Pene Pate at the Park Avenue Armory
Tenor of the Century Performs
By: Susan Hall - Sep 28, 2025
Tenor Pene Pati was born in the South Pacific and grew up in Auckland. He is, quite simply, the tenor of this century.
Heralded in the premier opera houses of Europe—including the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and La Scala—he has made only a brief appearance at the Metropolitan Opera, perhaps because that institution too often proves tone-deaf to true musical vocal warmth.
Pati is not only in full command of his voice; he is also a thoroughly engaging personality, charming and generous. We used to say someone like him had “the package.” But he is far more than that.
At the Park Avenue Armory, Pati opened with songs by Gabriel Fauré, Henri Duparc, and Lili Boulanger. Fauré’s music, rich in harmony and texture, glowed in his hands, which move with a comfortbale artistry. His delivery is both deeply emotional and seemingly effortless. Duparc’s intensity and passion suited him perfectly, while Boulanger’s landscapes of grief became luminous in his shaping.
Conventionally, we think of singers beginning with the challenge of breath. With Pati, breath is invisible—a mark of the highest artistry. He has been blessed with such an abundance physical gifts, incuding breath and volume, that he never seems to stretch, even as he chooses a challenging reperrtoire.
The second half of the program brought songs by Roger Quilter, tender, mild, and often playful, followed by Benjamin Britten’s darker seascapes and wintry visions. The Britten naturally, included “The Last Rose of Summer.”
Richard Strauss concluded the evening with his early songs, their charm punctuated by bursts of Sprechstimme that revealed Pati’s gift for dramatic expression.
Words hardly do justice to this young man. At times one feels the age of the great singers has passed—until, suddenly, at the Park Avenue Armory, one emerges. Hear him whenever you can.