Tigran Martirossian, bass

Tigran Martirossian was born in 1970 in Erevan, Armenia, where he first studied physics before taking up his vocal training at the Gnesin State Academy of Music in Moscow, where he studied with A. Eizen and P. Lisitsian. During his studies he was hired as a soloist at the “New Opera Moscow” followed by an engagement as soloist at the Moscow Bolshoy Theatre shortly after.

During 1993 and 1998 he sang i. a. the parts of Salieri within Rimski-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, Gremin/ Eugen Onegin, Farlaf/ Ruslan and Ludmila, Cecil/Maria Stuarda as well as Stromminger/ La Wally (Alfredo Catalani) at the “New Opera”. At the Moscow Bolshoi Theater he was heard as Ramphis/ Aida, King Rene/ Iolanta, Raimondo/ Lucia di Lammermoor, Pimen/ Boris Godunov and Fürst Galitzky/ Prinz Igor.  In 1998 he made his successful debut as King Treff in Peter Ustinov’s production of The Love for three Oranges (Prokofiev).

Since 1993 Martirossian has been a frequent guest in Europe and the USA. In 1996 he made his debut as Philipp II/ Don Carlo at the opera house of Sophia; followed by numerous performances of Boris Godunov, among others at the Festival of Salzburg, conducted by V. Gergiev (1999), in Graz (Pimen, 1997), Frankfurt on the Main (Varlaam, 1998) and in Toulouse under M. Plasson directed by Nicolas Joel (Varlaam, 1998). Martirossian returned to Salzburg in 1999 for a concert performance and again in 2000 performing Les Troyens, both with S. Cambreling. Further engagements followed as Banquo/ Macbeth in Neapel, King/ Aida in Vienna, Sparafucile/ Rigoletto in Avignon, furthermore he made his debut of La forza del destino at Teatro Real Madrid and sang War and Peace at Opéra de la Bastille, Arshak in San Francisco and made his Strauss debut with Salome at Scala di Milano. Moreover Martirossian performed Mephistophele/ Faust (Gounod) in Minneapolis, Don Alfonso, Lucrezia Borgia in Bologna, Timur/ Turandot in Tokyo within the guest performance of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Panthée/ Les Troyens in Munich, Florence, Salzburg and London (London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis), as well as Philipp II/ Don Carlo at Verdi Festival in Munich 2001, under Zubin Mehta.

Tigran Martirossian also sang a variety of concerts in Europe and the USA, among them two Shostakovich concerts as well as King Lear and Suite on Verses (Buonarotti) with the London Symphony Orchestra (M. Rostropovich); also in London Oedipus Rex (Creon/Messenger) with the BBC Orchestra under J.-P. Saraste. In 2001 he performed the world premiere of Armenian Divine Liturgy (Rouben Gregorian) in Boston and presented Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at Teatro Massimo in Palermo under Zubin Mehta. In addition, he sang concerts with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Oedipus Rex, Le Rossignol), Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg (Mozart Mess in c-minor), Ensemble Contemporain (Pulcinella).

2002 he was engaged by M.Tilson-Thomas for Rimskij-Korsakov’’s opera Mlada in San Francisco and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York as Goffredo/ Il Pirata, followed by re-engagements by MET in 2003 for Panthée/ Les Troyens and Colline/ Bohème. The same year he also performed Comte des Grieux/ Manon at Houston Grand Opera, Oedipus Rex with Hessisches Rundfunkorchester at Alte Oper Frankfurt and also with LSO under Sir Colin. 2004 the audience in Marseille greatly acclaimed him for his performance of Rodolfo/ La Sonnambula, furthermore Martirossian sang in the USA with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, as Ramphis/ Aida in Philadelphia. In 2005 the Hamburgische Staatsoper won him for a fix engagement, in his first season he sang i. a. Sparafucile/ Rigoletto, Figaro/ Le Nozze di Figaro, Selim/ Il Turco in Italia und Basilio/ Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The latter role was also performed by him in Philadelphia the same year.

In 2007 Martirossian returned to Houston Grand Opera for his guest performance of Ramphis and a concert of Norma (Oroveso), together with Edita Gruberova. In 2008 he was guest as Basilio at Staatsoper unter den Linden Berlin, in 2009 as Selim in Copenhagen and at Theater an der Wien (cond. F. Luisi, dir. C. Loy). In the same year he also performed Ramphis in Aida at Staatsoper Stuttgart and at Bregenz Festival (cond. C. Rizzi, dir. G. Vick) – including DVD and TV broadcast; and sang Banquo/Macbeth at Bavarian State Opera Munich and anew Basilio/Barbiere in Berlin.

Most recently he was anew Ramphis/Aida with Bregenz Festival 2010 and performed Selim/Turco at Bavarian State Opera Munich as well as Fasolt/Rheingold at Teatro alla Scala (Barenboim).  

His current repertory in Hamburg includes i.a. Basilio, Fiesco, Dulcamara/ L'elisir d'amore, Daland, Sparafucile, Commendatore, Selim/Turco, Colline, Figaro, Fafner/Siegfried and Dossifei/Chowantschina, Sulpice/ La Fille du Régiment, Fasolt/ Rheingold und Banquo/ Macbeth.

During the season of 2010/11 his performances in Hamburg will include i.a. Dossifei, Dulcamara, Gremin, Banco, Fasolt und Alidoro and he will be heard as Mephistophèles in the first night of a new Faust-production. Besides he will make his debut of Pagano/ I Lombardi at Festival St. Gallen and will make a CD-recording of Cimarosa’s „Il cambiale di matrimonio“.

Tigran Martirossian is a winner at eight international vocal competitions, among those the Operalia, which led to a concert engagement for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Washington conducted by Placido Domingo.

Conductors:

S. Cambreling, Sir Colin Davis, V. Gergiev, Z. Mehta, M. Plasson, C. Rizzi, M. Rostropovich, J.-P. Saraste, M. Tilson-Thomas, S. Young, P. Domingo, J. Levine, D. Oren, M. Wigglesworth, P. Jordan, E. Plasson, D. Callegari, R. Frizza

- kr 11/2010 -