Piotr Beczala Makes Triumphant Role Debut as Des Grieux in Met's New Manon

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Internationally-renowned tenor PIOTR BECZALA wowed critics and Metropolitan Opera audiences, alike, Monday evening (March 26) with his first assumption of the role of the hapless and hopelessly romantic Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon. Mr. Beczala shares the stage with soprano Anna Netrebko as the work’s seductive, eponymous heroine. This new production, directed by Laurent Pelly, receives eight subsequent performances (March 31e; April 3, 7m, 11, 14e, 17, 20 & 23) www.metoperafamily.org

The April 7 Manon will be a part of the Met’s popular “Live in HD” series, currently seen in over 1700 theaters in 54 countries. In coming months it will be aired on PBS and subsequently available for commercial release on DVD.

Reviewing the production’s premiere, Anthony Tommasini noted in The New York Times that, “[Mr. Beczała’s] ardent, virile voice sounded wonderful.” Verena Dobnik, reporting for the Associated Press, said that the tenor, “…may well be setting a gold standard as Manon's good-hearted lover...with his vocal stamina, virile presence and impeccable technique.” In Musical America, Peter G. Davis remarked that, “[Piotr Beczala] caresses the music with beautifully long-lined, tonally liquid phrases that range from securely supported pianissimos to weighty emotional outbursts that carry ample ringing conviction"

An interview with Mr. Beczala can be heard on March 31 as part of the Met’s Saturday Matinee Broadcast of L’elisir d’amore, as well as periodically in April on the program “This Month at the Met,” a feature of Met Opera Radio’s lineup on SiriusXM.
Following the conclusion of Manon’s run, the Polish-born singer travels to the Los Angeles-area to offer his first recital in any theater on April 28, 2012 as part of the Broad Stage series in Santa Monica, California. The tenor is accompanied for this auspicious debut by distinguished pianist Brian Zeger. The program consists of a mixture of arias and songs in seven languages by such composers as Beethoven, Gounod, Lehár, Leoncavallo, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rossini, Schumann, R. Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Verdi, and will also include rarely-heard works by Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872), Mieczyslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909) and Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937).

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