Piotr Beczała welcomed the New Year with the premiere of Umberto Giordano’s romantic opera Fedora at the Metropolitan Opera.

Fedora returned to the Metropolitan Opera on New Year’s Eve after 25 years, and indeed it was a very successful Opening Night. This David McVicar’s production has been hailed as one of his best productions yet, and the principal cast – Sonya Yoncheva as Princess Fedora Romazoff and Piotr Beczała as Count Loris Ipanoff – received a lot of enthusiastic reviews.

The production also starred Rosa Feola as Olga and Lucas Meachem as De Siriex. The Metropolitan Orchestra was conducted by Marco Armiliato.

In total, 7 performances of Fedora with Piotr Beczała were staged in January. “It was a fantastic adventure with an excellent and very harmonious team. I will miss it because we managed to create something really special together!” – the tenor wrote on his social media profiles.

Photo: Wojtek Kubik

Selected press reviews:

Broadway World: “Soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role (Princess Fedora Romazoff) and tenor Piotr Beczala as Loris Ipanov, who killed the princess’s fiancée but nonetheless becomes her lover, were in fine form, sounding forceful and full voiced and perfectly at home with the material.”

New York Classical Review: “A dashing, handsome Loris, Beczała poured out rich, golden sound from the moment he first appeared on stage. There were subtle dynamic shadings, but the tenor was in overdrive, which provided an apt element of danger to his Loris. The role is clearly a stepping stone on the path to his debut as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot in Zurich later this season.”

Parterre box: “The arrival of Loris, Piotr Beczala, kicked the evening into high gear (…) Beczala, singing the opera’s one excerpted aria, “Amor ti vieta,” offered the evening’s finest singular eruption of tasteful and musical melody in his declaration of love.”

The Observer: “Sonya Yoncheva (…) and Polish tenor Piotr Beczala as dashing Count Loris Ipanoff enthusiastically embraced the hoary turn-of-the 20th century melodrama, one rife with damning letters and fatal misunderstandings. Their flamboyant charisma heated up the old-fashioned work, especially in a passionate love duet that brought the second act to a blazing conclusion.”

Bachtrack: “Piotr Beczała dispatched the opera’s big tune with full-throated passion. His stylish tenor may no longer have the sweetness it once did, but the voice has grown to fill the Met with clarion, Italianate tone. He was well matched with Sonya Yoncheva (…) When she and Beczala let it rip in their duets, throwing out massive high Cs with abandon, it grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the curtain falls: verismo at its thrilling best.”

Opera News: “As Fedora’s flesh-and-blood lover, Loris, Piotr Beczała was in superb form, stopping the show cold with his big aria and making his passion for Fedora—which is already white-hot before he makes his entrance, in Act II—seem completely plausible.”

Aktuálně.cz: “Piotr Beczała v roli Ipanova předvedl hlas, jaký by lehce zatmavovanou barvou mohl připomenout jeho dávného předchůdce Carusa. Beczała však proti koncentrovanému tónu proslulého Itala zpívá mnohem otevřeněji a víc “zeširoka”. Jako by jeho druhým rádcem byl Mario del Monaco, který Ipanova rovněž v roce 1969 nahrál. Pěvec vede svůj hlas s lyrickou kantilénou i vnitřním nábojem. Navštívit Fedoru tedy mělo smysl, i kdyby posloužila jen jako lákadlo na březnový přenos Lohengrina od Richarda Wagnera, v němž Beczała ztvární titulní roli.”

Opernglas: “Piotr Beczala als Loris … bot alles, was man sich für diese Rolle wünschen kann. Er war romantisch, leidenschaftlich und doch ein Ausbund an Eleganz.“

Actual News Magazine: “Facing her, Piotr Beczała approached with class the role of Loris written for Caruso, a bet before his imminent Lohengrin on the same stage. The fiery face-to-face and duets between the two singers were remarkable because on equal terms and qualities.”

Opera Magazine: “Piotr Beczala maakte als Loris pas in de tweede akte zijn opwachting en liet na een paar inleidende vocale schermutselingen met Fedora het muzikale visitekaartje van de opera horen: ‘Amor ti vieta’, een melodie die al vanaf het begin muzikaal wordt aangestipt. Beczala gaf een fraai vertolking en werd zoals verwacht beloond met een open doekje. Ook in het vervolg bleek hij goed op dreef hoewel ik de indruk kreeg dat hij hier en daar wat forceerde.”

Opera Actual: “Piotr Beczala, quien se entregó por completo al rol de Loris con espléndidos fraseo y estilo, consiguiendo la única ovación de la noche tras su magistral “Amor ti vieta”.”

Le Devoir: “Face à elle, Piotr Beczała abordait avec classe le rôle de Loris écrit pour Caruso, un pari avant son imminent Lohengrin sur la même scène. Les face-à-face et duos ardents entre les deux chanteurs ont été remarquables parce qu’à armes et qualités égales.”

Scherzo: “En el elenco destacó, sin lugar a duda, el extraordinario Loris de Piotr Beczala, elegante de apariencia y actuando con una convicción que a menudo echábamos en falta en la prima donna.”