Eric Cutler is an American

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

notable for his performances of

bel canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

repertoire and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

in particular. He is a native of Adel, Iowa, and a graduate of Luther College. Cutler is an alumnus of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1998. He won the Richard Tucker Award in 2005.

Career

Cutler made his role debut as Gounod's Roméo at

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...

and has since performed Nadir in Bizet's ''

Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...

'' there. In 2008 he returned to

for another role debut, Edgardo in Donizetti's '' Lucia di Lammermoor'', conducted by

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performances ...

. Cutler made his

debut as the First Prisoner in Beethoven's ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...

'' in a

Jürgen Flimm Jürgen Flimm (born 17 July 1941, in Gießen) is a German theater and opera director, and theater manager. After establishing himself as one of the exponents of Regietheater, Flimm was called to manage renowned theaters and festivals. His operatic ...

production conducted by James Levine. He has since performed there many times in such roles as Tamino in

's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'' and Andres in ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama ''Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at h ...

'' (both under Levine). Cutler sang the role of Arturo opposite

Anna Netrebko Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born 18 September 1971) is an Austrian operatic soprano with an active international career and performed prominently at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna ...

in the Met's revival of Bellini's'' I puritani'' conducted by

Patrick Summers Patrick Summers (born August 14, 1963) is an American conductor best known for his work with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where he has been the artistic and music director since 2011, and with San Francisco Opera, where he served as principal gues ...

. He sang the role of the Shepherd in a controversial production of Szymanowski's '' King Roger'' at the

Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

in June 2009. He performed the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's '' Rigoletto'', in a Fenice production, for a tour in Italy which involved Reggio Emilia and Venice.

Mozart Roles

Cutler's most critically acclaimed performances have all been in Mozart operas. These include Tamino (Metropolitan Opera,

Opera Theatre of St. Louis Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by th ...

, Glyndebourne and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Festivals), Belmonte in '' The Abduction from the Seraglio'' ( Boston Lyric Opera,

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at ...

and

Teatro Real The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace of Madrid, Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing a ...

Madrid) and Don Ottavio in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'' (

Wolf Trap Opera Company The Wolf Trap Opera Company (sometimes abbreviated WTOC) was founded in 1971 as part of the program of the Wolf Trap Foundation located near the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Fairfax County, Virginia. The company is a residenc ...

and Santa Fe Opera).

Recordings

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

issued Eric Cutler's first solo recording featuring songs of Barber, Schumann, Hahn and Liszt, called "Lieder Recital" with pianist

Bradley Moore Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

. ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'' included it as an "Editor's Choice" in 2004. In 2014

Naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...

released a notable recording of the original version of Wagner's '' Der fliegende Holländer'' (with Cutler singing Georg) and the first recording of '' Le Vaisseau fantôme'' by Dietsch (Cutler singing Erik), conducted by

Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski (born 4 October 1962) is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works, and is the current general director of Opéra national de Bordeaux. His mother, Mary Anne (Wade), i ...

.Rohan, Michael Scott. Review of recording of ''Le Vaisseau fantôme''. ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

'', February 2014, Vol 65 No 2, p223-225.

External links

Eric Cutler Tenor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Eric American operatic tenors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Luther College (Iowa) alumni Richard Tucker Award winners People from Adel, Iowa Singers from Iowa Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions