Peter Mattei studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He debuted in Mozart's La finta giardiniera as Nardo at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre in Stockholm in 1990. In 1993 Peter Mattei starred as Pentheus in the Ingmar Bergman's TV-film Backanterna. He sang the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni for the first time at the Gothenburg Opera in the 1994–95 season. In the same season, Peter Mattei performed as Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Swedish Opera.