Biography
Chinese tenor Mingjie Lei, a native of Hengyang, is rapidly gaining international acclaim, and hailed by The New York Times as “a beautifully plush voice with elegant musicianship…. tasteful and deeply moving” and by the Guardian as “A future star.” A current member of the Staatstheater Stuttgart ensemble, Mr. Lei is a Prize Winner of the Prestigious Neue Stimmen International Vocal Competition and the ARD International Music Competition, as well as the Winner of the Song Prize of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
In the 23/24 season, Mr. Lei will sing Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Dutch National Opera and Staatstheater Stuttgart, and Fenton in Falstaff as well as a staged version of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with Staatstheater Stuttgart as part of the Ludwigsburg Festival. In recital with pianist Jan Philip Schulze, Mr. Lei will make appearances at Wigmore Hall in London, and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
Read moreReviews
“The Chinese tenor Mingjie Lei’s charm and sincerity were obvious, his high tenor very even and surprisingly mellow. Winning his earlier round with easy accomplishment marked him as a future star, and his lieder singing won him the coveted song prize on Thursday.”
“From his opening recitative, the tenor Mingjie Lei impressed with a beautifully plush voice and elegant musicianship. On the word “peace,” his messa di voce — a gradual swelling and tapering of sound on a single sustained note — was tasteful and deeply moving.”
“Le point d’orgue de la soirée est certainement les deux interventions de Saëb, campé par le délicat ténor Mingjie Lei de sa voix haute, toujours nuancée et douce. D’abord son ‘Si long est le jour qui s’achève’ à l’acte II où toute la mélancolie du jeune homme s’exprime en parallèle dans une merveilleuse plainte de violoncelle solo. Puis au troisième acte, dans un même registre, son aveu à Maïma ‘Ah si tu savais tous mes regrets’, délicatement accompagné par l’orchestre, pastoral, au milieu d’une petite harmonie tout à fait charmante.”
Translation: “The high point of the evening is certainly the two interventions by Saëb, played by the delicate tenor Mingjie Lei in his high voice, always nuanced and soft. First his ‘So long is the day that ends’ in Act II where all the melancholy of the young man is expressed in parallel in a marvelous lament of solo cello. Then in the third act, in the same register, his confession to Maïma ‘Ah if you knew all my regrets’, delicately accompanied by the orchestra, pastoral, in the middle of a very charming little harmony.”
