©Photo: Mark Leedom

Pene Pati 4000_SF Rigoletto 4 (c) Cory Weaver, SFO

©Photo: Cory Weaver, SFO

©Photo: Mark Leedom

Pene Pati

Tenor

Home
Reviews
Features
Discography

“With a lustrous mid-range and glorious top notes, Pati sings in a gleaming, sensuous stream of sound”
(San Francisco Chronicle)

Gallery

Samoan tenor Pene Pati has taken the operatic world by storm with recent debuts as Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at Opéra national de Bordeaux, Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at San Francisco Opera and Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata at Moscow’s historic Bolshoi Theatre, and been hailed “the most exceptional tenor discovery of the last decade” (Opéra-Online). While still a young artist on San Francisco Opera’s Adler Program, his critically acclaimed 2017 debut as Il Duca di Mantova in Verdi’s Rigoletto, conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti, thrust the New Zealander into the limelight, receiving subsequent invitations to join productions of L’elisir d’amore, Madama Butterfly and Manon.

In the upcoming seasons, Pati will enjoy debuts at Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli and Opéra National de Paris, and take on new roles such as Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto, Verdi’s Cassio in Otello and Donizetti’s Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. An equally compelling performer on the concert and recital stages, this season Pene Pati will join Theater Dortmund for gala concerts and return to Matinee Musicale Cincinnati in recital with regular pianist partner Ronny Michael Greenberg; the duo were met with standing ovations after last season’s recitals there and for Société d’art vocal de Montréal.

Mozart: 'Se di lauri’ from Mozart’s Mitridate © Staatsoper Unter den Linden

In the early years of his career, Pene Pati enjoyed a string of high-profile competition successes taking the prestigious Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge ‘Bel Canto’ Award, both Second Prize and Audience Prize at Operalia, and Second Prize at Neue Stimmen. As First Prize winner at the Montserrat Caballé International Aria Competition, Pati was invited to be part of a special celebratory concert in 2019 dedicated to the late soprano at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, and he joined the prestigious line-up of soloists at the 2017 Richard Tucker Gala at Carnegie Hall.

Since 2012, Pene Pati has enjoyed huge commercial success as part of Sol3 Mio, a popular trio formed together with his tenor brother and baritone cousin. Their first album, released on Decca Classics, achieved 8x platinum sales in New Zealand and they continue to perform concerts together to sold-out stadiums whenever solo schedules permit.

Verdi- Rigoletto ‘Moving Moment’ © San Francisco Opera

'Ah! Leve-toi soleil!' from Gounoud's Romeo et Juliette © San Francisco Opera

Gounod's Romeo and Juliet © San Francisco Opera

“Pati returned to Cincinnati after a triumphant recital two years ago…The selections all had several things in common, starting with his sensational tenor voice and powerful skills of communication. Every note radiated the joy of his art…He sang with delicacy and beautiful tone, even in the highest register, capping his most impassioned phrases with effortless top notes.”

(Cincinnati Business Courier)

“Pene Pati is a fast rising lyric tenor no longer on the brink but in the midst of a major career. Pati is at the top of his game, equipped with a sizeable voice that rises easily above the staff with no sign of strain, his technique is impeccable and so is his command of French, Italian and Russian.”

(All About the Arts Cincinnati)

“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)

“Roméo is embodied by Pene Pati, the Samoan tenor who caused a sensation here last year as Percy in Anna Bolena, and to whom we are attached from the start with his sincere and beautiful timbre. His diction was superlative.”

(5*, Opera Online, March 2020)

“This semi-staging also benefits from Pene Pati’s Roméo who, in the final act, explodes into a phenomenal vocal performance.”

(ResMusica, March 2020)

“This Roméo and Juliette couple is close to ideal…Pene Pati takes great care over the composer’s dynamics which others neglect. What is the use of the orchestra preparing the final pianissimo of “Ah, leve-toi, soleil” if the tenor sings a fortissimo? Pene Pati offers us the pianissimo, kneeling, and it’s a delight…But when his fortissimo comes, in the rage of the Act III duel, it delights us just as much.”

(ConcertoNet, 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.”

(Olyrix, March 2020)

“He proved to us from the first moment that he has everything to be a tenor we will continue to hear about for the next twenty years. The voice is powerful and equal throughout the range, but he’s not all about volume! He is a sensitive, sympathetic and intelligent artist.”

(Le Devoir, January 2020)

“He brought requisite ardour and gleaming sound to Roméo, melding beautifully with Nadine Sierra in all four of their duets. Pati impressed even when he wasn’t courting his lover, including a glowing account of the dreamy ‘Ah! Léve-toi soleil!”

(San Francisco Examiner, September 2019)

“Pati’s voice bloomed open with fresh urgency and power. He brought the house down.”

(San Francisco Classical Voice, September 2019)

“He’s got a vigorous, full-bodied sound with a lustrous mid-range and glorious, perfectly placed top notes, including one long-held stratospheric closer that would have sounded like showboating if it hadn’t been so magnificent. Pati sings in a gleaming, sensuous stream of sound, with heroic accents in more athletic passages and a warm, tenderly inviting depth for moments of romantic intimacy.”

