously performed to great acclaim at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Teatro alla Scala. Mr. Polenzani will also return to Houston Grand Opera, making his debut as Gounod’s Faust, and will bring his “elegant” and “masterful” (Operawire) portrayal of the title role in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito to Opéra national de Paris. On the concert stage, Mr. Polenzani joins the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for Verdi’s powerful Requiem, and will appear in recital for The Kennedy Center and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. 

Mr. Polenzani opened his 25/26 season with a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago, once again bringing “heroic vocal strength and flexibility” and “clarion top notes” (Chicago Classical Review) to Giasone in Sir David McVicar’s lush production of Cherubini’s Medea. He appeared at The Metropolitan Opera for two productions, as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, a role he reprised later that season at Teatro alla Scala. He also made a thrilling role debut as Riccardo in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the Opéra Bastille, brought his “spectacular” (Houston Chronicle) interpretation of Massenet’s Werther to Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu, and bowed as Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Career highlights from previous seasons at The Metropolitan Opera 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, 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, Mr. 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 performed 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, a solo recital in Weill Hall, and a Schubert Liederabend on the stage of Isaac Stern Auditorium.

Mr. 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.