Alex Birkus
bass
© Audrej Dujardin
Alex Birkus is appearing at Oper Frankfurt for the first time, as Kochubey in this new production of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa. Born in Minsk, this White Russian/French bass is at home at international opera houses around the world. Recent engagements have included Méphistophèles in Faust at the Teatr Wielki in Poznan, Colline in La bohème and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Israeli Opera, Rodolfo in La sonnambula at the Opéra Théâtre in Metz and Opéra Grand in Avignon, the title role in Don Giovanni at Graz Opera, Zaccaria in Nabucco at the Theater and Orchester Biel-Solothurn and Sir Giorgio (I puritani) and Gremin (Eugene Onegin) at the Teatro Verdi di Trieste. Other engagements have included Moïse in Moïse et Pharaon at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, Fasolt (Das Rheingold), Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Kutuzov (War and Peace) and Pimen (Boris Godunov) at the Staatstheater in Nürnberg where he also sang King Marke (Tristan und Isolde), a role he sang at the Teatro Comunale in Modena, Teatro Comunale in Ferrara and Teatro Verdi in Trieste. He also took part in a production of Il viaggio a Reims at the J. F. Kennedy Center in Washington. He sings recitals accompanied by Susan Manoff and recently sang in Shostakovich 14 with the Orchestre National Rhône Alpes. Alex Birkus studied at the University of Arts in Zurich and Theater Basel's Opera Studio. He was awarded Austria's 2015 Music Prize.