Debuts in Turandot

Scene from the opera Turandot

Yuri Vorobiev, who has a “powerful bass voice” with shades of a lyric baritone, will be performing the role of the deposed Tatar King Timur, Prince Calaf’s ageing father, for the first time. Vorobiev’s repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes more than thirty roles, many of them vivid characters in operas by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini which make great demands on a singer in terms of stage charisma and acting. The singer has already made debuts in autumn this season, performing the roles of Colline the philosopher in Puccini’s La Bohème and the Egyptian High Priest Ramfis in Verdi’s Aida for the first time.

Mikhailovsky Theatre soloist Mikhail Makarov – a singer “with a naturally fine voice” – has appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre since 2008. In the tenor role of Vakula in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Christmas Eve Makarov “pleasantly surprised the audience with his more than simply fine, resonant and powerful voice.” In spring 2011 Mikhail Makarov appeared at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow where he performed the role of Normanno in Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor opposite the renowned Natalie Dessay as Lucia. The role of the Emperor in  Turandot will expand the singer’s Italian repertoire and will mark his first performance of music by Puccini at the Mariinsky Theatre.

The same day, chorus artist Anton Rositsky will be making his debut as the Prince of Persia. This episodic character, who has the temerity to ask for the hand of the merciless Turandot, is sentenced to death for not being able to solve the crafty Princess’ riddles.