Ildar Abdrazakov

Ildar Abdrazakov is one of a small number of singers blessed with the vocal prowess, artistic eloquence, and captivating stage presence required to bring opera’s great bass arias to life. He has also succeeded in securing his place at the top of the operatic tree at an age when most basses are only beginning to mature. The Russian artist is in high demand at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls, his signature repertoire extending from Mozart’s Figaro and the opera buffa roles of Rossini and Donizetti, to the strikingly complex characters of Verdi’s Attila, Oberto and Filippo II. Abdrazakov was born in Ufa, then capital of the Soviet Republic of Bashkiria, today known as the Republic of Bashkortostan. His father, a film and television director, recognised young Ildar’s musical ability and sent him to a local music school. The 14-year-old student received his first singing lessons from M.G. Murtazina, who was already teaching his older brother, and joined her class at the Ufa State Institute of the Arts two years later. Continuing his studies with Professor Murtazina after joining the Bashkirian Opera and Ballet Theatre, Abdrazakov made his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg at the age of 22 and gained invaluable early experience with the company, with whom he toured extensively, attracting international attention in 2000 with his debut performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His career flourished after he won the Maria Callas International Television Competition later the same year. That victory led to his debut at La Scala, Milan in 2001, as well as to engagements at other prestigious venues. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 as Masetto in Don Giovanni and has since become a regular guest there, performing everything from Figaro and Don Giovanni to Escamillo, Attila and Méphistophélès. He appeared in the gala reopening of La Scala in 2004/05, and in 2010 gave his recital debut there with songs by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Liszt, Ravel, among others. In addition to his work in the opera house, Abdrazakov has achieved distinction in the concert hall, his credits including performances at, among others, Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, the Tokyo Spring Festival, the BBC Proms and the Salzburg Festival. The live recording of his performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Classical Recording and Best Choral Recording. In 2015, he became the inaugural Artistic Director of the Elena Obraztsova International Academy of Music in St Petersburg and has since created the Ildar Abdrazakov Foundation to support and promote talented young musicians. In 2019, the Foundation presented the second edition of the Ildar Abdrazakov International Music Festival, which took place in four Russian cities, including Moscow and the singer’s native city of Ufa, and featured both concerts and masterclasses.