Ravinia 2019, Issue 4, Week 7

closed-genre . everything . Szot made his Metropolitan Opera debut shortly after his Tony-winning turn in South Pacific opposite Kelli O’Hara in 2008 (above), and has since twice portrayed the scheming Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with the company, in 2014 (pictured) and for his most recent set of bows in 2016. working for me.” In , he got his rst job as a singer, performing ve years in the Polish National Song and Dance Ensemble “Śląsk,” singing Polish folk and popular songs. During a visit back to Brazil, he attended a concert by superstar tenor Luciano Pavarotti in Rio de Janeiro. As part of the visit, Pavarotti conducted open auditions for an international opera competition he organized in con- junction with what is now called Opera Philadelphia, and Szot signed up. e young singer presented two arias during the two-day process, and Pavarotti ulti- mately selected him to be a nalist and travel to the United States. He did not win the competition, but he still sees it as a wonderful opportunity, providing him, among other things, his rst up-close ex- posure to the international opera world. With the help of his brother, Jan, who sings in the opera chorus at the eatro Municipal de São Paulo, he started pur- suing operatic engagements in earnest. And in , he made his debut in the showy role of Figaro in e Barber of Seville with his brother’s company. He has gone on to perform with such major companies as the Opéra National de Paris and at La Scala. In , he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in an acclaimed production of Shostakovich’s e Nose and has returned there multi- ple times since. His career took an unexpected turn when he got a call about the possibility of auditioning for a Broadway revival of the celebrated Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Paci c in the role of Emile de Becque, which was originated by Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza. Szot listened to all kinds of music growing up and saw the movie versions of musicals like A Chorus Line , so he was open to such a diversion from opera. He beat out some other singers for the part, staying in the production for two and a half years and then returning to the musical again for a few months in at London’s Barbican Centre. “I was very, very happy to try this new universe of musicals and to work with really great Broadway actors. It was a great opportunity that opened many doors,” he says. e stylistic versatility that he displayed with his foray into Broadway caught the eye of varied presenters, in- cluding the Café Carlyle, which o ered him an engagement in . “And I thought, why not?” Szot says. He has been presenting at least one show a year there ever since as well as appearing at Below, performing Brazilian songs and selections from the Great Ameri- can Songbook. In a similar vein, he has performed Lerner and Loewe classics with the New York Pops Orchestra and delivered a musical salute to Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Another important step in Szot’s career came in when he appeared with Alsop and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Bern- stein’s operetta Candide . Alsop took over as principal conductor and music director of the orchestra in , a post that she will leave this later year. Szot had long been an admirer of Bernstein’s JOAN MARCUS ( PACIFIC ); KEN HOWARD/METROPOLITAN OPERA ( FLEDERMAUS ) 22 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 15 – JULY 28, 2019