Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu made his LA Opera debut in 2008 as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi.

He returned in 2011 as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte and in 2014 as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. Performances of the 2018/19 season include his role debut as Don José in Carmen in Bangkok conducted by Zubin Mehta and in the title role of Faust for Opera Australia, his stage debut as Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Regio of Parma, Alfredo in La Traviata at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples; Alfredo in La Traviata and Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore at the Vienna State Opera, the title role of Werther at the New National Theatre Tokyo, the title role of La Damnation de Faust at the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Duke in Rigoletto at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Philharmonie of Luxembourg, Verdi's Requiem in Turin and Mozart's Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti.

In recent seasons, he has made important debuts in iconic tenor roles such as the title role of La Damnation de Faust at the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Opernhaus Zurich, Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro San Carlo and Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. He has also recently performed Roméo in Roméo et Juliette (Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona), the Duke in Rigoletto (Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Arena di Verona, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Zurich Opera House, Bavarian State Opera), Alfredo in La Traviata (Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires), Shepherd in Król Roger (Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sydney Opera House), Macduff in Macbeth (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), Rodolfo in La Bohème (Gran Teatre del Liceu), Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Washington National Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Teatro San Carlo), Tamino in The Magic Flute (Teatro alla Scala), Tito in La Clemenza di Tito (Opéra National Paris), Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore (Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Tokyo); the title role in Idomeneo (Styriarte Festival in Graz, Austria); and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien and at Arena di Verona).

SaimirPirgu.com