Irkin Gabitov

• Honoured Art Worker of Russia (2003)
• Recipient of the Platinum Tarlan Independent National Award (Kazakhstan, 2003)
• Knight of the Order of Salavat Yulayev (Republic of Bashkortostan, 2022)

Irkin Gabitov graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad State Conservatory with a degree in opera stage direction, studying under Professors Roman Tikhomirov and Isaak Glikman.

During 1984–1988 he served as Chief Director of the Abay Kazakh Opera and Ballet Theatre (Almaty), where he staged Maria Stuarda, Eugene Onegin, Carmen and the Oratorio Pathétique.

Since 1988 Irkin Gabitov has been a stage director at the Mariinsky Theatre, where his productions include Kashchey the Immortal (1993), Tosca (1995), Prince Igor (1996), Rigoletto (2005, Mariinsky II; 2017, Primorsky Stage; 2025, Concert Hall) and The Story of a Real Man (2015, Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theatre (since 2016 – Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre); later presented at Mariinsky II). He also directed La traviata (2018) at the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania Branch of the Mariinsky Theatre, revived Andrei Tarkovsky’s production of Boris Godunov, and staged several concert versions, including Britten’s War Requiem and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (2013).

In 1997 Gabitov staged Aida at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, later presented at the Aphrodite Festival in Cyprus (1999). As an assistant director he participated in War and Peace productions at the Mariinsky Theatre (2000) and the Metropolitan Opera (2002, 2007).

For Mariinsky Theatre festivals and international tours Gabitov directed Prince Igor (Greece, Finland, Japan), Salammbô (Spain), Tosca, Maddalena and The Turn of the Screw (Finland), Un ballo in maschera (Cyprus), Turandot, Madama Butterfly, La bohème (Germany) and War and Peace (USA). In 2002 he staged Turandot on an open-air stage by the walls of Vyborg Castle. In 2018 he presented Prince Igor at the Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman, and in 2019 – War and Peace at the Guangzhou Opera House, China.

Gabitov has worked extensively with theatres across Russia and abroad. His productions include Iolanta, Aleko, Rigoletto, Die Fledermaus, Kakhym-Turya (Golden Mask nominee), Akmulla and Salavat Yulayev at the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theatre (Ufa); Aleko and La traviata at Yerevan’s Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre; Il trovatore at the Abay Kazakh Opera and Ballet Theatre (also performed in Cyprus); War and Peace at Moscow’s Russian Army Theatre; Boris Godunov, Tosca (twice), Eugene Onegin, Khovanshchina, Prince Igor (revival of Vaagn Bagratuni’s 1987 production), Pagliacci, Iolanta (broadcast on Russia-Kultura TV) and Verdi’s Requiem at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre; Tosca and Le nozze di Figaro (Golden Mask nominee) at the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre; Così fan tutte, The Tsar’s Bride, Tosca and The Dawns Here Are Quiet at the Tsaritsyn Opera in Volgograd.

For the St Petersburg International Festival All Together Opera Gabitov directed The Snow Maiden (2012) and A Life for the Tsar (2022).

Together with Andrei Konchalovsky he staged Boris Godunov (2010–11 season) at Turin’s Teatro Regio and Valencia’s Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, as well as Otello (2019) at the Moscow State Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre.

In 2018 Gabitov staged War and Peace for the opening of the Harbin Grand Theatre, China, integrating thirty-three new cast members.

Between 2022 and 2025 he created productions of Un ballo in maschera, Aida and Peter the First (world premiere of Mikhail Bogdanov’s opera, 2025) at the Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Peter the First was also presented at the History of the Fatherland on the Opera and Ballet Stage Festival in Yoshkar-Ola, where Gabitov was awarded the Medal for Services to the Chelyabinsk Region.

Since 2010 he has served as Associate Professor at the Department of Musical Theatre Direction at the St Petersburg Conservatory.