American bass-baritone David Pittsinger is renowned as a stage performer of the greatest distinction for his dramatic portrayals in the world’s major opera and concert houses and on Broadway. Signature roles include the title role in Boito’s Mefistofele, Mefistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, Scarpia in Tosca, the Villans in Les Contes D’Hoffmann, the title role in Massenet’s Don Quichotte, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Figaro and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte, Sarastro/Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, King Phillip in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen, Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and King Rene in Iolanta, Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Rev. Olin Blitch in Susannah and the title role in Sweeney Todd.
Mr. Pittsinger is a frequent performer at The Metropolitan Opera having appeared in more than 100 performances of 14 titles and is the only artist to have performed a leading role at the Met and on Broadway in the same day. He has appeared in Live HD Broadcasts of The Magic Flute, Manon, Hamlet, Tosca and Les Contes D’Hoffman, as well as Saturday Matinee and Sirius Radio Broadcasts of The Rake’s Progress, La Boheme, Don Carlo, Giulio Cesare, and Dialogues of the Carmelites. He recently created the role of Roy Disney in the world premiere of Phillip Glass’ The Perfect American for Teatro Real Madrid, and Robert E Lee/Edgar Ray Killen in Glass’ Appomattox for Washington National Opera at The Kennedy Center, as well as creating the role of Eugene O’Neill in the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Toni Kushner’s A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck at the Glimmerglass Festival opposite his wife Patricia Schuman.
Recent seasons include MET performances of Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac, and Palemon in Thais. He has been lauded for his portrayals in
the title role of Massenet’s Don Quichotte for Teatro Colon, in Buenos Aires, and Vienna, as well as Cadmus/Somnus in Robert Carsen’s production of Handel’s Semele, opposite Cecilia Bartoli, and Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Theater an der Wien under the baton of William Christie. He has also appeared at The Salzburg Festival, Pesaro’s Rossini Festival, Dresden Festival, Innsbruck Early Music Festival, Festival d’Aix en Provence, L’Arena Sferisterio Macerata Festival, Casals Festival, Tanglewood, Santa Fe, Grant Park, Ravenna, Cincinnati May and Glimmerglass festivals.
Pittsinger has also appeared as Sweeney Todd in the original broadway revival production (Portland Opera), Cervantes/Don Quixote in Utah Opera’s Man of La Mancha, King Arthur in Camelot (Glimmerglass Festival), Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate (The Châtelet in Paris, Opera Luxembourg), Emile de Becque in South Pacific, Cervantes/ Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha and El Gallo in The Fantasticks earning him his third Connecticut Critics Circle Nomination for Outstanding Leading Actor in A Musical. Of his Helen Hayes Award nomination for his portrayal of Emile at The Kennedy Center the Washington Times Wrote: “His Brilliant, knife-clean bass-baritone voice, impeccable enunciation-even with a French accent-and his authoritative, passionate delivery provide the perfect mix of romance, passion, and traditional masculine bravado. And his vocal delivery of ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ as well as the sorrowing ‘This Nearly Was Mine’ registers extraordinarily high on the three-hanky scale. His Emile is perhaps the definitive interpretation of this role in our time.” Other appearances include The Captain in Florencia en El Amazonas (Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, WNO), Mephistopheles in Faust (world premiere Bärenriter Editions Opera Omaha) and Opera San Antonio, Sprecher in Magic Flute (Dallas Opera), Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Tobias Picker’s World Premiere of Awakenings for Opera Theatre of St. Louis where he was last seen as Seneca in L’Incoronazione di Poppea. Earlier this season Pittsinger reprised his role as The Captain in The Met’s premiere performances of Florencia en el Amazonas, Capt.Von Trapp in The Sound of Music at Ivoryton Playhouse and as Tiresias with Houston Symphony in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Season highlights for 2024/25 include Jeanine Tesori’s new opera Grounded with the Met (Cover Artist) and a Yale Performer/Teaching Residency as featured alumnus in Yale Opera’s Iolanta as King Rene at the Schubert Theater, reviewed by Opera News/David Shengold,“The guest Met bass-baritone (and Yale alumnus) David Pittsinger lent his large-format elegance to Rene, with impressive steadiness.”
Also upcoming, , Verdi’s Requiem for Queens College, and Sweeney Todd for Maine Opera, and a return appearance at the Metropolitan Opera for Bellini's I Puritani.
Mr. Pittsinger’s discography includes: Arlington Sons (Apple Music) Ives songs for (Naxos), Rodgers and Hammerstein at The Movies (EMI), Susannah (Virgin Classics), La Calisto (Harmonia Mundi), Rachmaninoff’s The Bells (Houston Symphony), The Perfect American DVD (Opus Arte), The Magic Flute and Manon (Live in HD Met DVD), Simon Boccanegra (Ricercar), Fauré Requiem with Orchestra of Saint Luke’s (STR) and Florencia en el Amazonas with Houston Grand Opera.