La Damnation de Faust

Stanislav Vorobyov is a native of Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been part of the ensemble at Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. In Zurich, he has appeared in roles such as Colline (“La bohème”), Alidoro (“La Cenerentola”), High Priest (“Nabucco”), Notary (“Der Rosenkavalier”), Reinmar von Zweter (“Tannhäuser”), Faust (“The Fiery Angel”), Zaretsky (“Eugene Onegin”), Cesare Angelotti (“Tosca”), Fifth Jew and First Nazarene (“Salome”), Lord Rochefort (“Anna Bolena”), Doctor Grenvil (“La traviata”), Crébillon (“La rondine”), and Zuniga (“Carmen”), as well as Roberto (“I vespri siciliani”), Roucher (“Andrea Chénier”), and the Police Commissioner (“Der Rosenkavalier”). He also sang Don Basilio (“Il barbiere di Siviglia”) at the Bregenz Festival, Nourabad (“Les Pêcheurs de perles”) at Opera Vlaanderen and in Luxembourg, and Ombra di Nino (“Semiramide”) at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. At the Bregenz Festival, he also appeared as Uncle Bonzo in “Madama Butterfly” and as Il capitano/L’ispettore in Umberto Giordano’s “Siberia.” In 2024, he was additionally heard as Colline (“La bohème”) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and ROHM Theatre Kyoto.

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 as one of the leading mezzo-sopranos internationally with performances at renowned opera and concert houses. She has appeared, among others, at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Baden-Baden Festival House, the Bavarian and Berlin State Operas, as well as at the Opéra national de Paris. In 2003, she became a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble, where she was awarded the title of Austrian Kammersängerin in 2013. Her numerous awards include several Echo prizes and multiple recognitions as Singer of the Year. A highlight of her career was her 2009 debut at the Royal Opera House in London as Carmen and performances in the same role in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera, which was broadcast in over 1000 cinemas worldwide. She has also performed Carmen at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, and the Zurich Opera House. Recently, she appeared as Dalila (Samson et Dalila) at the Met in New York and the Berlin State Opera, as Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust) at the Met and the Salzburg Festival, as Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana) at the Royal Opera House London and the Vienna State Opera, as well as Kundry (Parsifal) at the Vienna State Opera. On the concert stage, she sang in Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2020, as well as in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Florence and at La Scala in Milan. In 2021, she gave a solo evening featuring Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder at the Salzburg Festival and the Lucerne Festival.

Saimir Pirgu was born in Albania and studied at the “Claudio Monteverdi” Conservatory in Bolzano with Vito Brunetti. Claudio Abbado brought the then 22-year-old to Ferrara as Ferrando (Così fan tutte) — in 2004, he made his Salzburg Festival debut with this role. He has worked with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Franz Welser-Möst, Fabio Luisi, and Daniele Gatti and has appeared in concerts at venues including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Auditorium Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Musikverein Vienna. Today, he is engaged at the world’s most important opera houses. He sang the title role in Ernani at the Bregenz Festival, Don José in Carmen under the direction of Zubin Mehta in Bangkok, and the title roles in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Zurich Opera House, Werther at the Tokyo New National Theatre, as well as La damnation de Faust at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Additionally, he performed Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in Zurich, Lensky in Eugene Onegin in Rome, the title role in Faust at the Sydney Opera House and the Zurich Opera House, Chevalier Des Grieux in Manon at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Shepherd in Król Roger at the Royal Opera House London, and Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2016, his solo album Il Mio Canto was released by Opus Arte. He presented the CD on a world tour that took him to Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Florence, and Tirana. His first aria album, Angelo casto e bel, was recorded in 2004 for Universal Music.

Amin Ahangaran, bass, was born in Iran. He began his artistic training in 2016 at the Tehran Music Conservatory and continued it in Graz at the Johann-Joseph-Fux Conservatory. He received a full scholarship from the American Institute of Music Studies (AIMS) as well as from the Accademia Belcanto. From 2020 to 2022, he was a member of the Young Artist Program at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where he performed in productions of Rigoletto, Siberia, and Ariadne auf Naxos. He was also active as a bass soloist in Florence and various concert halls across Italy. In the summer of 2022, he participated in the competitions Voci Verdiane in Busseto (finalist), Riccardo Zandonai in Riva del Garda (3rd prize), and the CLIP competition in Portofino (3rd prize, audience award, and special prize). Since the 2022/23 season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio Zurich, where he sang in La traviata, Eugene Onegin, and Viva la mamma.