Paulo Szot Explained

Paulo Szot
Birth Place:São Paulo, Brazil
Years Active:1997–present
Occupation:Actor, singer
Awards:Full list

Paulo Szot[1] is a Brazilian operatic baritone singer and actor. He made his opera debut in 1997 and his international career has included performances with the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala di Milano, Opera de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Australia, Liceo de Barcelona, among many others. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of South Pacific, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Theatre World Award.[2] In 2012 he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for best actor in a musical,[3] and in 2014 was nominated for the MAC Award for best Celebrity Artist becoming the first Brazilian to receive such honors. His other stage credits include portraying the role of Juan Perón in the Sydney Opera House production of Evita, starring as Billy Flynn in the 2020/2021 cast of Broadway’s Chicago, and originating the role of Lance in the hit Broadway musical & Juliet.

Biography

Szot was born in São Paulo[4] to Polish parents who emigrated to Brazil after World War II. He began his musical training in piano at the age of five and later added violin and classical ballet. However, at age 21, a knee injury cut short any aspirations for a career in dance, causing him, with encouragement from his instructor, to pursue singing instead.[5]

Szot studied at Jagiellonian University in Poland. He began singing professionally in 1990 with the National Song & Dance Ensemble "Śląsk". Later, he made his professional opera debut in a production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo in 1997. Since then, he has performed with the New York City Opera, the Palm Beach Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Marseille, and Vlaamse Opera, among others, in such operas as L'elisir d'amore, La bohème, Don Giovanni, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Carmen, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Maria Golovin. In March 2010 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Kovalyov in Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose. Szot returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Escamillo sharing the stage with the French tenor Roberto Alagna and as Lescaut in Manon along with Anna Netrebko. Szot returned to the Met in 2014 as the Captain of the Achille Lauro in The Death of Klinghoffer. He sang the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Palais Garnier, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Le nozze di Figaro.[6] In 2013 he sang in The Nose at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma[7] [8] and at La Scala in the role of Filip Filippovich, the protagonist of Alexander Raskatov's 2009 opera A Dog's Heart.[9] [10] In 2018 and 2019, Szot sang the role of the Celebrant in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass under the direction of Marin Alsop with the Chicago Children's Choir and the Highland Park High School Marching Band.

Of his performance in South Pacific, Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote: "When he delivers 'Some Enchanted Evening' or 'This Nearly Was Mine,' it's not as a swoon-making blockbuster (though of course it is), but as a measured and honest consideration of love."[11]

Stage productions

Awards

Year Award Category Work Result
2000Prêmio Carlos GomesBest Opera SingerMale Category
2008Drama League AwardsDistinguished Performance AwardSouth Pacific
Theare World AwardOutstanding Actor in a Musical
Outer Critics Circle AwardOutstanding Actor in a Musical
Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a Musical
Tony AwardsBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Joan & Joseph F. Cullman AwardSouth Pacific
2009Premio Faz DiferençaJornal O GloboSegundo Caderno/Musica
2011Dallas OperaMaria Callas Debut Artist of the YearDon Giovanni
2012Laurence Olivier AwardsBest Actor in a MusicalSouth Pacific
2013Polish Ministry of CultureMedal “Gloria Artis”Life Achievement
2014MAC AwardsBest Celebrity Artist
2016The Raymond and Beverly Sackler AwardPersonal Excellence in use of the Human VoiceLife achivement

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Paulo Szot. Playbill. 2019. 14 June 2019.
  2. Web site: Gans. Andrew. Tony Winner Szot to Return to Broadway's South Pacific March 31; Michals to Sub in April and June. Playbill. 5 April 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110423184945/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/138320-Tony-Winner-Szot-to-Return-to-Broadways-South-Pacific-March-31-Michals-to-Sub-in-April-and-June. 23 April 2011.
  3. Web site: Nominations- Best Actor in a Musical. 5 April 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120419040345/http://www.olivierawards.com/nominations/view/item137177/best-actor-in-a-musical. 19 April 2012.
  4. News: Jesse Green. You May See a Stranger. The New York Times. 6 April 2008. 2008-06-16.
  5. News: Kathy Henderson. Paulo Szot, Fresh Face Interview. Broadway.com. 3 March 2008. 2011-01-16.
  6. Web site: Le Nozze di Figaro | Festival d'Art Lyrique d'Aix en Provence . 2015-02-16 . dead . https://archive.today/20120906023131/http://www.festival-aix.com/en/node/2025 . 2012-09-06 .
  7. Web site: Manuel. Cédric. Bien senti !. Forum Opera. 15 March 2013.
  8. Web site: Maurizi. Massimiliano. Opera di Roma:"Il Naso". 4 February 2013 . GBOpera.it. 15 March 2013.
  9. News: Curnis. Michele. L'incubo grottesco di Cuore di cane affascina la Scala. 22 March 2013. GBOpera magazine. 21 March 2013.
  10. News: Vittorini. Fabio. La partitura rivoluzionaria incanta "l'uomo nuovo". 22 March 2013. il manifesto. 19 March 2013. dead. https://archive.today/20130413041859/http://www.ilmanifesto.it/area-abbonati/in-edicola/manip2n1/20130319/manip2pg/13/manip2pz/337580/. 13 April 2013.
  11. News: Ben Brantley. Optimist Awash in the Tropics. The New York Times. 4 April 2008. 2008-06-16.

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