Spotlight on Brandon Jovanovich

Talk to any of Brandon Jovanovich’s colleagues and they’ll burst with admiration not only for his artistry, but for the man himself. The American tenor’s friendliness, kindness, and generosity have become legendary in the opera business, in which he’s been a star internationally for the past two decades. In any role, his passionate sincerity blazes across the footlights, uniting with his powerful, distinctive voice and enormous charisma to create stupendously exciting performances. He returns to the Lyric stage as the biblical bad guy, Herod, in Strauss’s Salome, opening January 25.

Jovanovich’s association with Lyric has been one of the most rewarding of his career. It began with a glorious production of Janáček’s Katya Kabanova (2009/10), in which the chemistry between Jovanovich’s dashing Boris and Karita Mattila’s radiant Katya electrified the audience. The same was true when Jovanovich returned the following season as Don José (a longtime signature role), sung and acted in a smoldering match-up with Nadia Krasteva’s alluring Carmen.  

Subsequently at Lyric, six more leading roles have given Jovanovich memorable opportunities to immerse himself in characters and styles that could hardly be more varied. In one of his rare chances onstage to show his flair for comedy, he relished playing the pompous leading tenor in the prologue of Ariadne auf Naxos (2011/12), before sailing onstage in the second half of the opera, transformed into the ardent god Bacchus. Jovanovich’s portrayal of the prince in Rusalka (2013/14) confirmed the extraordinary stage rapport he and Ana María Martínez had previously developed in their much-acclaimed performances of Dvořák’s opera at Glyndebourne (released on CD). 

Jovanovich is unique among American tenors in his vocal, stylistic, and dramatic versatility. Certainly a vital cornerstone of his huge repertoire is contemporary opera, including Weinberg’s The Passenger, in which his portrayal of the sympathetic Walter was crucial to that work’s unforgettable Lyric premiere (2014/15). But he’s also made his mark in more familiar operas, such as Madama Butterfly (2018/19) in which he brought unexpected depth to Puccini’s Pinkerton. A profoundly moving heroism illuminated Jovanovich’s magnificent characterizations of Siegmund in Die Walküre (2017/18, opposite the equally riveting Sieglinde of Elisabet Strid, as much a “stage animal” as Jovanovich himself) and Aeneas in Les Troyens (Lyric premiere, 2015/16). In 2019/20, Jovanovich starred in Lyric’s first production of The Queen of Spades in nearly 20 years. Singing Tchaikovsky’s formidably difficult music with astounding ease, he offered a portrayal of the hapless Gherman that left audiences shattered, as it had done in his role debut at the 2018 Salzburg Festival. No actor working on any stage today could have surpassed Jovanovich in revealing Gherman’s catastrophic emotional disintegration.

Stream the full opera: Les Troyens

Stream the full opera: Die Walküre 

Stream the full opera: The Queen of Spades

The Montana native lives with his family on a working farm in Sycamore, Illinois, but he’s drawn away for large portions of every season, due to the huge demand for his talents worldwide. The companies are too many to mention, but consider that, in addition to the Metropolitan Opera and the Salzburg Festival, during the past few seasons Jovanovich has been triumphant at London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, as well as with the leading opera houses of Berlin, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Paris, Zurich, Sydney, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Brandon Jovanovich exemplifies everything the operatic world prizes and expects in the finest singers: a thrilling voice, instinctive musicality, authentic delivery of the text, and total commitment to character. And beyond all that is his desire to give onstage, sharing everything he is as both artist and human being. Don’t miss your chance to see him onstage at Lyric in Strauss’s Salome, January 25-February 14.