About

Both in the prospect of music stars and in the practice of the most famous festivals unexpected changes sometimes happen, and very often they are for the better. It seems to be the case at this year’s Vilnius Festival, where the closing concert on 20 June will feature Jonathan Tetelman, the mega star, American tenor of the younger generation. He will perform with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Modestas Pitrėnas. The soloist replaces unexpectedly fallen sick Joseph Calleja. The concert will feature arias from the repertoires of the most famous tenors alongside the orchestral excerpts from operas.

Jonathan Tetelman, appearing for the first time on the stage of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, has been praised for his “vocally magnificent, radiant and distinctive tenor” (Opera Aktuell), for his “golden tone, with liquid phrasing, tenderness and ardour in equal measure” (Gramophone), and for his “voice that has all the Italianate ardour (...) without compromising on elegance or finesse” (Financial Times).

Born in Chile and raised in the USA, Tetelman has appeared in the world’s major theatres, festivals and concert halls, including Covent Garden and the English National Opera in London, Semperoper in Dresden, Komische Oper in Berlin, Teatro Regio in Turin, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, as well as opera houses in Rome, Naples, Vienna, San Francisco, Houston, Lima, Montevideo, Las Palmas and elsewhere. The soloist sings Alfredo in La traviata, Herzog in Rigoletto, Macduff in Macbeth, Canio in Pagliacci, Werther in the eponymous opera, and also appears in rarely-performed operas, such as Verdi’s I due Foscari and Stiffelio, as well as Giordano’s Fedora.

Critics today regard Tetelman as perhaps the finest interpreter of Giacomo Puccini’s music. His album The Great Puccini, recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2023, was awarded by Opera Magazine in the category of Best Solo Album. In the past year alone, the soloist’s friendship with Puccini’s music has been very close: at New York’s Metropolitan Opera Theatre he sang Ruggero in La rondine, and Pinkerton in Anthony Minghella’s production of Madama Butterfly, which has already become a legend. He reprised Pinkerton at Palermo’s Massimo Theatre, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, where he also appeared as Luigi in the premiere of Il tabarro (first opera of Il trittico) and sang Rodolfo in La bohème at the Dortmund Theatre. In Lithuania in February this year, Tetelman sang Cavaradossi in a concert performance of Tosca.