Robert Friedman Presents
Robert Friedman Presents 2009
Saimir Pirgu
Born in 1981, he began his musical studies in 1988 at the Liceo d’Arte in his hometown Elbasan (Albania) as a violinist and continued studying singing at the Conservatories of Tirana and Bolzano, with Vito Brunetti, who still is his teacher.
First engagements brought Saimir Pirgu to Strasburg and to the Rossini Festival in Wildbad, where he performed as Ermanno in L’equivoco stravagante with Alberto Zedda. Soon after he had his debut as Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where he also sang the role of Alì in Rossini’s Adina under the baton of Renato Palumbo in 2003. Daniel Oren called him to sing the role of Lord Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and with Giovanni Antonini he sang Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto in Bolzano.
2004 was a very successful year and can be considered the international breakthrough of Saimir Pirgu. He debuted in several operas by Mozart, singing the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte, with Claudio Abbado in Ferrara, Reggio Emilia and Modena. After his first performance in Albania as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, staged at the National Opera Tirana, he was called by director Ioan Holender to sing the same role at the Vienna Staatsoper. This debut brought him the prestigious prize “Eberhard Waechter Gesangsmedaille”. In Summer 2004 he has his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele as Ferrando in Così fan tutte directed by Philippe Jordan. In Autumn 2004 he appeared as Fenton in Falstaff, another great debut at the Wiener Staatsoper, where he also sang again the role of Nemorino and Ferrando, and with which he also done the Don Giovanni Japan tour with Seiji Ozawa. At the Teatro Real in Madrid he sang in Ramon Carnicer’s Elena e Costantino, and in Munich as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. At the A.B.A.O. - O.L.B.E. in Bilbao he sang as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. Have followed engagements in the roles of Ferrando e Fenton at the Wiener Staatsoper.
During 2006 season he has sang La Traviata (Alfredo Germont) at the Zurich Opernhaus and at the Staatsoper Berlin, Don Giovanni at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Lortzig’s Szenen aus Mozart Leben and Rendine’s Un segreto d’importanza at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna. He returns to the Rossini Opera Festival 2006 for Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio (Edoardo Milfort) and Mozart’s L’obbligo del primo comandamento (Cristiano).
Saimir Pirgu has just recorded is first CD for Universal Angelo casto e bel, a collection of tenor arias by Mozart, Pergolesi, Bononcini, Donizetti, Verdi, Massenet.
Un'aura Amorosa - Cosi Fan Tutte
- Dalla Sua Pace - Don Giovanni
- Una Furtiva Lagrima - L'elisir D'amore
Upcoming Tour Dates 2009
Cyrano de Bergerac
Where: Chatelet, Paris
When: May 19, 22, 25, 28, 31
Role: Christian
Directed by Patrick Fournillier
Rigoletto
Where: Opernhause Zurich
When: May 30
Role: Duca di Mantova
Directed by Nello Santi
La Traviata
Where: Santa Fe Opera:
When: July 3, 8, 11, 17, 24
August 4, 11, 17, 22, 26, 29
Role: Alfredo
Directed by Frédéric Chaslin
La Traviata
Where: Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Firenze
When: September / October
Role: Alfredo
Gianni Schicchi
Where: Metropolitan Opera
When: November / December
Role: Rinuccio
Upcoming Tour Dates 2010
Lucia di Lammermoor
Where: Staatsoper Hamburg
When: January 17, 20, 23, 27, 30
February 2-6
Role: Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood
Directed by Simone Young
Idomeneo Re di Creta
Where: Opern Hause Zurich
When: February
Role: Idomeneo
Directed by Nicolaus Harnoncourt
Gianni Schicchi
Where: Santa Cecilia Roma
When: April
Role: Rinuccio
North American Recital Debut
Where: Cal Performances
When: April 11
La Traviata
Where: Royal OperaHause Covent
Garden London
When: May 11, 14, 19, 21, 24
Role: Alfredo
Gala Concert at Staatsoper Wien
When: June 26
Cosi fan Tutte
Where: Festival Ravinia USA
When: August
Role: Ferrando
Directed by James Conlon
Don Giovanni
Where: Staatsoper Wien
When: November / December
Role: Don Otavio
Directed by Franz Welser-Möst
Robert Friedman Presents 2009
