Tenor Matthew DiBattista has been described as by Opera News as having “…a strong, pleasantly ringing voice with a nice extension up top, incredible stamina, and acting abilities not often seen on the operatic stage.” He is continually in demand on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, having performed opera and concert works throughout the United States and Europe. He has sung with such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Sir Andrew Davis, James Conlon, Seiji Ozawa, Keith Lockhart, and Robert Shaw. Known for an exceptionally varied repertoire, Mr. DiBattista has performed over 60 different roles to date, spanning the entire operatic repertoire.
Mr. DiBattista’s engagements in the 2018-19 season included Triquet in Eugene Onegin and the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel with Michigan Opera Theatre, Amrou in La Reine de Saba with Odyssey Opera, soloist in Britten’s War Requiem with Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and the Doctor in Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale with Boston Lyric Opera, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. In the 2019-20 season, he sings as Pirelli in Sweeney Todd and Beppe in Pagliacci with Michigan Opera Theatre, and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte with Santa Fe Opera.
In the 2017-18 season, Mr. DiBattista made debuts with Michigan Opera Theatre as Matteo Borsa in Rigoletto, and with Santa Fe Opera as Goro in Madama Butterfly and as Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos in the summer of 2018. He was also tenor soloist in a Bernstein centennial concert with Boston Pops Orchestra. His engagements in the 2016-17 season included a debut with Minnesota Orchestra as the First Jew in Salome, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro with Boston Lyric Opera, and Handel’s Ode for St. Cecelia’s Day with Masterworks Chorale. In the 2015-16 season, he returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Faninal’s Major-Domo in Der Rosenkavalier, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as The Dancing Master in Ariadne auf Naxos, and he was soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Wichita Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. DiBattista performed the past four seasons with Lyric Opera of Chicago (Parsifal, Cappriccio, Der Rosenkavalier, Lucia di Lammermoor). Other successes include performanceswith the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Die Meistersinger, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, Norma), Glimmerglass Opera (The Abduction from the Seraglio, Falstaff, The Mother of Us All, Of Mice and Men, Central Park), Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Opera (Pagliacci), Opera Omaha (The Tender Land), Tulsa Opera (Elmer Gantry, Of Mice and Men), Opera Boston (Angels in America, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Madam White Snake, The Nose, Tippett’s Midsummer’s Dream), Virginia Opera (A Streetcar Named Desire), Opera Colorado (Tosca), Tanglewood Music Center, Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater (Thérèse Raquin, The Good Soldier Schweik – “Matthew DiBattista portrayed the title character with a Chaplin-esque blend of whimsy and pathos. The luminous quality of DiBattista’s tenor was suited to both the mischevious, animated scenes as well as the poignant, affecting arias.” – Culture Spot LA), Boston Lyric Opera (Madama Butterfly, Midsummer Night’s Dream) and has appeared for eight of the last nine seasons as principal artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (Pagliacci, Il tabarro, The Death of Klinghoffer, Alice in Wonderland, The Magic Flute, Ariadne auf Naxos, The Marriage of Figaro, The Ghosts of Versailles– “as the villain Bégearss, the mega-talented Matthew DiBattista was appropriately showy…” – Opera News).
He has won great acclaim in a tour de force assignment — the four servants in Les contes D’Hoffmann (Florida Grand Opera, Opera Colorado, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Palm Beach Opera).
On the concert state, Mr. DiBattista has been a soloist in Britten’s War Requiem with the Dayton Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem at the 100 Day Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, Beethoven’s Symphony #9 (Boston Landmarks Orchestra at Fenway Park, Fresno Symphony, Wichita Symphony), Carmina Burana (Wichita Symphony, New Orleans Opera), Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (Cincinatti May Festival), Britten’s Nocturne (Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra), as well as many performances of Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the Bach Passions, Mass in B-Minor, Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Creation and Mass in time of War, and Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ with various orchestras and choruses around the country.
Mr. DiBattista can be heard as soloist in Samuel’s Hyacinth from Apollo (Vienna Modern Masters) and as the title role in Kamran Ince’s Judgment of Midas (Albany Records).