Acclaimed Tenor Jonathan Tetelman Signs To Deutsche Grammophon

Acclaimed 33-year-old Chilean-American tenor Jonathan Tetelman, described by The New York Times as “a total star” and by Opera News as “a major talent”, has signed to Deutsche Grammophon. He has taken the opera world by storm since launching his career five years ago. Forum Opéra noted, “The star of the evening was tenor Jonathan Tetelman – think of a kind of Franco Corelli with a good helping of Jonas Kaufmann too. His voice is broad and glowing, moving almost effortlessly from one end of his range to the other and – as if that weren’t enough – luxuriating in the pianissimos with a silken grace.”

Jonathan Tetelman is currently recording his debut album

Jonathan Tetelman is currently in Las Palmas recording his debut album for Deutsche Grammophon at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and its Chief Conductor, Karel Mark Chichon. The recording, featuring a programme of Verdi and verismo arias and other lyric works, will be released in summer 2022.

“It is a great personal honour to become part of Deutsche Grammophon’s family of artists,” said Jonathan Tetelman. “This album creates a portrait of what I feel represents my path as an artist, combining a few lesser-known works with arias and duets for the romantic tenor voice. We’re focusing on the Italian and fuller lyric French repertoire, which is a great place to start. Since making the switch from baritone to tenor, I have honed my craft and sharpened my focus. It’s an amazing thing for me now to record the results of all that work. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and determined to give my best.”

“He’s truly a major talent with a brilliant career ahead”

“We are delighted to welcome Jonathan to the Yellow Label,” noted Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon. “Critics have already compared him to the finest tenors of yesterday and today, comparisons justified by his exceptional artistry, vocal qualities and gift for expressive communication. He’s truly a major talent with a brilliant career ahead.”

Jonathan Tetelman joins Deutsche Grammophon fresh from his debut in the title-role of Verdi’s rarely performed Stiffelio for Opéra national du Rhin (“an absolute gem …as convincing in the lyricism of the love duets as he is in the violence of anger or the serenity restored by forgiveness” – ResMusica).

Jonathan Tetelman was born in 1988 in Castro, Chile. When he was seven months old he was adopted by American parents and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. His vocal talent was noticed when he was a child by a local music teacher and nurtured at Princeton’s American Boychoir School. He earned his undergraduate degree, as a baritone, from the Manhattan School of Music and completed the graduate performance studies program at Mannes School of Music, where he started to make the gradual transition to tenor, a process he later finalised with Mark Schnaible, who remains his teacher and mentor. He then worked for three years as a DJ at a Manhattan club before entering an immersive six months of practice and study and then launched his career.

Jonathan Tetelman’s credits include Rodolfo (La Bohème) for Komische Oper Berlin and English National Opera; Cavaradossi (Tosca) for Teatro Regio Torino, Opéra de Lille and the Liceu, Barcelona; and both Alfredo Germont (La Traviata) and Rodolfo at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His schedule for the 2021-22 season includes returns to the roles of Puccini’s Cavaradossi and Pinkerton for his respective debuts at the Theater an der Wien and Bregenz Festival and his role debuts as Loris Ipanow in Giordano’s Fedora at Oper Frankfurt and Jacopo Foscari, alongside Plácido Domingo, in Verdi’s I Due Foscari for the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

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