Mikhail Petrenko

Biography

One of the most sought-after basses in the world, known for his exceptional operatic performances and recitals. Mikhail Petrenko is a graduate of the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in the class of Professor Minzhilkiev and has awards including diplomas at the third International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition (1998), the first Elena Obraztsova Competition and was a finalist and diploma-winner at the Maria Callas New Verdi Voices Competition, Parma (2000).

His operatic roles include Heinrich Lohengrin, Hunding Die Walküre, Hagen Götterdämmerung, King Marke Tristan und Isolde, Frère Laurent Romeo and Juliet, Basilio Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ferrando Il Trovatore, Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, Leporello Don Giovanni, The Pope Benvenuto Cellini, Oreste Elektra, Figaro Le Nozze di Figaro and Prince Galitsky Prince Igor. Mikhail also regularly performs the title roles in Bluebeard’s Castle, Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov.

He regularly works with renowned conductors including Valery Gergiev, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vladimir Jurowski, Charles Dutoit, Myung Whun Chung, Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salenon, Simon Rattle, Jonathan Nott, Marc Minkowski and Daniel Barenboim appearing at the Wiener Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera, Netherlands Opera, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala, and the Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, Salzburg, Lucerne and BBC Proms festivals. Equally established on the concert platform, he has performed concerts and recitals in Amsterdam, Geneva, Rotterdam, San Sebastian, Denmark and Budapest.
Recent concert performances have included Rachmaninov’s The Bells with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Søndergård, Shostakovich Symphony No.13 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester with Ingo Metzmacher, and Bluebeard’s Castle at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Jaap van Zweden. Recent triumphs have included Khovanshchina (Prince Ivan Khovansky) and Nabucco (Zaccaria) at Teatro alla Scala, Boris Godunov (title role) with Grande Théâtre de Genève, Elektra (Oreste) at the Metropolitan Opera, Brander La Damnation de Faust at the Gergiev Festival, Rotterdam, and Don Giovanni (Leporello) at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.

Operatic engagements this season include The Fiery Angel (Inquisitor) at Theater an der Wien, Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Mariinsky Theatre, and Don Giovanni (Leporello) at the Verbier Festival with Gabor Takacs-Nagy. In concert, Mikhail performs Shostakovich Symphony No. 14 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Symphony No. 8 at the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, Hannover, and Orest Elektra in concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He returns to Tokyo for concert performances of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and at La Scala for Mefistofele by Boito.

At the Bolshoi Theatre he sang the title role in Ruslan and Lyudmila new production (conductor Vladimir Jurowski, director Dmitri Tchernyakov, 2011). He took part in the premiere performances of Sadko singing the role of Fife (conductor Timur Zangiev, director Dmitri Tcherniakov, 2020).

Mikhail’s many recordings include Die Walküre conducted by Gergiev released on the Mariinsky Label and Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin released on Deutsche Grammophon. He added a recording of Rachmaninov’s The Bells with the Berliner Philarmoniker to his discography conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, released on EMI and also features as Leporello in the film version of Don Giovanni, (Kasper Holten’s Juan).