One of the great American tenors of his generation, Paul Groves continues to enjoy an impressive international career performing on the stages of the world’s leading opera houses and most prestigious concert halls.
Paul Groves began his 2017-2018 season in performances of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with Opera de Lyon, followed by performances as Faust in a concert production of La Damnation de Faust with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. After performances in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul will be seen with the Metropolitan Opera as Danilo in Susan Stroman’s production of The Merry Widow. This will mark the 25th season Groves has been invited to return to the Met since his debut with the company as the Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. Later this season he will perform with Prague Philharmonia in Haydn’s Creation, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. Soon after, the two will continue their season’s collaboration when Paul Groves travels to Texas to perform as Wilhelm Arndt in The Ring of Polykrates with the Dallas Opera. Finally, to close out the season, Groves will perform in Das Lied von der Erde alongside Sasha Cooke at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Highlights of recent seasons include a rare role debut singing Alessandro Cesare in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo with the Opéra National de Paris, his first performances in the title role of Wagner’s Parsifal with the Lyric Opera of Chicago led by Sir Andrew Davis; and appearances as Admète in Gluck’s Alceste with Madrid’s Teatro Real, Nicias in Massenet’s Thaïs with the Los Angeles Opera, and Pylade in Iphigénie en Aulide with Theater an der Wien. An avid concert performer, Groves’s previous season was filled with debuts and return engagements with symphonies across the U.S. Throughout the 2016-2017 season, he was seen performing Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony, Berlioz’s Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony under Charles Dutoit, and Stravinsky’s Perséphone with the Oregon Symphony.
Paul Groves came to national attention as a winner of the Met’s National Council Auditions in 1991. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Young Artists Development Program, Mr. Groves made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1992 as the Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. Mr. Groves returned to the Met for performances as Camille de Rosillon in their new production of The Merry Widow opposite Plácido Domingo and Frederica von Stade; Ferrando in a new production of Così fan tutte; Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress; Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Fenton; and Don Ottavio in nationally televised, season-opening performances of Don Giovanni opposite Bryn Terfel and Renée Fleming. In 2006 he created the role Jianli in the world premiere of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor opposite Plácido Domingo, and he returned to the Met in 2008 for further performances of this role. Paul Groves made his debut with the San Francisco Opera as Fenton, and he returned in subsequent seasons for performances as Ferrando, Belmonte, and Pylade. His debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago was in 1998 as Nadir in a new production of Les pêcheurs de perles, and audiences in Chicago saw him in later seasons as Tamino, Pylade, and the title role in La Damnation de Faust. Los Angeles Opera audiences first saw him season-opening performances of the title role in La Damnation de Faust, and he recently returned for performances as Fritz in a new production of La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, directed by fames Hollywood director Garry Marshall.
He made his debut at La Scala as Tamino in the opening night performance of Die Zauberflöte with Riccardo Muti conducting, and he has returned in several roles, including Renaud in Gluck’s Armide and Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore – the first American tenor invited to La Scala for this role. Audiences in Paris have seen the tenor often since his debut in 1996 when he appeared as Tom Rakewwll at the Théâtre Musical de Paris, Châtelet in a new Sellers/Salonen production of The Rake’s Progress. Mr. Groves made his debut with the Opéra de Paris as Fenton in a new production of Falstaff, and he soon returned for performances as Tamino, Berlioz’s Faust, Nemorino, Julian in a new production of Charpentier’s Louise, and his role debut as Mozart’s Idomeneo. The role of Tamino was also the vehicle for his debut at London’s Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He has since returned to perform the role of Pylade in Iphigénie en Tauride opposite Simon Keenlyside and Susan Graham. He has performed often with the Vienna Staatsoper in roles including Camille in a new production of Die Lustige Witwe, Carlo in a new production of Linda di Chamounix, Tamino, Nemorino, Don Ottavio, Flamand in Capriccio, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere de Siviglia, and the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier. In 2009 the tenor sang his first performance in the title role of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in Japan under the baton of Charles Dutoit. Mr. Groves has appeared frequently with the Salzburg Festival since his debut in 1995 as Don Ottavio, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Mr. Groves made his debut with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1998 as Des Grieux in a new production of Manon and with the Netherlands Opera in 2001 as Bénédict. His debut with the Bayerische Staatsoper was in 1997 as Don Ottavio, and he has returned to Munich for performances as Tamino and as Arturo in a new production of I Puritani opposite Edita Gruberova.
