L’elisir d’amore / The Metropolitan Opera
Eric Myers
Variety
Tenor Matthew Polenzani gave a benchmark performance as her suitor Nemorino, acting with great charm, spinning out lines of silky, elegant tone and stopping the show with a masterful rendition of the opera’s well-known tune ‘Una furtiva lagrima.’”
“Even more impressive is Matthew Polenzani, an American tenor who plays Nemorino. He’s a mooning peasant besotted with Adina, who’s out of his league and reach. Throughout the opera’s nearly three hours, Polenzani’s performance beams an irresistible mellow warmth. But late in the game, he ratchets everything up for Nemorino’s famous passionate showcase aria ‘Una furtiva lagrima.’ Expect to swoon.”
— Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News
“Polenzani’s Nemorino is clearly no illiterate bumpkin, as he appears to be writing poetry in a notebook, which he carelessly leaves for Adina to peruse and add her own line or two. This is Nemorino as Werther, wracked with love for an unobtainable lady. There’s a nice sob in the voice and he handles ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ sensitively, especially his control of dynamics. He produced a warm, lyrical sound, with an excellent legato.”
— Mark Pullinger, Opera Brittania
“Tenor Matthew Polenzani’s ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima’, delivered with such sweetness and purity that the audience begged for an encore.”
— David Rubin, CNY Café Momus
“Matthew Polenzani had secured the biggest ovation of the evening with his gorgeously phrased ‘Una furtiva lagrima’”
— Manuela Hoelterhoff, Bloomberg Businessweek, September 25, 2012 [full review]