Rising Tenor
After six years in Europe, the Minas Gerais tenor Matheus Pompeu returns to Brazil to sing in La Traviata, in Rio de Janeiro.
By Amanda Queirós for REVISTA CONCERTO
NOV 2023
A career in music was not exactly what Matheus Pompeu sought as he grew up in the Minas Gerais city of Três Corações, his hometown. It took some time – and some providential encounters – for him to realize his own vocation for lyric singing.
He let his voice guide him through the world. And his voice is responsible for the return of the 35-year-old tenor to Brazil this month, to embody Alfredo Germont in the new production of La Traviata, Verdi's opera, at the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro, closing the lyrical season of the house. With stage direction by André Heller-Lopes and musical direction and conducting by Luiz Fernando Malheiro, this will be Pompeu's first major performance in the country since his definitive move to Europe in 2017. And the piece could not be better.
"My trajectory is very much focused on Verdi's repertoire, my favorite composer. For Alfredo, I seek to build a bel canto sound, based on elegance, purity, and the freshness of the voice, because he is a dreamer and experiences the euphoria of youth," explains the tenor, referring to the character and his intense involvement with the courtesan Violetta in the libretto inspired by the novel The Lady of the Camellias, by Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870).
Today's inclination for lyric singing contrasts with Pompeu's initial intention. In childhood, his interest in music revolved around the piano, reflecting the presence of the instrument inherited from his grandfather in the living room. In adolescence, he began to sing in church. "I felt that people got more excited when I sang than when I played the piano," he recalls. Therefore, he sought a school of popular singing, where the owner, however, was categorical: his place was not there, but in opera.
Another person to recognize his aptitude was Mauro Chantal, music professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, who insisted on the young man's admission to the course. When he moved to Belo Horizonte to pursue studies at the university level, he opted for simultaneous degrees in journalism and music. With so many favorable indications, he finally exchanged the piano for lyric singing.
After graduating in 2011, he moved to São Paulo, where he studied with Isabel Maresca and participated in some small-scale productions – work intensified at the Opera Studio of the Municipal Theatre, at the time under the direction of conductor John Neschling. It was a period of master classes with renowned names such as tenors like Gregory Kunde and Marcello Giordani (1963-2019), and mezzo-soprano like Marianne Cornetti. Was also a period of some awards, such as first place in the Carlos Gomes Competition and two trophies at the V Concorso Internazionale Marcello Giordani in Italy.
With these experiences on his resume, the next step came. By recommendation of his friend and pianist Rafael Andrade (1981-2020), he became acquainted with the opera training program at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain, directed at that time by Davide Livermore and Plácido Domingo. He headed there. The move consolidated Pompeu as a professional. "Here I could really get to know the workings of a large theater, and the most important thing about it was getting to know Fabio Biondi," he says. The Italian violinist and conductor was preparing to record an album with his group, Europa Galante, and tenor Roberto Alagna, but Alagna canceled his participation just before entering the studio. Pompeu was in the right place at the right time. Released in 2018, Halka was nominated for the 2020 International Opera Award for Best Complete Opera Recording. Highlighted was the Minas Gerais native in the leading male role of the work created by the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872).
From there, three more albums with Biondi's group and a schedule of joint performances followed, along with the first prize at the IV Adam Didur International Competition in 2019. "I went to very important places with Fabio. He is a great musician and inspires me a lot."
After a break in projects due to the covid-19 pandemic, the tenor sang in Dvorák's Stabat Mater, Verdi's Ernani, and in the recording of Moniuszko's opera Paria. This rhythm prepared him for the Rio de Janeiro La Traviata and Puccini's Madama Butterfly, scheduled for June 2024 with the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra.
Between the two seasons, a new Verdian challenge: starring in Un ballo in maschera in Poland. "This was the first opera I sang, still in Belo Horizonte, in a small role. And now I will play Gustavo, Luciano Pavarotti's life role. It's an iconic character for the lyric tenor, and it will be very special to play it.
