Paul Appleby
American tenor Paul Appleby is frequently praised for his interpretive depth and is one of the most admired tenor voices of his generation, regularly appearing on the world’s leading opera, concert, and recital stages.
Appleby’s 2024/25 season includes his first performances of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust with Hannu Lintu and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, as Prunier in concert performances of La Rondine with Sir Antonio Pappano and London Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s The Creation with Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque, and Evangelist in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Kent Tritle at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He also returns to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra, continuing his long-standing collaboration with conductor and composer John Adams who wrote the role for him. With the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he performs John Corigliano’s captivating Poem in October, inspired by the Dylan Thomas work.
A graduate of New York’s Juilliard School and the Lindemann Young Artist Program, Appleby remains a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera where he has given many critically acclaimed performances including as David in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg under Sir Antonio Pappano, as Grimoaldo in Handel’s Rodelinda under Harry Bicket, in the title role of Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and in The Rake’s Progress under the baton of James Levine. In addition to performances in both Don Giovanni and Die Entführung aus dem Serail, he received unanimous acclaim in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys with David Robertson.
Appleby has appeared as Pelléasat Dutch National Opera led by Stéphane Denève, and as Stravinsky’s Tom Rakewell at both Oper Frankfurt and in Simon McBurney’s production at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Dutch National Opera, broadcast on ARTE. At Glyndebourne Festival Opera he has appeared as Jonathan in Barrie Kosky’s production of Handel’s Saul under Ivor Bolton, as Bénédict in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict with Laurent Pelly and Antonello Manacorda, both released by Opus Arte, and most recently as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Constantin Trinks. He made his debut at La Monnaie in the world premiere of Cassandra, written by Bernard Foccroulle and Matthew Jocelyn under the baton of Kazushi Ono, and at both Opéra de Lyon and at Gran Teatre del Liceu as Bernstein’s Candide. Appleby created the role of Joe Cannon in the world premieres of John Adams and Peter Sellars’ Girls of the Golden West at Dutch National Opera, San Francisco Opera and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel, and of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra at San Francisco Opera conducted by Music Director Eun Sun Kim and in the European premiere at Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Last season prominently featured Igor Stravinsky with performances of Les Noces conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen with both San Francisco Symphony and Orchestre de Paris, Pulcinella with Music Director Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and in the title role of Œdipus Rex with Santtu-Matias Rouvali and the Münchner Philharmoniker. As the Evangelist in Schmidt’s seldom-heard oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln he joined Dallas Symphony and Fabio Luisi. Further concert appearances in recent seasons include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst and Mozart’s Requiem with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, Schubert’s Mass No.6 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti. He made his debut with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in Roméo et Juliette under Robin Ticciati, joined The Met Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings and most recently he collaborated with Jaap van Zweden in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with both New York Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras.
Appleby is a passionate advocate of art song and has performed at Carnegie Hall and Park Avenue Armory, Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Aspen and Caramoor Festivals, The Schubert Club, Boston Celebrity Series and for the Marilyn Horne Foundation. With pianist Ken Noda, he performed Schumann’s Dichterliebe at Lincoln Center and has recorded works by Schubert and Britten as part of The Julliard Sessions Digital Debut series, released by EMI Classics. He made his Tanglewood debut in a performance of Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Vanished with Emanuel Ax, and with pianist Conor Hanick, Appleby gave a North American recital tour with concerts in New York City, Philadelphia, Berkeley, and Sacramento.