Sergei Leiferkus

Russian-born bass Sergei Leiferkus has demonstrated mastery across an extensive range of operatic and vocal literature. Among the earliest Soviet performers from the 1980s to secure major recognition both abroad and at home, he built a substantial career outside his native country while maintaining prominence within it. His achievements extend beyond the opera house into distinguished recital and concert appearances. A sturdy, nearly brazen timbre combined with incisive phrasing produces a forceful impression, and the dark shading of his instrument allows him to take on challenging bass assignments such as the solo role in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar). Following training in Leningrad, Leiferkus joined the Malïy Opera Theatre as a principal artist in 1972 and remained there until 1978. He made his Kirov debut in Leningrad in 1977 as Prince Andrei and, as his stature grew within that company’s distinguished roster, performed leading parts including Don Giovanni and Rossini’s Figaro. His first Western appearance occurred on the concert platform in 1980, when he sang with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kurt Masur. In 1982 he performed at the Wexford Festival as the Marquis in Massenet’s Grisélidis; subsequent invitations brought the title role in Marschner’s Hans Heiling, the Fiddler in Humperdinck’s Königskinder, and Boniface in Massenet’s Le jongleur de Notre-Dame. Additional British engagements included Yevgeny Onegin and Don Giovanni with Scottish Opera, Zurga and Escamillo with English National Opera, and Zurga and Scarpia with Opera North. His Royal Opera debut took place in 1989 as the Count di Luna in Il trovatore; later roles there encompassed Prince Igor, Iago, Onegin, Telramund, Scarpia, and Ruprecht in Prokofiev’s Fiery Angel. Touring Britain with the Kirov in 1987, he sang both Onegin and Tomsky in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. The Glyndebourne Festival engaged him to reprise Tomsky in 1992, the same year he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Onegin. Among nearly fifty roles are Mazeppa, Telramund, Pizarro (all three committed to disc), the elder Germont, and Anckarstroem in Un ballo in maschera, a part that earned him notable acclaim in San Francisco in 2000. He has appeared at the Wiener Staatsoper, La Scala, the Teatro Colón, the Bastille Opera in Paris, and the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam, as well as at the Salzburg Easter Festival, Edinburgh, and Bregenz. Leiferkus has recorded an extensive song series for Conifer and Chandos; the initial volume of his complete Mussorgsky cycle received a Grammy nomination, the second won a 1997 Cannes classical award, and three volumes earned a Diapason d’Or that same year. In addition to recitals at Tanglewood, the Wexford Festival, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, and the Cologne Philharmonic, he has given master classes at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh.