SANTA FE
Jenufa | Santa Fe Opera
July/August 2019
“Richard Smagur’s Steva is a vocal marvel, a luxuriously cast potential young heldentenor in a short part that is largely thankless and boorish."
-Parterre Box
ATLANTA
Carmen| Atlanta Opera
Spring 2021
"Richard Trey Smagur, who plays Don Josè, has an incredible voice, with a capacity in the highest register to produce notes without the least visible effort.”
-Earrelevant
NEW YORK
Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Grand Finals 2017
"Richard Smagur’s Flower Song, “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée,” with a beautifully balanced range throughout, received a healthy reaction from the audience with his legato phrasing and ending with a lingering diminuendo."
- Opera Wire
Read the full review here.
BLOOMINGTON
Peter Grimes | Indiana University
February 2017
"As seen Saturday night, there was more than physical stature to put the title character in bold relief against his social background. Richard Smagur displayed a voice that soared and raged, a glowing tenor that remained firm yet revealing of Grimes' anguish. His physical carriage made him appear to loom over his fellows even while steadily sinking under the weight of lifelong disappointment and alienation."
- Jay Harvey Upstage
Read the full review here, and watch Mr. Smagur's acclaimed performance here.
HOUSTON
Carmen| Houston Grand Opera
October 2021
"Richard Trey Smagur does a lot of dramatic heavy lifting...Throughout the opera, his expansive tenor surges with a raft of hot-blooded emotions: infatuation, obsession, and finally desperation. It’s a powerful performance in an ultimately pitiful role."
-Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON
Carmen| Houston Grand Opera
October 2021
"Her Don Jose, Smagur, is another up-and-comer, who should be a prime contender for those iconic heldentenor Wagnerian and Strauss roles. He has power to spare, an unfailing technique, a trumpet's clarion call, and is the tallest person on stage. You can't miss him. His flexible, melodious voice carries without a sweat throughout the cavernous Wortham. The two of them spark, and what's Carmen without sparks.”
-Houston Press
MADAMA BUTTERFLY
Click here to watch Mr. Smagur's 2016 performance of
B.F. Pinkerton under the baton of maestro Arthur Fagen