Jonathan Tetelman - Overview | Deutsche Grammophon

“Tetelman has a golden tone … with a bright, open sound and splendid Italian diction, and his high notes ring out thrillingly.” In naming Jonathan Tetelman one of its 10 greatest Puccini singers, Gramophone recently summed up the qualities that have elevated the Chilean-American tenor to operatic star status in a few short years. With his exceptional vocal artistry and natural charisma, Tetelman is now in huge demand to play leading roles by composers such as Bizet, Giordano, Mascagni, Massenet and Verdi, as well as Puccini, in the world’s most prestigious opera houses and concert halls.

Jonathan Tetelman signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon in October 2021, after which he began work on his debut album for the Yellow Label in company with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and its Chief Conductor, Karel Mark Chichon. Released in August 2022, Arias featured excerpts from Verdi and verismo operas, French lyric repertoire, and duets with Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiûtė, and earned Tetelman an OPUS KLASSIK Young Artist of the Year award in 2023.

His second album, a tribute to Puccini, was released in September 2023, in time for the composer’s centenary in 2024. The Great Puccini presents a selection of both well-known and less familiar numbers from nine operas, including La bohème, La fanciulla del West, Manon Lescaut, Tosca and Turandot. The album was recorded in Prague with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia and Carlo Rizzi, and features notable guest appearances by Miknevičiûtė and fellow soprano Federica Lombardi. It was honoured with the Gramophone Voice & Ensemble Award 2024, the magazine hailing Tetelman as “the young Puccini tenor of our day”.

Tetelman’s latest album also forms part of the Puccini centenary celebrations. Reprising one of his signature roles, he stars as Cavaradossi, alongside Eleonora Buratto in the title role and Ludovic Tézier as Scarpia, in the 2024–25 season-opening concert version of Tosca given by the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Daniel Harding. Tosca will be released on 28 March 2025.

Recent highlights of Tetelman’s schedule include his much-anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut as Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Met, and at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Deutsche Oper Berlin; his role debut as Luigi in Il trittico, also at Deutsche Oper Berlin; and a return to the title role of Werther in Robert Carsen’s new production at Baden-Baden. This season, in addition to his debut performances with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Tosca, he has also made house debuts at the Vienna Staatsoper as Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana and at Los Angeles Opera as Pinkerton.

Tetelman’s forthcoming engagements include a reprise of Pinkerton for performances of Madama Butterfly with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko at Baden-Baden’s Easter Festival and at the Berlin Philharmonie (April 2025); the title roles in Don Carlo and Werther at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (May/July); opera galas in Munich, Prague, Frankfurt and Hamburg (June/July); and Cavalleria rusticana at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich (July).

Jonathan Tetelman was born in 1988 in Castro, Chile. He was adopted at seven months by American parents and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. His vocal talents were spotted during childhood by a local music teacher and cultivated at Princeton’s American Boychoir School. Having completed his undergraduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music – as a baritone – Tetelman went on to pursue graduate studies at Mannes School of Music, which is where he began to make the gradual transition to tenor. He later studied with Mark Schnaible, who was instrumental in finalising that process, and remains a mentor today.

While his voice was still evolving, Tetelman earned a living as a DJ in a Manhattan club. When the job lost its appeal, he made up his mind to focus fully on singing, a decision that ultimately led to competition success – including a place in the final of the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition (2016) and first prize in the New York Lyric Opera Theatre Competition (2017) – and his first professional engagements. Explaining how he went about it, Tetelman says: “I practically locked myself in for six months, and worked as a waiter, as well as having the support of my family, to pay for several lessons a week. I listened to old recordings and YouTube videos of great performers – while learning excellent technique and the mastery of my own voice, along with the knowledge of how to maintain voice health. And it’s worked! I am able to pursue my passion and love for singing every day!”

March 2025