David Kravitz

Hailed as “a charismatic baritone” by the New York Times, “magnificently stentorian and resonant” by Opera News, and “a first-rate actor” by Opera (UK), David Kravitz’s recent opera engagements include lead roles at Washington National Opera (Davis Miller in the world premiere of Approaching Ali), Chautauqua Opera (Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes), Skylight Music Theatre (Scarpia in Tosca), Opera Santa Barbara (The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen), Grand Harmonie (Don Pizarro in Fidelio), Opera Saratoga (Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola), Charlottesville (Ash Lawn) Opera (Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof), Boston Lyric Opera (Abraham in Clemency), Emmanuel Music (Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress and Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby), and the New England Philharmonic (Wozzeck in Wozzeck).  He recently created the lead role of De Sade in Nicola Moro’s Love Hurts at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, Italy, and at Symphony Space in New York.  His many concert appearances include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Emmanuel Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Boston Baroque.

This season, David Kravitz returns to the Jacksonville Symphony as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah. He was also originally scheduled to appear with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and at Carnegie Hall as the Millman in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (cancelled). Spring 2021 sees his return to Boston Baroque, as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Engagements in Mr. Kravitz’s COVID-19 shortened 2019-2020 season included returns to Odyssey Opera as the Duke of Norfolk in Saint-Saens’ rarely heard Henry VIII and the Boston Symphony Orchestra as the Helmsman in Tristan und Isolde, which was scheduled to be performed in Boston and subsequently at Carnegie Hall (cancelled). He was also to appear as Alessandro de Medici and the Duke in Firebrand of Florence with Emmanuel Music (cancelled) and joined the Jacksonville Symphony singing the bass solos in Messiah (performed). He also reprised the bass solo in Hours of Freedom with the Defiant Requiem Foundation, this time in Atlanta (performed).

In the 2018-19 season, Mr. Kravitz returned to Odyssey Opera for Gounod’s La Reine de Saba, performed Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with the New England Philharmonic, presented the Defiant Requiem Foundation’s Hours of Freedom in New York City’s Zankel Hall, and he reprised Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles with mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy.

Highlights from the 2017-18 season included three appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra: The Damnation of Faust, Tristan und Isolde, and Schumann’s Neujahrslied (the latter two under music director Andris Nelsons); Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon with the Boston Chamber Music Society; and Creon and the Messenger in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Emmanuel Music.

An exceptionally versatile artist, Mr. Kravitz’s repertoire ranges from Bach to Verdi to Sondheim to cutting-edge contemporary composers such as Matthew Aucoin, Mohammed Fairouz, Paul Moravec, and Elena Ruehr.  Mr. Kravitz has recorded for the Naxos, BIS, Sono Luminus, Koch International Classics, BMOP/sound, Albany Records, and New World labels.  His distinguished legal career has included clerkships with the Hon. Sandra Day O’Connor and the Hon. Stephen Breyer.