Matthew Polenzani to Make Texas Debut in Dallas Opera Recital

The Dallas Opera, in the latest installment of The Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series, will present the phenomenal American tenor, Matthew Polenzani, in an exclusive, one-time-only recital on the afternoon of Sunday, January 11, 2015 at Southern Methodist University's popular Caruth Auditorium (an intimate 490-seat venue located in the Owen Arts Center, 6101 Bishop, Dallas, TX 75205). The two o'clock recital will also feature the exciting and accomplished playing of Mr. Polenzani's frequent recording partner, pianist Julius Drake.

Their collaboration evokes the "golden age" of recitalists, unafraid to blend and emote as the musical phrase strikes them. Their acclaimed collaboration at Wigmore Hall is available on CD. Furthermore, their recent CD celebrating the music of Franz Liszt prompted Tim Ashley of The Guardian (U.K.) to write: "This stupendous disc, issued ahead of the Liszt bicentenary next year, marks the start of Hyperion's survey of his complete songs, still a grey area for many despite past attempts by major artists such as Brigitte Fassbaender and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to rehabilitate them...in musico-dramatic terms, the originals are often vastly preferable to the revisions, and tenor Matthew Polenzani and pianist Julius Drake opt for the first versions of the Petrarch Sonnets and the Lieder aus Schiller's Wilhelm Tell interwoven with shorter pieces, familiar or otherwise. Most of Liszt's songs are big statements, usually described as virtuoso. But as with so much of his music, their difficulty in performance is to be found in their emotional and expressive extremes. The challenges are more than met here, with Polenzani doing things in songs such as 'Der Fischerknabe' or 'Pace Non Trovo' that you never thought possible for a human voice, while Drake's intensity is total and unswerving."

Matthew Polenzani has been astounding audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera and around the world in recent years with his expressive musicality and passionate performances, prompting Opera News to write: "Few singers today command the sheer beauty of timbre and dynamic control of Matthew Polenzani." John von Rhein, longtime critic for The Chicago Tribune praised his "striking performance whose beauty of tone, elegance of line and gravitas of manner remind us that there are few finer Mozart singers around." The New York Times' Anthony Tommasini noted: "A born lyric tenor, he has been branching into heavier repertory that requires vocal heft and carrying power...honeyed sound, melting pianissimos...sublime."

Added Wall Street Journal Classical Music Critic Heidi Waleson, "He was all about passion, and you felt it."

This recital marks Polenzani's hotly anticipated Texas debut.

"Beginning with an outstanding recital by British tenor Ian Bostridge last January," says Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny, "the Titus Art Song Recital Series has already accomplished the first of several goals-making new converts to this most personal of musical art forms. It is a particular thrill to be able to invite Matthew Polenzani to make his first appearance in Dallas, where music lovers have eagerly awaited their chance to hear him in person.

"After witnessing Polenzani's exceptional artistry at Covent Garden last season, where he performed the role of Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon under the baton of Dallas Opera Music Director Emmanuel Villaume," Cerny added, "I longed to share that experience with dedicated music lovers here in Texas.

"There is nothing quite so exciting as a world-class singer in his prime, performing with refinement, passion and conviction!"

The program (subject to alteration) will open with Beethoven's "Adelaide," Op. 46, based on an early German poem of the Romantic Era about an unattainable woman, and continue with songs by Franz Liszt; Five Popular Greek Melodies, a song cycle by Maurice Ravel; Three Melodies by Erik Satie and Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs, Op. 29, based on Irish poems from the Middle Ages translated by 20th century literary luminaries including W.H. Auden, Chester Kallman, Seán Ó'Faoláin and Howard Mumford Jones.

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