Saimir Pirgu

Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu made his Royal Opera debut in 2007 as Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) and has since sung Alfredo Germont (La traviata), Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) and Shepherd (Król Roger) for The Royal Opera.  

Pirgu was born in Elbasan and studied with Vito Brunetti. He made his international debut in 2004 aged 22, singing Ferrando (Così fan tutte) under Claudio Abbado on tour in Italy. He currently sings for opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, New York, La Scala, Milan, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opéra, the Bolshoi, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Zürich Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, San Francisco Opera and for Opera Australia, and at the Arena di Verona and Salzburg Festival. In addition to his Royal Opera roles his current repertory includes Faust (Faust and La Damnation de Faust), Don José (Carmen), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Rodolfo (La bohème), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Werther, Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Riccardo (Un ballo in maschera), Gabriele Adorno (Simon Boccanegra) and Roméo (Roméo et Juliette).  

Pirgu also performs widely in concert, at venues including the Vienna Musikverein, Paris Philharmonie and Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. His concert repertory includes Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony no.9, Dvorák’s Stabat Mater and Berlioz’s Messe solennelle. He has recorded prolifically on CD and DVD, including the solo album Il mio canto for Opus Arte, and in 2013 won the Pavarotti d’Oro Award.