Saimir Pirgu
At the age of 22 was chosen by Claudio Abbado as Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte at Teatro Comunale in Ferrara. Later collaborated with Lorin Maazel, Daniele Gatti, Seiji Ozawa, James Conlon and Antonio Pappano. Among his recent debuts:
Don Giovanni (Opéra National de Paris), L'Elisir d'Amore (Staatsoper in Vienna),
La Traviata (R.O.H. Covent Garden), Rigoletto (Opernhaus di Zurigo). He debuted with huge critical and audience acclaim in the role of Idomeneo conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Graz, and as Rinuccio in
Gianni Schicchi at the L.A. Opera directed by Woody Allen. Rinuccio is also the role of his debut at the MET. He was Rodolfo in a production of
La Bohème set in the Schweizer Fernsehen Bern and broadcasted on SF 1, TSR 1, LA 1 RSI and ARTE. Riccardo Muti chose him for the
Verdi Requiem at the Salzburg Festival.