30 December 2024 |
• People's Artist of Russia
• Honoured Artist of the RSFSR
• Recipient of the State Prize of Russia
• Order "For Services to the Fatherland", 2nd Degree
• Winner of the Casta Diva Prize (2004)
• Winner of the Baltika Prize (2002)
• Recipient of Russia's national Golden Mask theatre prize for the role of Gurnemanz in the opera Parsifal ("Best male role in opera", 1998)
• Recipient of St Petersburg's most prestigious theatre prize the Golden Sofit for the role of Gurnemanz in the opera Parsifal ("Best role in musical theatre", 1997)
Gennady Bezzubenkov was born in Staraya Vitelevka, Ulyanovsk Region. Graduated from the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in 1979 (class of Boris Lushin and Nadezhda Velter). Mariinsky Theatre soloist since 1989.
Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre:
Ivan Susanin (A Life for the Tsar)
Farlaf, Svetozar (Ruslan and Lyudmila)
Aminahar, Matho (Salammbo, concert performance)
Varlaam, Pimen (Boris Godunov)
Ivan Khovansky, Dosifey (Khovanshchina)
Kum, Cherevik (Sorochintsy Fair, concert performance)
Konchak (Prince Igor)
Prince Gudal (The Demon)
Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin)
Narumoff (The Queen of Spades)
Rene, Bertrand (Iolanthe)
Chub (Christmas Eve)
Yury Tokmakov (The Maid of Pskov)
the Sea King, Duda, Varangian guest, Luka Nazarievich (Sadko)
Vasily Sobakin (The Tsar's Bride)
Prince Yury Vsevolodovich (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia),
Ghost of Virgil (Francesca da Rimini)
Chamberlain (the Nightingale)
The General, A Fat Englishman (The Gambler)
The King of Clubs, Herald, Chelio the Magician (The Love for Three Oranges)
Faust (The Fiery Angel)
Tkachenko (Semyon Kotko)
Don Carlos, Mendoza (Betrothal in a Monastery)
Balaga, Marshal Davout, Kutuzov, Yermolov (War and Peace)
the Doctor (The Nose)
Boris Timofeyevich, Priest and Old Convict (Katerina Ismailova)
Gavryushka (The Gambler)
Zosima (The Brothers Karamazov)
Alidoro (La Cenerentola)
Banquo (Macbeth)
Doctor Granville (La traviata)
Padre Guardiano, Alcalde (La forza del destino)
the King of Egypt, Ramfis (Aida)
Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo)
Lodovico, Montano (Otello)
Timur (Turandot)
Coppelius (Les contes d'Hoffmann)
Pope Clement VII (Benvenuto Cellini)
Commendatore (Don Giovanni)
Old Jew (Samson et Dalila)
Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro)
Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte)
Orator, Zarastro (Die Zauberflöte)
Daland (Der fliegende Holländer)
Landgrave (Tannhäuser)
Heinrich der Vogler (Lohengrin)
King Marke (Tristan und Isolde)
Donner, Fafner (Das Rheingold)
Hunding (Die Walküre)
Fafner (Siegfried)
Gurnemanz (Parsifal)
First Nazarene (Salome)
The singer's concert repertoire includes the bass parts in Verdi's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Die Schopfung, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Dvorak's Stabat mater, Stravinsky's The Wedding, Sviridov's cantata St Petersburg, Penderecki's Utrenja No.2 and Utrenja No.3, Sofia Gubaidulina's St John's Passion, and Karetnikov's Mysteries of the Apostle Paul.
Gennady Bezzubenkov has toured with the Mariinsky Opera Company in Germany, France, Scotland (the Edinburgh Festival), Israel, the USA (Metropolitan Opera), Finland, Italy, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Portugal, Luxembourg and Turkey. He has appeared as a guest soloist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London), La Fenice (Venice), La Scala (Milan), the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Rome Opera House and the Los Angeles Opera House. He has also taken part in opera festivals in Edinburgh and Savonlinna.
Gennady Bezzubenkov has worked with outstanding contemporary musicians, including conductors Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Yury Temirkanov, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Maris Janssons and Gintaras Rinkevicius, and singers Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Deborah Voigt, Olga Borodina, Sergey Larin and Dmitry Khvorostovsky. His audio and video recordings with the Mariinsky Theatre include War and Peace, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Iolanthe, Sadko, The Fiery Angel, The Tsar's Bride and The Maid of Pskov (with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev for Philips Classics and NHK).