Ildar Abdrazakov has established an enviable reputation for himself as one of the world’s most sought-after basses. He was only 25 when he made his debut at La Scala, Milan, and since then he has appeared regularly at every leading opera house from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Vienna and Bavarian State Operas and the Paris Opéra. Equally in demand on the concert platform, he has also been heard at the BBC Proms, New York’s Carnegie Hall and elsewhere. He works with the most distinguished conductors and orchestras from the Vienna Philharmonic to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
During the 2021/22 season Ildar Abdrazakov has been heard as Basilio in a new production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Vienna State Opera. He also sang Banco (Macbeth) in the season’s opening production at La Scala, Milan, and in addition gave a recital there; he made his debut with the Opéra Royal de Wallonie as Gremin (Eugene Onegin); and he returned to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as Don Giovanni and to the Zurich Opera as Mustafà (L’italiana in Algeri). He was also heard as Attila in two concert performances of Verdi’s opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Other recent highlights have included the opening of the 2020/21 season at the Bolshoi as Philip II (Don Carlo), Boris Godunov in a new production at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Attila and Silva (Ernani) at La Scala, Banco, Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Assur (Semiramide) and Leporello (Don Giovanni) at the Met and Philip II (Don Carlos) and Boris Godunov at the Paris Opéra.
Ildar Abdrazakov made his Salzburg Festival debut in 2009 in Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon under Riccardo Muti. Since then he has returned to Salzburg on a regular basis, appearing as Méphistophélès (Faust), Mustafà, Méphistophélès in a concert performance of La Damnation de Faust and as the bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, both of them under Muti.
Ildar Abdrazakov has established his own foundation with the aim of supporting and encouraging young and talented musicians. Since 2018 he has organized annual festivals in Russia and invited distinguished singers to give concerts and masterclasses there.
Ildar Abdrazakov has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2017, when he released an album of duets with Rolando Villazón. An acclaimed solo album, Verdi, appeared in 2019.