A gifted musician, Paul Groves is continually in demand for concerts with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. In 2003 Mr. Groves made his debut with the New York Philharmonic as soloist in Berlioz’s Requiem in performances conducted by Charles Dutoit, and he returned for performances of the title roles in La damnation de Faust and Candide, opposite Kristin Chenowith. His debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra also came in 2003 with the world premiere of John Harbison’s Requiem, conducted by Bernard Haitink in performances in Boston and at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and he has returned frequently, including performances in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder and Tippet’s A Child of Our Time, as well as La Damnation de Faust, all led by James Levine. Mr. Groves performed Stravinsky’s Rossignol and Berlioz’s Te Deum with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Christoph Eschenbach. The tenor made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in performances as Berlioz’s Faust led by Christoph von Dohnányi, and he has since appeared with them in performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, also under the direction of von Dohnányi at Cleveland’s Severance Hall and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Other recent performances at Carnegie Hall include Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Sir Charles Mackerras. The tenor made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program of works by Mozart and Britten with Esa-Pekka Salonen and soon returned for performances of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Stravinsky’s Les Noces. The works of Benjamin figure prominently in Paul Groves’s concert work and include performances of Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings with the Atlanta Symphony and at the Caramoor Festival led by Donald Runnicles, as well as the composer’s War Requiem.
Paul Groves made his debut with the Munich Philharmonic in performances of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung under James Levine. He made his debut with the Bayerische Rundfunk in performances of Rossini’s Stabat Mater led by Riccardo Muti and recently returned to Munich for performances of Britten’s St. Nicholas Cantata. He has sung Berlioz’s Te Deum with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra led by Seiji Ozawa, as well as the BBC Symphony led by Sir Colin Davis. He appeared with the BBC Symphony again for Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3 led by Sir Colin Davis, and in 2003 he appeared with Davis in a performance of Stravinsky’s Perséphone at the BBC Proms. The tenor’s debut at the Proms was in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung in performances led by Sir Charles Mackerras, and he was first seen with the London Philharmonic as Berlioz’s Faust. In 2005 Mr. Groves sang his first performances of The Dream of Gerontius led by Mark Elder at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Mr. Groves made his debut with the Orchestre de Paris in performances of Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied, and he was first seen with L’orchestre National de la Radio France in performances of Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives at the Montpellier Festival. He appeared as soloist in Berlioz’s Requiem with the Orchestre National du Capitôle de Toulouse under the direction of Michel Plasson and returned for performances of the title role in La Damnation de Faust. Mr. Groves’s debut at the Festival de Saint Denis was in performances of Haydn’s Creation, and he appeared in concerts of Mozart’s Requiem at La Scala in a memorial performance for Giuseppe Sinopoli led by Riccardo Muti.
In addition to his several recordings with James Levine, Paul Groves’s performances in the Salzburg Festival’s productions of Die Zauberflöte and La damnation de Faust were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and Naxos Records, respectively. He recently recorded Roger Waters’s new opera Ca Ira opposite Bryn Terfel for SONY Classics, as well as Ravel cantatas with Michel Plasson for EMI Classics. He can be heard as Tebaldo in Teldec Classics’s recording of I Capuleti e I Montecchi led by Donald Runnicles. He also recorded the role of Belmonte in a video and audio recording of Die Entführung aus dem Serail filmed in Istanbul and led by Sir Charles Mackerras for the Telarc label. Mr. Groves’s performances as Admète in Alceste at London’s Barbican Centre were recorded on Philips Classics.
