La Damnation de Faust

Stanislav Vorobyov is from Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. Here, he has appeared in roles including Colline ("La bohème"), Alidoro ("La Cenerentola"), the High Priest ("Nabucco"), Reinmar von Zweter ("Tannhäuser"), Zaretsky ("Eugene Onegin"), Angelotti ("Tosca"), the Fifth Jew and First Nazarene ("Salome"), Lord Rochefort ("Anna Bolena"), Dottor Grenvil ("La traviata"), Crébillon ("La rondine"), Zuniga ("Carmen"), Roberto ("I vespri siciliani"), Roucher ("Andrea Chénier"), Marchese Calatrava ("La forza del destino"), Tom ("Un ballo in maschera"), as well as Faust ("Der feurige Engel") and Méphistophélès ("La Damnation de Faust"). Guest engagements have taken him to the Bregenz Festival as Don Basilio in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Uncle Bonzo in "Madama Butterfly", and Il capitano/L’ispettore in Giordano’s "Siberia", to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and Luxembourg as Nourabad in "Les Pêcheurs de perles", to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as Ombra di Nino in "Semiramide", and in 2024 as Colline in "La bohème" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and the ROHM Theatre Kyōto.

Elīna Garanča was born in Riga and studied at the Latvian Academy of Music. She won the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in 1999 and was a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2001. After engagements in Meiningen and Frankfurt, she quickly established herself with appearances at renowned opera and concert houses as one of the leading mezzo-sopranos internationally. She has appeared, among others, at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Bavarian State Opera and the Berlin State Opera, as well as at the Opéra national de Paris. In 2003 she became an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera, where she was awarded the title of Austrian Kammersängerin in 2013. Her numerous awards include, among others, several Echo prizes and multiple honors as Singer of the Year. A highlight of her career was her debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 2009 as Carmen and performances in the same role in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera, which was broadcast worldwide in over 1000 cinemas. As Carmen she has also appeared at La Scala in Milan, at the Vienna State Opera and at the Zurich Opera House. Recently she sang the Principessa di Bouillon in "Adriana Lecouvreur" at the Teatro Real, Santuzza ("Cavalleria rusticana") and Eboli ("Don Carlo") at the Vienna State Opera, Amneris ("Aida") at the New York Met and the Bavarian State Opera, Kundry ("Parsifal") at the Bayreuth Festival, as well as gala concerts and recitals (among others at the Zurich Opera House). Highlights of the 2025/26 season include, among others, a tour under Daniele Gatti and the Staatskapelle Dresden with the "Verdi Requiem", "Adriana Lecouvreur" in Naples, as well as at the Zurich Opera House the title role in "Carmen" and Marguerite in "La Damnation de Faust".

Tenor Saimir Pirgu was born in Albania and studied at the Claudio Monteverdi Conservatory in Bolzano. He is a regular guest on stages such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera London, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, and the Bavarian State Opera Munich, and has worked with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Christian Thielemann, Philippe Jordan, Zubin Mehta, and Sir Antonio Pappano. In 2009 he was awarded the Franco Corelli Prize and in 2013 he received the prestigious Pavarotti d’Oro. In concert he has sung, among others, Beethoven’s "Missa Solemnis" with Gianandrea Noseda and the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, the solo part in Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 9" in Bucharest, as well as a concert performance of "Carmen" with the Copenhagen Philharmonic and Verdi’s "Requiem" with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Daniel Harding and with the Bergen Philharmonic. Recent engagements include his role debut as Mario Cavaradossi ("Tosca") at the Roma Caracalla Festival, Don José ("Carmen") at the Edinburgh International Festival, the title role in Verdi’s "Ernani" at the Bregenz Festival, Pinkerton ("Madama Butterfly") at the Teatro di San Carlo and at the Vienna State Opera, the Duke of Mantua ("Rigoletto") and Rodolfo ("La bohème") at the Royal Opera London, Lensky ("Eugene Onegin") in Rome, as well as Rodolfo at the Vienna and Berlin State Operas. With Opus Arte he released the solo album "Il Mio Canto" in 2016 and the aria collection "Saimir" in 2024. At the Zurich Opera House he most recently performed the title role in "Les Contes d’Hoffmann" as well as Chevalier des Grieux in "Manon Lescaut" and returns there in a concert performance as Faust ("La Damnation de Faust").

Amin Ahangaran, bass, was born in Iran. He completed his artistic training at the Tehran Conservatory of Music as well as in Graz. From 2020 to 2022, he was a member of the Young Artist Program at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where he appeared in the productions "Rigoletto", "Siberia", and "Ariadne auf Naxos". He also performed in Florence and in various concert halls in Italy as a bass soloist. In the summer of 2022, he participated in the competitions “Voci Verdiane in Busseto” (finalist), “Riccardo Zandonai” in Riva del Garda, and the “CLIP” competition in Portofino. From 2022 to 2024, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House, where he was heard in productions including "La traviata", "Eugene Onegin", and "Viva la mamma". He then joined the ensemble of the Opéra de Paris, where he has been a member ever since. In the 2025/26 season, he will appear there, among other roles, as Dottor Grenvil in "La traviata" and in a new production of Philip Glass’s "Satyagraha". He returns to the Zurich Opera House as Brander in the concert version of "La Damnation de Faust".