Full Biography
Piotr Beczała is one of the industry’s most sought-after performers and a constant guest in the world’s leading opera houses. The Polish-born tenor is acclaimed not only for the beauty of his voice, but also for his ardent commitment to each character he portrays. In addition to his operatic work, he has performed much of the classical vocal canon with the world’s most distinguished orchestras and maestri.
In the 2024/25 season, Beczała continues to grace opera stages in a diverse array of roles. Beczała commences the season with a debut at Oman’s Royal Opera House, performing in a semi-staged production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. Subsequently, Beczała returns to the Metropolitan Opera, starring Radamès in Michael Mayer’s spectacular new staging of Aïda. Beczała then appears at the Vienna State Opera for two iconic roles: Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca and Manrico in Il trovatore. At the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, he portrays Don José in Carmen, and later reprises his acclaimed interpretation of the titular knight Lohengrin. Beczała also brings his Lohengrin to Opernhaus Zürich and the Bayreuth Festival, and concludes his season with a return to the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, where he sings the role of the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka.
Beczała’s eventful concert season includes a notable performance of Bruckner’s Te Deum at the Stiftsbasilika Sankt Florian in Linz, commemorating Anton Bruckner’s 200th birthday, with the Bruckner Orchester Linz under the baton of Markus Poschner. In Munich, Beczała headlines the popular “Konzert Oper für Alle” event, bringing opera to a wider audience. He performs three concerts with the Orquesta Nacional de España in Madrid, featuring a Symphonic Cycle of Franz Liszt, Pilar Jurado and Johannes Brahms. Beczała then returns to the Salzburg Festival to perform La traviata in concert, followed by a summer concert in Schönnbrunn, Vienna. His recital repertoire expands with piano recitals alongside Sarah Tysman in Bern, Sofia, and Warsaw. Beczała embarks on a major European tour commemorating the 100th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini’s death, featuring 10 performances across Spain, Poland, Lithuania, and Germany. Further, he makes his Carnegie Hall debut in Stern Auditorium in a recital of art songs by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Strauss, accompanied by pianist Helmut Deutsch.
In the 2023/24 season, Piotr Beczała’s operatic engagements spanned prestigious venues worldwide. He starred in three new productions: as the title role in Lohengrin at the Paris Opera, and twice as Don José in Carmen, first at the Metropolitan Opera (directed by Carrie Cracknell and conducted by Daniele Rustioni), and later at London’s Royal Opera House. With the Vienna State Opera, he performed as Faust alongside Nicole Car and as Cavaradossi in Tosca opposite Elena Stikhina, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Beczała also reprised Cavaradossi in Las Palmas and appeared as Prince Sou-Chong in Das Land des Lächelns at Opernhaus Zürich.
Piotr Beczała’s 2023/24 season encompassed a diverse array of concerts, enriching his repertoire. He graced Vienna Konzerthaus in the “Great Voices” concert, partnered with pianist Sarah Tysman for a recital at Bratislava Music Festival, and performed Moniuszko’s rarely heard Halka in concert at Madrid’s Teatro Real. Beczała also appeared in a gala concert at Stockholm’s Royal Swedish Opera, enchanted Prague’s Smetana Hall, and sang a recital at Budapest’s Opera House. A highlight was his collaboration with Andris Nelsons, commemorating Beethoven’s 200th anniversary with Symphony No. 9 at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. His season included recitals at Opernhaus Zurich and Vienna Konzerthaus, concluding with a performance at Dresden’s Classic Open Air 2024 on the Dresdner Neumarkt.
The 2022/23 operatic season began for Piotr Beczała at the Vienna State Opera singing the role of Don José in Bizet’s Carmen. He then performed at the Teatro Real in Madrid in a revival of Hugo de Ana’s historic production of Verdi’s Aïda (Radamès). He returned to the Metropolitan Opera New York and performed the role of Count Loris in David McVicar’s new production of Umberto Giordano’s exciting drama Fedora, alongside Sonya Yoncheva as the Russian Princess, Rosa Feola as Countess Olga and Artur Ruciński as De Siriex, conducted by Marco Armiliato. The opera was broadcast around the world in the MET’s award-winning Live in HD series. Additionally at the Met, he was heard in the title role of Wagner’s masterpiece Lohengrin, in another new production staged by François Girard and conducted by music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Back in Europe, he sang Lohengrin and Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Vienna State Opera. He ended the season on the opera stage at the Zurich Opera House as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot.
On the concert stage he opened the season of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb with a gala concert. With the choir and orchestra of the Teatro Real he performed Verdi’s Requiem in Burgos Cathedral in Spain and gave a recital with pianist Camillo Radicke in San Sebastián. As part of the Great Voices series, he performed with the Munich Symphony Orchestra at the Isarphilharmonie and with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Vienna Konzerthaus, both concerts conducted by Maestro Marco Boemi. Further concerts took place at the Palm Beach Opera, at the Vienna State Opera, in Pamplona and in Ljubljana. He also sang two gala concerts at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona together with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.
Since his debut as Duke of Mantua in 2006, Piotr Beczała has been a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera. Since then, he has sung Prince (Rusalka), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rodolfo (La bohème), Vaudémont (Iolanta), Riccardo as well as the title roles in Roméo et Juliette and Faust. In 2011 he accompanied the Met to Japan and made his role debut in 2012 as Grieux in Massenet’s Manon. In 2016 he made his debut as Lohengrin at the Semperoper Dresden alongside Anna Netrebko under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann. In addition, the Vienna State Opera’s Kammersänger performed at the famous opera house as Werther in Werther, as Ein Sänger in Der Rosenkavalier and as Don José in Carmen, among many other roles. Other highlights include Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo) at the Zurich Opera House and Massenet’s Werther at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. The tenor can also be heard regularly at the State Opera in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid and at La Scala in Milan.
In addition to opera, Piotr Beczała is a sought-after concert and lied singer. In 2020-21, he performed with Sondra Radvanovsky at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, gave concerts in Vienna, Warsaw, and Bilbao, and joined Plácido Domingo for a gala at Moscow’s Bolshoi-Theatre. He participated in the Met Stars Live in Concert series with. Beczała sang Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in Madrid, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Grafenegg Festival, performed with Camilla Nylund at Brixen Classics Festival, and at the Concert de Paris (July 14, 2021). He toured Spain with pianist Sarah Tysman and South America with Camillo Radicke. Additional concerts took place in Baden-Baden, Amsterdam, Madrid, Budapest, Vienna, Milan, and Oman.
Piotr Beczała has released two solo albums for Deutsche Grammophon, “My Heart’s Delight” in 2013 and “The French Collection” in 2015. In 2012, he sang the New Year’s Eve concerts at the Semperoper in Dresden, which were directed by Christian Thielemann and released on CD and DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. A DVD of his stunning debut in the title role of Lohengrin opposite Anna Netrebko as Elsa was released internationally in 2017. His first solo album on Pentatone featuring versimo arias „Vincerò!“ was released in May 2020. The 2023/24 season sees the eagerly awaited unveiling of his new album “Romances”, featuring Beczała in collaboration with the renowned lied pianist Helmut Deutsch. The record is scheduled for release on August 25, 2023, under the Pentatone label, and showcases a compilation of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky romances, the most popular musical genre in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Russia, and which still strongly endure today.
In 2014, Mr. Beczała was awarded at the ECHO Klassik Awards as “Singer of the Year” as well as the Opus Klassik for the same category in 2021. In 2019 he was honoured as Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and received an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. c.) from the Katowice Academy of Music in 2022.
© CSAM GmbH, August 2024
