Vladimir Vaneyev

A rich, intense and majestic bass with powerful overtones, the powerful figure to match the voice and the subtle performance in terms of acting and singing. Vladimir Vaneyev carries the role without over-pressing it, without overusing the forte, without excess pathetique, but with inner power and conviction. His skill and immersion into the role seem to be absolute.
Kultura

Vladimir Vaneev is very good as Boris. He uses his large voice with skill, providing both musical and dramatic insight.
InstantEncore

Bass

• People’s Artist of Russia (2008)
• Recipient of the State Prize of Russia (1999)
• Recipient of the Golden Sofit, St Petersburg’s most prestigious theatre prize (1995; for the role of Prince Galitsky in a Mariinsky Theatre production of Prince Igor)
• Prize-winner at the 12th Chaliapin International Opera Festival (Kazan, 1993; Grand Prix)
• Prize-winner at the Paris Singing Competition (1990; 2nd prize)
• Prize-winner at the 30th International Competition Voci Verdiane (Busseto, Italy, 1990; 3rd prize and prize for the best bass)
• Prize-winner at the 1st All-Russian Vocal Competition (Perm, 1987; 2nd prize)

Vladimir Vaneyev was born in 1957 in Obyachevo, a rural locality in the Komi Republic. He graduated from the Glinka Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) State Conservatoire in 1986.

During 1986–1997 the artist was a soloist at the Musorgsky State Theatre of Opera and Ballet (now Mikhailovsky Theatre; Leningrad / St Petersburg), where he sang the roles of Dosifei (Khovanshchina), Prince Galitsky, Khan Konchak (Prince Igor), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin), King René (Iolanta), Zlatogor (The Queen of Spades), Peter I (eponymous opera), Monterone, Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Filippo II and the Grande Inquisitore (Don Carlo).

Since 1997 Vladimir Vaneyev has been a soloist with the Mariinsky Opera Company, and since 2022 – its Director. He made his Mariinsky Theatre debut in 1997, appearing as Klingsor in Parsifal.

Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre:
Ruslan (Ruslan and Lyudmila)
The Miller (Dargomyzhsky’s Mermaid)
Boris Godunov and Pimen (Boris Godunov)
Prince Ivan Khovansky and Dosifei (Khovanshchina)
Solopy Cherevik (Sorochintsy Fair)
Prince Galitsky and Khan Konchak (Prince Igor)
Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin)
Mazepa and Kochubei (Mazepa)
Prince Vyazminsky (The Oprichnik)
Prince Kurlyatev (The Enchantress)
Grigory Gryaznoy (The Tsat’s Bride)
Tsar Ivan Vasilievich (The Maid of Pskov)
Count Tomsky and Zlatogor (The Queen of Spades)
King René (Iolanta)
Remenyuk (Semyon Kotko)
Father Augustine (Betrothal in a Monastery)
Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk)
Zaccaria (Nabucco)
Ezio (Attila)
The Marquis of Calatrava (La forza del destino)
Filippo II (Don Carlo)
Amonasro (Aida)
Jacopo Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra)
Baron Scarpia (Tosca)
The Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer)
Wotan (Die Walküre and Das Rheingold)
Hunding (Die Walküre)
Klingsor (Parsifal)
Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten)
Solo part in Sviridov’s Petersburg (poem for voice and piano to verses by Alexander Blok)

Vladimir Vaneyev has toured in the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, Finland, Israel, Turkey, Poland, Austria and New Zealand. As a guest soloist the singer has appeared at major opera houses and concert venues, performing lead roles in Boris Godunov (Venice, 1992; Nice, 1996; Austria, 1997; Metropolitan Opera, New York, 1998; Lisbon, 2001; Milan, 2002; London, 2003; Bologna, 2007; Turin, 2010); Prince Igor (Houston, 2000), Mazepa (Salzburg, 2005; Lisbon, 2006; Zagreb, 2009), Don Carlo (Venice, 1993; Bonn, 2000), The Miserly Knight (Lisbon, 2003), Don Giovanni (Valencia, 2006), Tosca (Lisbon, 2006), The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (Austria, 1994; Amsterdam, 2012), Norma (Baltimore, 1998), Aida (Berlin, 1998; Geneva, 1999), Don Carlo (Naples, 1999; Monte Carlo, 2002), The Queen of Spades (Turin, 2009), The Fiery Angel (Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1997), Tosca (Rome, 1999), Der fliegende Holländer (Bologna, 1999), Sadko (Venice, 1999), Simon Boccanegra (New Zealand, 2002), Iolanta (Naples, 1999; Monte-Carlo, 2001; Milan, 2002), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Salzburg, 2001; Barcelona, 2002; Baltimore, 2002; Florence, 2008; Paris, 2009; Madrid, 2011; Moscow, 2012), The Queen of Spades (Milan, 2004), The Gambler (Milan, 2005; Paris, 2005), Khovanshchina (Barcelona, 2007), as well as Rachmaninoff’s symphonic poem The Bells (Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo, 2008; Dresden, 2011). In 2019 he portrayed Prince Ivan Khovansky at the Teatro alla Scala.

Vladimir Vaneyev has taken part in recordings of Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony (with the WDR Funkhausorchester, 1998) and of the operas Boris Godunov (Philips Classics, 1998), Betrothal in a Monastery (Philips Classics, 1998), Mascagni’s Parisina (with the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France), A Love for Three Oranges (Philips Classics, 2002) and Simon Boccanegra (New Zealand, 2002). He has also made CD and DVD recordings of Rachmaninoff’s vocal-symphonic poem The Bells, as well as of the operas Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Amsterdam, 2006), Khovanshchina (Barcelona, 2007), Le Rossignol (Cologne, 2012) and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (2012).

From 2018 to 2021 the artist was Chairman of the Expert Council of the Onegin National Opera Award.

Since 2005 Vladimir Vaneyev has taught at the Rimsky-Korsakov St Petersburg State Conservatory, and since 2019 he has been the head of its Solo Singing Department. Also served as Deputy Artistic Director and a lecturer at St Petersburg’s Elena Obraztsova International Academy of Music as well as a professor at the Solo Singing Department of St Petersburg’s Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia.

Since 2022 he has been Chairman of the Council for Vocal Arts under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.