Stephen Costello
The American lyric tenor Stephen Costello was born in Philadelphia in 1981 and trained at the city’s Academy of Vocal Arts, making his professional debut as Rodolfo the year before graduation; his Metropolitan Opera debut (as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor) followed a year later, and he has since appeared at the theatre in numerous roles including Gounod’s Romeo, the Duke in Rigoletto, and Lord Percy in Anna Bolena.Though his repertoire encompasses mainstream romantic leads such as Alfredo, Rodolfo and Le Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, Costello is particularly in demand for bel canto repertoire, though he focuses on the more lyric roles such as Edgardo, Nemorino, Roberto Devereux and Leicester in Maria Stuarda rather than the high-wire Rossini heroes (he is one of only a handful of contemporary tenors to have sung all three of Donizetti’s Tudor operas in major houses).