Evgeny Akimov

Evgeny Akimov (alternate spellings: Yevgeny, Jevgenij, etc.) is a leading tenor in the company of the Kirov Opera at the Mariinsky Theater in his native St. Petersburg. He was trained at the famous Conservatory (named after Rimsky-Korsakov) in that city and made a name for himself by winning several important vocal awards and competitions. In 1996, he was engaged as a soloist in the company of the Kirov Opera. He has visited foreign countries several times. He went to Germany as part of the Moscow Children's Opera Theater. As a part of the St. Petersburg Vocal Sextet he has toured Germany, Italy, and Japan, and as a member of the Kirov has sung in their touring productions in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, and in the United States on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. On his home stage, he sings the international tenor repertory, including such roles as the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, Cassio in Otello, and Count Almaviva in Rossini's Barber of Seville. He is better known, internationally, for his portrayals of both character and leading tenor roles in Russian operas, including Antonio in Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery (The Duenna), Prince Vladimir in Borodin's Prince Igor, the Fool (Yurodivy) in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Bayan in Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmila, Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko, in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, and the Prince of Clubs in Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges. His CD releases include Boris, Betrothal, Oranges, Kotko, and Tsar's Bride, and he appears on video in Kirov productions of Prince Igor and Betrothal.