Biography

Soprano Patricia Racette is known as one of the great singing actresses of our time.

She continues to appear regularly in the most acclaimed opera houses of the world, including

The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. Known as a great interpreter of Janacek and Puccini, she has gained particular notoriety for her portrayals of the title roles of Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Jenufa, Kátya Kabanová. and all three leading soprano roles in Il Trittico.  Her varied repertory also encompasses the leading roles of Mimi and Musetta in La Bohème, Nedda in Pagliacci, , Elisabetta in Don Carlos, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Alice in Falstaff, Marguerite in Faust, Mathilde in Guillaume Tell, Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, Margherita in Boito’s Mefistofele, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, Governess in The Turn of the Screw, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin as well as the title roles of La Traviata, Susannah, Luisa Miller, and Iphigénie en Tauride.

Ms. Racette has also appeared at the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Comunale di Firenze, Opera di Genova, Bayerische Staatsoper, Vienna Staatsoper, and the Saito Kinen Festival.

Her most recent performances of Madama Butterfly and Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera were seen in HD in movie theaters across the world as part of The Met: Live in HD, with Madama Butterfly being one of the most successful broadcasts in the history of the series. Both were subsequently released on DVD.

A champion of new works by today’s leading composers, Ms. Racette most recently created the role of Leslie Crosbie in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Letter at the Santa Fe Opera. Other world premieres have included Roberta Alden in Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline at the Santa Fe Opera (subsequently broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances and available on Albany Records), and Love Simpson in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree at the Houston Grand Opera (available on Albany Records).

On the concert platform, Ms Racette has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dusseldorfer Philharmoniker, and the Cologne Philharmonic. She recorded Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgorge with James Conlon and the Cologne Philharmonic.

This season, Ms. Racette opened the Washington National Opera’s season as Tosca, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Tosca and Madama Butterfly. Upcoming engagements include her Seattle Opera debut in Madama Butterfly, Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica for her debut at the Theater an der Wien, Manon Lescaut at the Washington National Opera, Tosca at the San Francisco Opera, and Il Trovatore and Dialogues des Carmélites at the Metropolitan Opera. She will also appear in concert with Patti Lupone at the Ravinia Festival and make her debut at the New York Philharmonic in performances of Dallapiccola’s Il Priogioniero.

A native of New Hampshire, Ms. Racette earned her Bachelor of Music degree from North Texas State University before joining The Merola Opera Program and Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera. Among her honors are the Richard Tucker Award, the Marian Anderson Award, and a 2010 Opera News Award.

Photo credit: Devon Cass

May 2012