Sergei Aleksashkin

The Russian singing tradition from Chaliapin to the present day in the voice of Aleksashkin is, undoubtedly, tangible. He can concentrate on the vocal side of the role, subjecting his existence to the spirit of the music. Let us add to this his talent to undergo transformations, his ability to express through a gesture or facial expression the state of mind of his character, the entire range of emotions from tormenting grief to the triumph of will power.
Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti

Bass singer Sergei Aleksashkin confirmed his reputation as a magnificent singing actor: his performance as Ivan Severianovich Flyagin (who sometimes becomes the Narrator) captivated the auditorium not just with the virtuoso control of his voice but also with the depth of his portrayal of a Russian man who has found his hard path to God through the trials of worldly attractions and temptations.
Fontanka.ru

The key image of the Baron (in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s opera The Miserly Knight) was presented by Sergei Aleksashkin with all of the passion of Pushkin’s idea. The brilliant dramatic acting was underlined by the vocal performing, which gave the image verve and vigour.
Moskovsky Muzykalny Vestnik

Bass

• People's Artist of Russia (2005)
• Recipient of the Golden Sofit, St Petersburg's most prestigious theatre prize (2002, 2004 and 2008 and 2011)

Sergei Aleksashkin studied at the Saratov State Sobinov Conservatoire (1982). After graduating from the Conservatoire, he was engaged by the Saratov Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. He also trained at La Scala, Milan, from 1983–1984. Sergei Aleksashkin has been a Mariinsky Theatre soloist since 1989.

Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre:
Ivan Susanin (A Life for the Tsar)
Ruslan (Ruslan and Lyudmila)
Boris Godunov, Varlaam (Boris Godunov)
Ivan Khovansky (Khovanshchina)
Konchak, Vladimir Yaroslavovich and Galitsky (Prince Igor)
Gremin (Eugene Onegin)
Rene (Iolanta)
Kochubei (Mazepa)
Mamyrov (The Enchantress)
Vasily Sobakin, Malyuta Skuratov (The Tsar's Bride)
Prince Vyazminsky (The Oprichnik)
Sea King (Sadko)
Salieri (Mozart and Salieri)
Yuri Vsevolodovich (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia)
Tsar Dodon (The Golden Cockerel)
Old Gypsy (Aleko)
General (The Gambler)
Faust (The Fiery Angel)
Mendoza (Betrothal in a Monastery)
Rostov, Kutuzov (War and Peace)
Boris Timofeyevich (Katerina Ismailova)
Sobakevich (Dead Souls)
Flyagin, Storyteller (The Enchanted Wanderer)
Czar Alexei Mikhailovich (Boyarina Morozova in concert)
Zaccaria (Nabucco)
Banco (Macbeth)
Jacopo Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra in concert)
Grand Inquisitor, Filippo II (Don Carlo)
Ramfis (Aida)
Padre Guardiano (La forza del destino)
Méphistophélès (Faust)
Lindorf, Coppélius, Dapertutto, Dr Miracle (Les Contes d’Hoffmann)
Leporello (Don Giovanni)
the King (Lohengrin)

The singer's repertoire also includes Méphistophélès in Berlioz' dramatic legend La Damnation de Faust and the bass roles in Verdi's Requiem and Shostakovich's Thirteenth and Fourteenth Symphonies.

Sergei Aleksashkin has toured to many countries throughout Europe and the USA, Australia, South Korea and Japan, and he has worked with such conductors Georg Solti, Valery Gergiev, Claudio Abbado, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yuri Temirkanov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Marek Jankowski, Rudolf Barshai, Alberto Zedda, Eliahu Inbal, Neeme Järvi, Eri Klas, Mariss Jansons, Alexander Lazarev, Pavel Kogan, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Vladimir Spivakov, Dmitri Kitayenko, Ivan Fisher and Vladimir Jurowski among many others.

He has performed as a guest artist at the Metropolitan Opera (New York), La Scala (Milan), the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London), The Royal Swedish Opera, The Finnish National opera and opera houses in Washington, Rome, Hamburg and Lyon. He has sung at top concert venues throughout Europe, among them the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the concert hall of the Accademia Santa Cecilia (Rome), the Carnegie Hall (New York) and the Barbican Hall and the Royal Festival Hall (London); he has appeared several times at Salzburg's Easter Festival and festivals in San Sebastian, Baden-Baden, Mikkeli and Savonlinna.

Sergei Aleksashkin's recordings include CDs of the operas The Fiery Angel, Sadko, The Queen of Spades, La forza del destino, Betrothal in a Monastery, Iolanta, Prince Igor and Shostakovich's Thirteenth and Fourteenth Symphonies.