“None of us today has ever heard the specifically French lyric tenor required for Faust … but for me Pene Pati gave the most ideal performance possible today…His entrance with the word ​‘Rien’ (nothing) conveyed everything that drives the character, sung with force but also light, with layered colours and elegance.”

“[Pene Pati’s] luminous timbre, the suppleness of the legato, and the open emission complete the portrait of a radiant Werther. Whereas others highlight the character’s neurosis and destructive obsession, Pene Pati brings forward an elegiac, almost abstract pain.”

“In the title role, Pene Pati impresses with his introverted and gentle way of inhabiting the character. The refinement of the nuances, the well‑judged filati, and the attention to the text make this role debut a singular and captivating success.”

“The boundless joy of his love shone effortlessly through the score, he carried the Libiamo mood confidently on his musical shoulders through the evening. He weaved his anger towards his supposed competitor for Violetta into his role in a well-dosed way, a Verdi tenor and Alfredo par excellence!”

“Words hardly do justice to this young man. At times one feels the age of the great singers has passed — until, suddenly, at the Park Avenue Armory, one emerges. Hear him whenever you can.”

“Pene Pati is an expressive, concise King Mitridate. Vocally, the role challenges the powerful tenor with artistic leaps into the air, which he masters partly in head voice, partly pressed. His warm tenor compensates for this, soft and multifaceted in the middle register and dark depth. He convinces in the changing world of emotions as father, lover, ruler and benefactor”

“The revelation of the evening is called Pene Pati. In the role of Nadir, the Samoan tenor gives a moving performance: luminous, sensual, with a natural ease. His ​“Je crois entendre encore” is a jewel of phrasing, breath and finesse, where velvety piani contrast with flamboyant highs. An ideal ambassador of French singing, he combines perfect articulation, pure melodic line and impeccable technique. The audience, bewitched, gave him a standing ovation”.

“Pati proved himself to be a dramatically intense, theatrically effective Rodolfo. He was a strong comedic presence in the first act banter with his Bohemian roommates. With the entrance of Mimi, and, especially Rodolfo’s great aria, Pati exuded the passion that defines a great Puccini tenor.”

“The second is at the initiative of a spectator, who, taking advantage of a moment of hesitation between Mathieu Pordoy and Pene Pati As for the choice of the song, says a sonor: ” Nessun Dorma ! ». While he has been stringing together high notes and bravura tunes for nearly two hours, Pene Pati accepts the challenge, triggering thunderous applause in the room.”

“It should be noted that he dominates his vocal instrument with apparent ease, leaving him the possibility of pianissimo of great beauty as well as gushing and sunny trebles reminiscent of those of Luciano Pavarotti. The opera has barely begun about ten minutes when he appears and, his first words ​“So, this is really the bailiff’s house?” that we already fall under the spell. The flight of his O nature, full of grace, queen of time and space ends up capsizing us”.

“His voice is in prime condition, and his exuberant stage presence suits the high-spirited, hedonistic Duke. First impressions matter and Pati got off to a sterling start with ​“Questa o quella,” which he sang with style, gleaming tone, and just the right touch of insouciance. His ​“È il sol dell’anima,” where he convinced Erin Morley’s Gilda of his love, was equally winning with playfulness and joy radiating from his entire countenance.”

“The Samoan Pene Pati is a sumptuously voiced tenor. He boasts a quintessentially lyrical sound, timbered as if made for virtually anything out of the great Romantics’ operatic pen. In Nessun Dorma he once again proves his qualities:”

“Pene Pati, for his debut in the role of Titus, delivers a lesson in singing and psychological intention. He shows a kind of calm serenity in the vocal emission that he puts fully at the service of a successful style and an almost solar plasticity”.

“But everyone was put in the shade by the Samoan tenor Pene Pati as the yearning, confused and increasingly desperate Faust. He showed an extraordinary gift for producing a golden thread of sound that can swell without strain to magnificence, and his lyrical line was perfectly rounded in a way that reminded me of great French tenors of old. The agonising moment when he called out Marguerite’s name in despair simply wrung the heart, and is still echoing in my ear.”

“The big-hitting climax of the title track aside, Pene Pati shows off his lyrical side with a combination of Italian and French composers, stretching largely across the 19^th Century. With a voice that sounds both effortless and crystal clear, and ably accompanied by his soprano wife Amina Edris and others, the Samoan tenor will win many friends here.”

“Pene Pati was the best {of the opera} because his instrument is of the highest quality, his vocal freshness falls in love, and he also has a presence and bonhomie that they transmit, and that the audience appreciates and immediately connects with him. His aura reminds us on more than one occasion of the remembered Pavarotti, for his scenic smile and his generous means.”

“The sweet-toned elegance and sense of line he brings to the Duke (Rigoletto) in the opening tracks is matched with rollicking vigour when he gets to​‘Possente amor’… Whether as Donizetti’s Nemorino or Massenet’s Des Grieux, Pati gives heartfelt accounts, and in the weightier assignment of Arnold (Guillaume Tell) he brings plangency of tone.”

“But more than that, it’s a thorough study of each character’s emotional journey that characterises Pene Pati’s excellence…Therefore, it is not the thunderous brilliance of a demonstrative tenor that he offers us, and can quickly become tiresome, but the delicacy of a tenor with style, which is much more rare and satisfying.”

“Pene Pati demonstrates great vocal generosity here, and we have to recognise the unlimited power of his timbre, a superbly mastered and harmonious technique throughout his full range, and his ease in the more tender and carnal passages.”

“I may as well start right away with the best: Pene Pati as Roméo. We heard resounding proof of the gifts of this Samoan tenor who is a revelation…one remains dazzled by the generosity of his voice whose top range seems to have an utterly fool-proof strength, and seductive timbre. Above all, what a nuanced performance, and what incredible French diction! This is a Roméo we won’t forget.”
(FORUM OPÉRA, MARCH 2020)

“He sings with excellent French as Roméo. His flexible voice with an ethereal vibrato rises without difficulty into his crystal clear top range. He completes his aria​“Ah, leve-toi, soleil” with a long, full messa di voce, and a phenomenal top note in Act III.”

“We can only say that he must be the most exceptional tenor discovery in the last ten years”