Artist Of The Week: Piero Pretti

Italian Tenor Makes His Metropolitan Opera Debut In ‘Madama Butterfly’

By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Christian Leiber/ ONP)

This week the Metropolitan Opera is set to open its classic production of “Madama Butterfly” with some of the opera’s greatest interpreters and some Met favorites. And with the cast comes a new Met star, Piero Pretti.

Pretti, who has established himself throughout Europe since his 2006 professional debut, will make his Met debut in his signature role of Pinkerton. Pretti has performed the part throughout the world in such theaters as the Wiener Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zurich, Opéra National de Paris, Bilbao Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Teatro di San Carlo Napoli, among others. He has been hailed for his rich tone and in the role critics have noted that he sings “‘Addio, fiorito asil’ with conviction” and that he has “sensitive legato phrasing.”

Pretti, who switches between the lyric and spinto repertoire and specializes in Italian repertoire, should be a treat for Met audiences and hopefully one to look out for in coming seasons.

And for those that will miss Pretti in New York, the tenor returns to Pinkerton later this season at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. He also takes on the roles of Manrico in “Il Trovatore,” Edgardo in “Lucia di Lammermoor,”  Cavaradossi in “Tosca,” and Rodolfo in “Luisa Miller.” Pretti will also sing at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Teatro la Fenice, among other prestigious theaters.

Recordings

For those not familiar with Pretti, there is a DVD and CD of his “Il Trovatore” interpretation from the Macerata Opera Festival on Dynamic. The DVD also stars Anna Pirozzi and Marco Caria conducted by Daniel Oren.

He is also on a recording of the rarely performed “La Donna Serpente” by Casella from the Teatro Regio di Torino with Carmela Remigio.

Here he is in a recent production of “Il Pirata” alongside Sonya Yoncheva from the Teatro alla Scala.

And here he is singing from “Il Trovatore” at the Teatre Liceu in Barcelona.

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Artist of the Week