Abdrazakov
Born in Ufa (Bashkiria). On graduating from the Ufa State Institute of Arts, he joined the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theatre.
In 1998 he made his Mariinsky Theatre debut as Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and joined the opera company in 2000.
His 2000 win at the Maria Callas International Television Competition in Parma thrust him into the international spotlight and led to his debut at Teatro alla Scala as Rodolfo (La sonnambula) in 2001. In 2004 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Don Giovanni under James Levine.
He has performed on the stages of the major opera theatres around the globe, such as Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris National Opera, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Dutch National Opera. He appeared at Salzburg Festival, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Verbier Festival, Munich Opera Festival, among others.
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 Deutsche Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bayerische Rundfunk, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, and Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Among the noted conductors with whom he has collaborated are Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Gianandrea Noseda, Bernard de Billy, Riccardo Frizza, Riccardo Chailly, and Antonio Pappano.
Since 2015 Ildar Abdrazakov has directed the Elena Obraztsova International Academy of Music in St Petersburg.
In 2016 he established the Ildar Abdrazakov Foundation for the support of talented young musicians, which runs the Ildar Abdrazakov International Music Festival and hosts series of masterclasses in vocals.
In 2019, Ildar Abdrazakov made his debut as a stage director in a production of Attila for Bashkir State Opera in which he also performed the title role.
In 2016 he debuted at the Bolshoi Theatre as Philipp II in Don Carlo. In 2021 he took part in the premiere performances of Don Giovanni singing the title role (conductor Tugan Sokhiev, director Semyon Spivak).
The Grammy Award for the record of Verdi’s Requiem (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti)
Recipient of the International prize Oscar della lirica for the title role in Verdi’s Attila
the 38th Abbiati International Music Critics Award in the category “Best Singer”
Honoured Artist of Russia
1 st prize at the XVII International Glinka Competition
Prize-winner at the I Irina Arkhipova Television Moscow Grand Prix Competition
Grand-prix at the III International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition
Grand-prix at the I International Elena Obraztsova Competition
Grand-prix at the V International Maria Callas Television Competition Nuove voci per Verdi
People’s Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan
People’s Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan
The Golden Mask National Theatre Award for Lindorf / Coppelius / Dr Miracle / Dapertutto in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Order of Friendship of Bashkortostan
Casta diva Russian opera prize ("Singer of the Year" nomination)
Order of Salavat Yulaev (Bashkortostan)
International Professional BraVo Music Award
The State Prize of the Russian Federation
People’s Artist of the Republic of Abkhazia
Philipp II (Don Carlo)
Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia)
Boris Godunov (Boris Godunov)
Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni)
Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni) — Vienna State Opera, Washington National Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Mariinsky Theatre
Leporello (Don Giovanni) — Metropolitan Opera, Mariinsky Theatre
Méphistophélès (Faust) — Metropolitan Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Paris National Opera, Salzburg Festival
Méphistophélès (Le Damnation de Faust) — Metropolitan Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro Real, Salzburg Festival
Mefistofele (Mefistofele) — San Francisco Opera
Attila (Attila) — La Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Liceu, Opéra de Monte-Carlo , Bashkir State Opera
Philipp II (Don Carlo) — Paris National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Mariinsky Theatre, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Verbier Festival
Banquo (Macbeth) — La Scala, Paris National Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Mariinsky Theatre
Giovanni da Procida (I vespri siciliani) — Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro Regio in Turin
Henry VIII (Anna Bolena) — Metropolitan Opera
Rodolfo (La sonnambula) — La Scala, Mariinsky Theatre
Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) — Bavarian State Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris National Opera
Selim (Il turco in Italia) — Mariinsky Theatre, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro
Assur (Semiramide) — Berlin State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Mariinsky Theatre
Oroveso (Norma) — Mariinsky Theatre
Oberto (Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio) — Bilbao Opera
Walter (Luisa Miller) — Paris National Opera, Mariinsky Theatre
Don Ruy da Silva (Ernani) — La Scala, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Salzburg Festival
Escamillo (Carmen) — Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris National Opera
Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) — Metropolitan Opera
Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) — Metropolitan Opera
Alfonso d'Este (Lucrezia Borgia) — Salzburg Festival
Alidoro (Cenerentola) — Metropolitan Opera
Mustafa (L'italiana in Algeri) — Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Opera di Roma
Moses (Moïse et Pharaon) — La Scala, Opera di Roma, Salzburg Festival
Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr Miracle, Dapertutto (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) — Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera
Dosifey (Khovanshchina) — Metropolitan Opera
Igor Svyatoslavich (Prince Igor) — Paris National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Metropolitan Opera
Boris Godunov (Boris Godunov) — Paris National Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Bass parts in Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Prokofievs’ Ivan the Terrible.
In addition to his Grammy Award-winning recording of Verdi’s Requiem with Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Abdrazakov has recorded unpublished arias by Rossini with Chailly and the Symphony Orchestra of Milan Giuseppe Verdi for Decca and Cherubini’s Mass with Muti and the Bayerische Rundfunk for EMI Classics. For Chandos, he has recorded Shostakovich’s Suite on Verses of Michelangelo and Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight, both with Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic. In early 2017 Abdrazakov signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His first solo album Verdi was released in summer 2019. 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. Marking the Verdi bicentennial, May 2013 saw Abdrazakov’s star turn in the title role of Attila immortalized on the Mariinsky label’s first DVD/Blu-ray release.