"...his gorgeous tone and elegant phrasing
sent me scrambling for my program to
see who this marvelous singer could be."
David Pittsinger has established himself at the forefront of international operatic stars among his generation. A commanding voice and stage presence have yielded celebrated successes in the world's major opera houses. He recently received New York City Opera's 2004-2005 Kolosvar Artist of the Year Award for his portrayals of Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Zoroastro in Handel's Orlando. Making his mark in baroque music, David Pittsinger has recently sung the roles of Somnus and Cadmus in Semele in Paris, Melisso in Alcina in San Francisco, and Atamante in Cesti's L'Argia at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées.
Following a highly successful portrayal of the title role in Massenet's Don Quichotte in Vienna, Mr. Pittsinger repeated his interpretation for the South American premiere of the opera at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in May of 2004. Next on the agenda was a recording of Charles Ives' songs for Naxos. In the summer of 2005 Pittsinger returned to the Glimmerglass Festival where he sang his first Traveller in Death in Venice by Britten. Pittsinger then made another acclaimed role debut as Escamillo in Carmen in Montpelier, which he will repeat in the opening of the new theater at Opera Colorado. The season of 2005 will close with a world tour of the Messiah conducted by René Jacobs and recorded for Harmonia Mundi.
Recently, Pittsinger has added the role of Il Conte Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), which he debuted at the Los Angeles Opera and will return to in 2006. Other performances this season include Creon in Oedipus Rex in Montreal and Don Giovanni for Portland Opera.
Pittsinger has been heard as Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in Hamburg, Brussels, Paris, Bordeaux, Vienna, Cologne, and Lausanne; as Don Giovanni for New York City Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Vancouver Opera, and L'Opéra de Nice; Gounod's Mephistopheles for the Opera Company of Montreal, Italy's Macerata Opera, the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Pittsburgh Opera, and Calgary Opera. His dual portrayals of Mephisto earned him the "Artist of the Year" from the Pittsburgh public for both the Gounod and Boito operas. At the Metropolitan Opera, Pittsinger made his debut as Truelove in a new production of The Rake's Progress conducted by James Levine and as Colline in La Boheme. Later that season, he sang the Friar in Verdi's Don Carlo under the baton of Myung-Whun Chung of which James Keller of Opera News wrote, "...his gorgeous tone and elegant phrasing sent me scrambling for my program to see who this marvelous singer could be." Other acclaimed portrayals include the Four Villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Opera Company of Philadelphia; Olin Blitch in Susannah in Vancouver and Philadelphia; and Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra (Brussels) which was recorded on Ricercar.
"...his gorgeous tone and elegant phrasing sent me scrambling for my program to see who this marvelous singer could be." | |
Orchestral engagements have included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under Leonard Slatkin with the National Symphony Orchestra; Missa Solemnis with I Solisti Veneti and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle with the Gulbelkian Orchestra in Lisbon, both under the direction of Claudio Scimone; Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette with L'Orchêstre de Lille under Mark Elder, The Rake's Progress with the West Deutsch Rundfunk, Maria Stuarda conducted by Richard Bonynge and L'Enfance du Christ with John Nelson - both with the National Orchestra Radio France. Pittsinger has sung Berlioz' Messe Solenelle under John Eliot Gardiner in Paris; Berlioz' Damnation de Faust with the Grand Rapids Symphony; Lucrezia Borgia at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the VARA Radio Symphony and the Messiah with the Houston Symphony Orchestra under Nick McGeegan. Festivals include Salzburg (Tancredi) Boston symphony at Tanglewood; Chicago Grant Park; Theater an der Wien (Golgotha).
Born in Connecticut, David Pittsinger holds a master's degree in vocal performance from Yale University. Upon graduation, he became a member of the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera. Mr. Pittsinger can be heard on the Grammy Award winning Virgin Classics recording of Carlysle Floyd's Susannah, in La Calisto by Cavalli on the Harmonia Mundi label, as Alfonso in Lucrezia Borgia for Naxos, and as Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra for Ricercar. He currently lives in Connecticut with his wife, soprano Patricia Schuman, and their two children.