Piotr Beczała

Piotr Beczała (born December 28, 1966, in Czechowice-Dziedzice) is a Polish operatic tenor.   Beczała was born in southern Poland and initially trained in Katowice. He also studied under Sena Jurinac in Switzerland. His first engagements were with the Landestheater in Linz, after which he became a regular member of Zurich Opera. Between 2004 and 2006, Beczała made several major international house debuts. In April 2004, he made his debut at London's Royal Opera House as the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier, later returning in October of that year in the title role of Faust, then in June 2005 as the Duke in Rigoletto, and in September 2006, again in Faust. In November 2004, he made his San Francisco Opera and American debut as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. Beczała's La Scala debut came in January 2006 as the Duke in Rigoletto, the role in which he also made Metropolitan Opera debut on December 19, 2006.   In 2007 he was awarded the Munich Opera Festival Prize which acknowledges outstanding accomplishments by departments and members of the Bavarian State Opera as well as members of the Festival performance casts for his performances in Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther.   Beczała appears as Alfredo Germont in the Farao Classics recording of La traviata which was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award. The CD is a live recording from the Bavarian State Opera's March 2006 production with Anja Harteros as Violetta, Paolo Gavanelli as Giorgio Germont, and Zubin Mehta conducting. Early in 2012 he sang Chevalier Grieux in Massenet's Manon opposite Anna Netrebko at the Met in Laurent Pelly's production.   In 2012/2013, Beczała sang the Duke in Michael Mayers's "Rat Pack" production of Rigoletto at the Met. Booed in La traviata at the opening of the 2013/14 La Scala season, he announced that he would only ever return to Italy for vacation.