Projection, clarity of emission and range of tessitura were all superb. One of the major tests for all singers is the ability to change from head voice to chest voice, and here Beczała was textbook perfect. One immediate consequence is Beczała’s range of dynamic from subtle, sustained pianissimi to full-throated tones and he never lost colour nor line.
Recital, Grand Théâtre des Nations, Geneva
Seen and Heard International
Piotr Beczala has the kind of voice you want to hang medals on. Its luminosity makes many of his fellow lyric tenors, past and present, sound by comparison like flickering candlewicks. Beczala’s clarity and cleanliness of tone are the essence of his appeal.
Opera News Awards 2015
Opera News
Mid-Career Magic: Piotr Beczala
Classical Singer
"Piotr Beczala was born in the relatively small city of Czechowice-Dziedzice, just southwest of Krakow, Poland, and began his training not far from there at the Academy of Music in Katowice. Much like his countryman Jan Kiepura, whose charisma and good looks found him at home in the Hollywood movies of the 1930s, Beczala can often be found appearing in productions with a high glamour factor, such as the 2012 Salzburg Festival’s La bohème opposite Anna Netrebko’s Mimì or as the Duke in the Met’s recent “Rat Pack” production of Rigoletto set in 1960s’ Vegas. "Read Article
Not since Luciano Pavarotti have I heard this aria, "Fra poco a me ricovero," better sung. The house went wild at the end, and no wonder. Beczala defines the meaning of bel canto — beautiful singing.
Lucia di Lammermoor 2016
The Chicago Tribune
The revelation was Piotr Beczala, who was just about perfect in the title role.
Lohengrin 2016
WQXR
Piotr Beczała über einen "ziemlich großen Schritt"
Die Welt
"Der polnische Tenor Piotr Beczała will nach seinem umjubelten Rollendebüt in Richard Wagners «Lohengrin» sein Repertoire Schritt für Schritt weiterentwickeln."Read Article
With bright, firm tones, Beczala sang with warmth, flexibility and crisp confidence. He was capable of steely resolve or hushed magnificence; he effectively made Act III a single beautifully calculated crescendo. Over the long evening, his deftly supported heroic tones resounded with clarity and freshness.
Lohengrin 2016
Opera News
Netrebko and Beczala are surprise Wagner stars
Associated Press
"They've lit up the stage together in lyric works by Puccini, Massenet and Tchaikovsky. Now Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala are taking on a tougher challenge with their first forays into Wagner. And their debuts in "Lohengrin" as Elsa, the maiden in distress, and her heroic knight have drawn raves from critics and standing ovations from audiences, who snapped up every ticket for the four-performance run at the Semperoper Dresden."Read Article
Piotr Beczala singt den Lohengrin fabelhaft, sehr präzise, mit schönem Timbre, klarer Höhe, ausreichend heldischer Kraft und phasenweise sogar Italianita.
Lohengrin 2016
Kurier
Vor allem aber wurde an diesem Abend ein neuer Lohengrin-Topinterpret geboren… Nun versucht auch [Beczala] sich erstmals an einer Wagner-Partie – und dieses Wagnis liefert eine der wohlklingendsten Interpretationen, an die man sich nach Archivlage und Erfahrung der neueren Zeit erinnern kann.
Lohengrin 2016
Abendzeitung
„Wenn man dann das hohe C nicht trifft, dann war alles umsonst“
Concerti
"Der Tenor Piotr Beczała hört und kommentiert CDs von Kollegen, ohne dass er erfährt, wer singt und spielt "Read Article
Piotr Beczala über Verdis "Un ballo maschera" im Nationaltheater
Abendzeitung
"Piotr Beczala über Verdis „Un ballo in maschera“ in der Staatsoper und seine Pläne mit Wagners „Lohengrin“ in Dresden "Read Article
Piotr Beczala, his lyric tenor brilliantly projected, set Vaudémont’s romantic effusions out in long, elegant phrases. He and Netrebko made the Bellinian cabaletta of their love duet into a moment of triumph.
Iolanta, The Metropolitan Opera
Opera News
Polish tenor and Met house favorite Piotr Beczala didn’t merely sing with gleaming lyric authority in each of the modes (comic, romantic, tragic) that Verdi packs into his part.… Beczala roamed the stage with game curiosity and intensity. This was just the first hint of how completely Beczala would elevate everything around him.
