Ildar Abdrazakov

Ildar Abdrazakov
File:Ильдар Абдразаков.JPG
Born	Ildar Amirovich Abdrazakov (1976-09-26) 26 September 1976 Ufa, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	Opera singer (bass)
Years active	1996–present
Website	ildarabdrazakov.com

Ildar Amirovich Abdrazakov (Russian: Ильда́р Ами́рович Абдраза́ков, pronounced ahb-drah-ZAH-koff ) (born 26 September 1976) is a Russian bass opera singer.

Early life and career

Abdrazakov was born in Ufa, now the capital of Bashkortostan. His elder brother, Askar, is also a professional operatic bass; they have performed together, most notably at the Washington National Opera. His parents were both artists: his mother a painter, and his father (deceased) a director. Joined the Bashkirian Opera and Ballet Theatre after graduating from the Ufa State Institute of Arts. He won a number of vocal competitions in the late 1990s including the Moscow Grand Prix, the Glinka International Vocal Competition, the Rimsky-Korsakov International Competition, and the International Obrazova competition. Abdrazakov's 2000 win at the Maria Callas International Television Competition in Parma led to his recital debut at La Scala in 2001.

Opera and concert work

Abdrazakov made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2004 in Don Giovanni under James Levine and has since appeared there regularly. In 2008/09 he headlined a new production of Verdi's Attila, and in 2011 he made his role debut as Henry VIII in a new, season-opening production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena with Anna Netrebko. In the 2004/05 season, Abdrazakov joined Riccardo Muti in concert for the reopening of the Teatro alla Scala and sang the role of Moses in a production of Rossini's Moïse et Pharaon. The production was recorded and released on CD and DVD. In 2009, Abdrazakov made his Salzburg Festival debut in the same role; the new production was also led by Muti. Abdrazakov first appeared at London's Royal Opera House in 2009, performing Verdi's Requiem in concert with Antonio Pappano, and he has since returned there to sing Don Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. In the 2012/13 season, Abdrazakov performs the title roles in Don Giovanni at Washington National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as that of Le nozze di Figaro at the Met.

At the Mariinsky Theater, Abdrazakov has performed the title character and Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni; Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust and Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust; Oroveso in Bellini's Norma; Selim in Rossini's Il turco in Italia; and Assur in Semiramide. In addition to Attila, Abdrazakov's other Verdi roles include Banquo in Macbeth, Walter in Luisa Miller, and the title character in Oberto. Abdrazakov has also performed at Barcelona's Liceu, Madrid's Teatro Real, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the San Francisco Opera, the Washington National Opera, and the Los Angeles Opera. On the concert stage, he has given recitals in Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States, and performed with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, and Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Gianandrea Noseda, Bernard de Billy, Riccardo Frizza, Riccardo Chailly, and Antonio Pappano.

Recording career

Abdrazakov has recorded works under several record labels. For Decca, he has recorded Rossini with the Symphony Orchestra of Milan, and Verdi's Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; for EMI Classics, he recorded Cherubini's Mass with the Bayerischer Rundfunk; and for Chandos, he has recorded Shostakovich's Suite on Verses of Michelangelo and Rachmaninoff's The Miserly Knight, both with the BBC Philharmonic. The bass's DVD releases include Moïse et Pharaon from La Scala, Oberto from Bilbao, Norma from Parma, and Lucia di Lammermoor from the Metropolitan Opera.