Piotr Beczała

Born in Southern Poland the tenor studied with Jan Ballarin, Pavel Lisizian und Sena Jurinac a. o. From 1992 until 1997 he was a member of the Linz Landestheaters. In 1996 he made his debut with the Zurich Opera where he was heard in various roles since then (most recently as Orombello in Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, as Elvino in La Sonnambula, as Duca in Rigoletto, as Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio and as Jenik in Smetana’s Bartered Bride). In 1997 he appeared for the first time as Tamino at Salzburg Festival. With the same role he made his debuts also in Munich, Dortmund, Cologne, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera and at the National Opéra in Paris. He appeared with great success in Amsterdam singing in Szymanowski’s King Roger and in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, in Hamburg as Duca in Rigoletto and as Lenski, in Vienna as Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanthe, in Brussels, Hamburg and at the Berlin State Opera as The Italian Tenor in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier as well as at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Duca in Rigoletto.

Up-coming projects include his debuts as Rodolfo (La Bohčme) in Amsterdam and as Gounod’s Faust at London’s Covent Garden Opera. He will also be heard in Zurich as Lenski and Don Ottavio, in San Francisco as Lenski, as Massenet’s Werther in Frankfurt, as Alfredo in La Traviata in Athens, Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt and for the first time in Verdi’s Requiem in Cleveland. As a concert-soloist Piotr Beczala sang Bruckner’s Te Deum with Carlo Maria Giulini and the opening-concerts of the Vienna Festival 1997 and 1998 performing with the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti. Further concert-engagements made him appear at the festivals in Salzburg, Graz and Montpellier, in Montreux, Amsterdam, Leipzig, Dresden, Milan and Paris. CD-recordings: Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio (Arte Nova), Dvorák’s Svatá Ludmila (Orfeo), Hartmann’s Simplicius (EMI), Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette (SWR/Hänssler) and Offenbach’s Die Rheinnixen (Accord). DVD-recordings: Simplicius, The Magic Flute and Eugene Onegin. The artist’s first CD-solo-recital with songs by Szymanowski will be released soon as well as CD-recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanthe and of Szymanowski’s King Roger and DVD-productions of The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Merry Widow.