Un ballo in maschera, The Metropolitan Opera
The Guardian
BR Klassik
"Französische Oper ist eher elegant"
"Lang und intensiv hat sich Piotr Beczala mit französischem Repertoire beschäftigt - jetzt erscheint seine neue CD "The French Collection". Darauf sind Aufnahmen bedeutender französischen Arien, Kavatinen und Romanzen zu hören."Read Article
Beczala was in glorious voice from the moment he took the stage as Gustav III. Blessed with surpassing vocal beauty, ease of delivery and a fine, ardent physicality, the tenor visibly loves to sing, and the production gave him numerous opportunities to do so brilliantly, including the Act III prologue to the ball scene, 'Ma se m'è forza perderti.'
Un ballo in maschera, San Diego Opera
Opera News
Piotr Beczala was wonderful as the Prince, his tenor elegant and impassioned.
Rusalka, The Metropolitan Opera
The New York Times
The sterling tenor Piotr Beczala conveys Alfredo’s unschooled impetuosity while investing Verdi’s vocal lines with the musicianship they deserve. In a performance that builds with fervor, Mr. Beczala makes a fine moment of Alfredo’s often cut cabaletta, prefacing its reprise with an impassioned cadenza and ending the piece with every note in place, sung in proper rhythm.
La traviata, Teatro alla Scala
The New York Times
Mr. Beczala’s muscular, youthful tenor voice is ideal for Lenski. He brings out the charming goofiness of this young man’s love for the smitten Olga, until he turns hothead when he sees Onegin dancing seductively with her and challenges him to a fateful duel.
Eugene Onegin, The Metropolitan Opera
The New York Times
A singer of real intelligence and charm, with a clarion voice that records well.
Verdi Arias
Opera News
Piotr Beczala stole the show, offering outrageous cool-cat charisma as the Duke, singing and moving with immaculate grace.
Rigoletto, The Metropolitan Opera
Opera News
Mr. Beczala, looking jaunty and loose, sings with ringing tone and ardor.
Rigoletto, The Metropolitan Opera
The New York Times
Opera News
"Peak Form"
"He's often called one of today's most exciting young singers. But Piotr Beczala — Rodolfo in La Scala's La Bohème this month and the Duke in the Met's new Rigoletto in January — has been preparing for this moment for many years. Scott Barnes reports."Read Article
As Lescaut, [Beczala] revealed his starry magnetism and expressive zealousness… In his dreamy 'En fermant les yeux,' he ended with a deafening pianissimo that trumped the heartbreak of Manon’s preceding aria, 'Adieu notre petite table.' His Act III renouncement of his onetime love lacerated with martyred ardor, leading to a St. Sulpice duet that, on musical terms shouldn’t be prescribed without smelling salts.
Manon, The Metropolitan Opera
WQXR
Opera Today
Interview: Piotr Beczala
"Piotr Beczala, the Polish lyric tenor, stars in the current La Traviata at the Royal Opera House, London."Read Article
The evening's greatest coup was the company debut of Piotr Beczala as Faust himself. The celebrated Polish tenor brilliantly surmounted the role's notorious technical hurdles, including a ravishing high B in the repeated cries of 'je t'aime' during Act II's waltz and a splendid ascent to C on 'où se devine la présence' in 'Salut! demeure' - taken on a single breath without the slightest hint of strain. In such moments Beczala virtually made time stand still; his performance was graced throughout by elegant phrasing, sensitive dramatic involvement and as intrinsically beautiful a timbre as has been heard here in many a season.
Faust, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Opera News
The Sunday Times
"Piotr Beczala fires up for La bohème"
"Arguably the hottest lyric tenor on the international circuit."Read Article
The great revelation was the casting of lyric tenor Piotr Beczala as the ill-fated Lenski. He sang and acted with ideal ardor and poetic melancholy. Beczala's rounded timbre, sense of line and vocal shading gave the farewell aria a tremendous impact, underscored by convincing youthfulness.
Eugene Onegin, The Metropolitan Opera
Opera News
Edgardo was the appealing young Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, whose impassioned singing had poignant colorings and virile intensity, that ping that opera buffs call squillo. He reminded me of the young Neil Shicoff.
Lucia di Lammermoor, The Metropolitan Opera
The New York Times
Piotr Beczala was all an opera-lover could wish for in the pivotal tenor role.