Richard Trey Smagur

Tenor

Biography

American tenor Richard Trey Smagur, winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2017, has been praised by Opera Today for his “attractive lyric tenor” and “vivid presence.”

This season, Mr. Smagur returns to Opera Philadelphia for his role debut of Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, alongside Quinn Kelsey and Ana María Martínez. He reprises the role of Števa in Jenůfa in his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago alongside Nina Stemme and Lise Davidsen, conducted by Jakub Hrůša, followed by his role debut of Laca in David Alden’s production of the same opera at English National Opera, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson. He makes his house debut as Don Jose in Carmen at Austin Lyric Opera, and sings Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Vanouver Symphony and conductor Otto Tausk.

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Reviews

“Smagur turned out to be something very special…then he started to sing, his voice at once tender and vulnerable before giving way to an amazing confidence and control that defied his age — 25 years — and sucked us into another place. He followed Fink’s lead and gave a compassionate performance that made you wonder: When will he win his Grammy, or make his Metropolitan Opera debut, and will we be lucky enough to see it and tell people around us, “I saw him when … “?”

Cathalena E. Burch

Arizona Daily Star

“Richard Smagur’s Flower Song, “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée,” with a beautifully balanced range throughout, received a healthy reaction from the audience with his legato phrasing and ending with a lingering diminuendo.”

Opera Wire

More Reviews
 

“Mr. Smagur has an attractive lyric tenor with a vivid presence.”

– Opera Today

“As the Viscount Gastone, Richard Trey Smagur led the way in terms of sheer conviviality and bonhomie, being quite literally the life of the party in voice and stage demeanor.”

Schmopera.com

“As seen Saturday night, there was more than physical stature to put the title character in bold relief against his social background. Richard Smagur displayed a voice that soared and raged, a glowing tenor that remained firm yet revealing of Grimes’ anguish. His physical carriage made him appear to loom over his fellows even while steadily sinking under the weight of lifelong disappointment and alienation.”

– Jay Harvey Upstage

“The soaring vocal command that Trey Smagur brought to the role [B.F. Pinkerton] heightened the impression of an uncouth American motivated solely by adventure. Yet Smagur, a giant of a tenor in more than the vocal department, also betrayed Pinkerton’s susceptibility to Cio-Cio-San’s charms. The cultural clash represented by this liaison was expertly staged. The first-act love duet that includes some of the score’s most glorious music had striking moments of emphasizing the couple’s incompatibility. We weren’t invited to take this in as another one of those glittering hug-and-bellow numbers so abundant in romantic opera.”

– Jay Harvey Upstage