Aleksandrs Antoņenko

Aleksandrs Antoņenko is an outstanding tenor, an opera singer who can already boast of a successful international career at the age of 30. He surprises with the great range of his voice and excels at interpreting vocally and emotionally complex opera roles. Antoņenko also performs large-scale vocal compositions on a regular basis. The legendary Kārlis Zariņš considers him to be his vocal successor.

Antoņenko was born in Riga, in June 26, 1975. In 1998 he graduated from the Jāzeps Mediņš College of Music where he played wind instruments and studied singing under Margarita Gruzdeva, who is still his vocal teacher and mentor. During his studies he became the winner of the Contest of Young Singers for Students of Musical Colleges (in 1993 and 1996). Aleksandrs Antoņenko has been a student at the Department of Vocal Music at the Latvian Academy of Music (the masterclass of Arvīds Luste).

In 1997, Antoņenko joined the Latvian National Opera as a member of the choir but just five months later ― in 1998 ― he made his debut as a solo artist with the brilliantly executed part of Oberto in Handel’s "Alcina"; the wide range of his voice permitted him to excel equally as countertenor and tenor. In the following years Antoņenko sang several highly complicated opera roles (Don Ottavio in Mozart’s "Don Giovanni", Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s "Eugine Onegin", Rodolfo in Puccini’s "La Boheme", Alfredo in Verdi’s "La Traviatta", Eric in Wagner’s "Flying Dutchman") but also regularly took part in performances of large-scale pieces (Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Symphony No 9).
 
Antoņenko was the 2003 recipient of the Latvian Music Grand Prix for vocal performances in several opera productions and Verdi’s Requiem. During the 2004/2005 season, Antoņenko became the internationally most renowned of Latvian tenors, engaged by the world’s most influential opera companies (he appeared in 74 opera performances during the season).

Since autumn 2004 he has performed at the Düsseldorf Deutsche Opera am Rhein where he sang Giuseppe Hagenbach in Alfredo Catalani’s "La Wally" among other roles, appeared as Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini’s "Tosca" at the Berlin and Graz opera theatres, as José in Bizet’s "Carmen" at the Dresden Semperoper and sung Des Grieux in Puccini’s "Manon Lescaut" at the Oslo and Stockholm Royal Opera Theatres (in Stockholm with Inese Galante). Antoņenko has also given guest performances in Israel, Poland. Estonia, Russia and Hong Kong.

In January 2006, Antoņenko made his debut as Sergey in the production of Dmitry Shostakovich’s "Lady Mcbeth of Mtsensk" at the Latvian National Opera. He has also scheduled to perform at several world-famous opera theatres this year: the Covent Garden in London, the Oslo Royal Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Vienna Opera Theatre.

Antoņenko has also been invited to appear in opera productions at the Geneva, Dresden and Düsseldorf opera theatres. In 2009, Antoņenko will make his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera where he will sing in Dvorak’s "Mermaid" with the famous American soprano Renée Fleming. He will also appear at the Salzburg Festival of Opera.

Video: Aleksandrs Antoņenko. Broadcast "Opera News" by r/a " Labvakar" on January 8 of 2006.  Interviewer: Kristaps Menniks, director: Signe Birkova, camera: Baiba Lagzdiņa.