(San Francisco Chronicle, September 2019)

“The pain of the text was palpable in “Non t’amo piu” and his high notes were electrifying…you could only marvel at the expressive quality and control of his softest phrases, which could effortlessly transition to a stunning climax. His impassioned “Core n’grato” was rich, powerful and from the heart.”

(Cincinnati Business Courier, March 2019)

“He sang with warm, Italianate tenor sound and managed adroitly to make his character more than a dim-witted yokel.”

(Opera Magazine, November 2018)

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

(Opéra-Online, November 2018)

“the surprise of the night was tenor Pene Pati, a wonderful discovery as Riccardo Percy…He has an extremely attractive voice, bigger than that of a pure light tenor, very homogeneous throughout the entire range”

(Seen and Heard, November 2018)

“Unquestionably the stars of the show are the young New Zealanders Amina Edris and Pene Pati, as Adina and Nemorino. These are two tremendously exciting young singers with rich, expressive stage personalities…Pati’s striking, powerful voice put his stamp on Una furtive lagrima, making it sound fresh and tender.”

(Scoop Culture, May 2018)

“The central love interest of Amina Edris and Pene Pati offers some absolutely superb, effortless singing, and real dramatic ability.”

(Dominion Post, May 2018)

“Pati, born for the beauties of bel canto, spins an effortless ‘Una furtiva lagrima’”

(New Zealand Herald, May 2018)

“Pene Pati was making his New York debut and he sang with a beautiful tone in “La donna è mobile”

(Opera Wire, December 2017)

“His “La donna è mobile” revealed a gleaming tenor with effortless high notes. No wonder he has an array of awards and prizes that would be the envy of any young opera singer.”

(Seen & Heard, December 2017)

“The fluency and brilliance of Pene Pati’s singing, most notably, is a delight that never stales”

(San Francisco Chronicle, December 2017)

“tenor Pene Pati showed off a warm, powerful voice in a selection from Donizetti’s unfinished opera Il Duca d’Alba. It was a good choice, with plenty of the high notes where Pene has such thrilling squillo.”

(San Francisco Classical Voice, December 2017)

“Ingénu tenor Pene Pati is purely and simply the vocal embodiment of the Duke of Mantua, possessing the vocal swagger, the freshness of voice, and the creative energy that makes the Duke, indeed all youth, lovable. The artistic achievement of this debut in a major role on a major stage was formidable, this young artist fusing surprisingly graceful stage movement with nearly impeccable vocal delivery. And there was solid tenorial attitude. Aplenty.”

(Opera Today, June 2017)

“Tenor Pene Pati made his San Francisco Opera debut as the Duke of Mantua…[he] was an absolute revelation. He has a sweet, honeyed timbre and his top notes appear to be effortless. His phrasing, expression and breath control are superb”

(Bachtrack, June 2017)

“the Duke of Mantua, sung by tenor and Adler fellow Pene Pati. Pati comes across as an almost boyish, though exuberantly puckish, playboy…[his voice] was clarion clear and hit all the high notes, most notably in his Act 3 showpiece aria “La donna è mobile.”

(San Francisco Examiner, June 2017)

“For sheer tonal pleasure, Pati’s Duke made a connection. His tenor was buttery and suavely delivered.”

(San Francisco Chronicle, June 2017)

“It seemed luxury casting to have the rising New Zealand tenor Pene Pati as the messenger.”

(Opera Magazine, February 2017)

“Pati in a sumptuous, broad-beamed account of Verdi’s “Quando le sere al placido” from Luisa Miller.”

(San Francisco Chronicle, December 2016)

“Tenor Pene Pati was an unusually vivid and powerful Messenger”

(San Francisco Classical Voice, November 2016)

“runner-up was the New Zealander Pene Pati; in ‘Tomba degli avi miei’ from Lucia di Lammermoor his tone floated beautifully, and he has thrust and passion to spare at the top”

(Opera Magazine, September 2015)

“By far the most talented and promising singer was the Samoan-born Aucklander tenor Darren Pene Pati, who sang Tombe degli avi miei…[he] had a wonderful Italianate sound and superb vocal control harnessed to subtle phrasing [and] could effortless fill the Royal Opera House.”

(Seen & Heard, July 2015)

“New Zealander Darren Pene Pati was the one with the special tenor voice. Unsurprisingly, he took the audience prize for male singer.”

(Financial Times, July 2015)

“Unspoken but unignorable is the pressure for young opera singers to own the stage and inhabit a character. Hence the golden-voiced New Zealand tenor Darren Pene Pati won the audience prize with Donizetti’s Tombe degli avi miei”

(The Times, July 2015)

“First up was Pene Pati, a New Zealander who boasts a lithe and radiant tone, deep theatrical instincts and plenty of charisma…In the final scene from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, he gave a full-throated, suavely phrased performance, replete with ardour and elegance and driving to a thrilling, perfectly placed high note.”

(San Francisco Chronicle)

“You will know him for years to come, and thrill to his voice of golden trumpet just as the crowded house in San Francisco did tonight…Pati took the final note [in the final scene of Lucia di Lammermoor], with an open-throated, flawless, powerful high D…and held it pure and solid, not a show-off, just a peak moment, which seemed to go on for minutes.”

(San Francisco Examiner)