Opera News
Tenor Michael Slattery is renowned among singers for his interpretive originality and his voice of purity and power, described by the New York Times as “the balance of the elemental and ethereal.” He made his New York Philharmonic debut singing the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings on Benjamin Britten’s 100th birthday. His new English translation of Bach's St. John Passion (commissioned by MasterVoices) was performed at Carnegie Hall for the 75th anniversary celebration of Robert Shaw's Collegiate Chorale. Solo recordings include The Irish Heart, Secret and Divine Signs, Dowland in Dublin, Mortality Mansions, and The People’s Purcell, and he can be heard on full recordings of Handel’s Saul with Rene Jacobs, Acis and Galatea, Atalanta, Samson, and Solomon with Nicholas McGegan. Recent projects include the world premieres of two roles expressly written for him, Miles in Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up, and Daft Jamie in Julian Grant and Mark Campbell’s Burke & Hare.
Career highlights include the title role in Bernstein’s Candide in London, Rome, and Warsaw, and concerts with New York Philharmonic, New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia Orchestra, French National Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, and leading roles at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Opéra de Lyon, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, and the Edinburgh, Spoleto, Holland, Athens and Aspen Music Festivals.
Michael Slattery’s solo recordings include The Irish Heart and Dowland in Dublin, chosen by Opera News as one of the best recordings of 2012. He has recorded an impressive number of Handel’s works: Saul with Rene Jacobs for Harmonia Mundi; Acis and Galatea, Atalanta, Samson, and Solomon with Nicholas McGegan.
Recent projects have included Britten’s Curlew River and Roland Auzet’s Steve V, the world premiere Steve Jobs digital opera, with Opéra de Lyon; and Gregory Spears’s minimalist opera Paul’s Case for the Prototype Festival in New York. Slattery performed in Robert Carsen’s new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence last summer, and joins the production in performances around the world. Slattery is a long-time supporter of the organization Sing for Hope and resides in New York City.