Matthew polenzani tenor biography of abraham

The New York Times. I do what I do. Some writers and opera fans find him lacking in that classic swaggering, charismatic, even animalistic tenorial tone and presence. So the expectations are enormous as Polenzani takes on Carlos, in perhaps the highest-profile production of his long Met career. In the interview, he admitted feeling pressure at tackling the daunting assignment — a complex character, loosely based on the historical 16th-century heir to the throne of Philip II of Spain.

In his youth Polenzani never imagined becoming an opera singer, let alone a star tenor at the Met. He grew up in Wilmette, Ill. Rose Polenzani , his sister, is a folk singer and songwriter. Polenzani appeared in some high school musicals and fronted a pickup band called Empty Pockets. He got a scholarship to Eastern Illinois University to study music education, aiming to teach high school.

Matthew Polenzani is an international rock star in the opera world, but even he was a little stunned by the reception from a packed audience.

With the support of his teachers he entered the graduate program at the Yale School of Music, and took an extra year there. Since his Met debut in he has sung 41 roles there, though quite a few were smaller parts during his yeoman years. He now lives just north of New York City, in Pelham, with his wife and three sons, having survived tragedy: the loss, on Christmas Eve , of their first child, Alessandra, who was 16 months old.

Now his family is thriving. Their vexed relationship energizes the tragic political epic that follows.