Burak Bilgili
Encyclopedia
Burak Bilgili is a Turkish
operatic bass-baritone
who was born in Akşehir
, a town in the Konya Province
of Turkey. He has sung in leading opera houses in the United States and Europe.
Initially, he studied at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul
and later with San Francisco Opera
's Merola Opera Program
, and at the Academy of Vocal Arts
in Philadelphia from which he graduated in 2004. He also studied in Italy with Bonaldo Giaotti and Katia Ricciarelli
at the Accademia Lirica Internazionale "Katia Ricciarelli" in Parma
. In 2003, he became Turkey's first ever representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
.
with the Turkish State Opera
in Istanbul
. He also sang with the company the following year as Abimelech in Camille Saint-Saëns
Samson and Delilah
. In 2002 while still a student at the Academy of Vocal Arts, he made his international debut as Duke Alfonso in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
at La Scala
, followed by a series of other house debuts before he graduated. These included his US debut at the Baltimore Opera as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto
in 2002; appearances at both the Vancouver Opera
and Pittsburgh Opera
as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville
in 2003; and performances as Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
both at the Palm Beach Opera
and at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
in 2003.
Bilgili made his Metropolitan Opera
debut on 7 May 2004, when he sang Leporello without either a "full-stage or orchestra rehearsal" in the final performance of Don Giovanni that season. When he took his solo bow at the end of the performance, the audience roared in appreciation. He returned to the company in 2009 as Ferrando in Il trovatore
.
Between 2005 and 2006 he added several new roles to his repertoire including Timur in Turandot
at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
in Barcelona and New York City Opera
, both in 2005; Mefistopheles in Faust
for Virginia Opera
in 2005; Banquo in Macbeth
, first sung with the Canadian Opera Company
in 2005, followed by performances of the role at Vancouver Opera and Seattle Opera
in 2006; and Escamillo in Carmen
at Den Norske Opera in Oslo and the Savonlinna Opera Festival
, both in 2006.
More role debuts followed in 2007 - 2008, including several house debuts. These included Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino
at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
in 2007; Ramfis in Aida
with Cincinnati Opera
in 2007; Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers for Florida Grand Opera
in 2008; and Giorgio in I puritani
at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo
in 2008.
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
operatic bass-baritone
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
who was born in Akşehir
Aksehir
Akşehir is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 114,918 of which 63,000 live in the town of Akşehir...
, a town in the Konya Province
Konya Province
Konya Province is a province of Turkey located in central Anatolia. The provincial capital is the city of Konya. It is the largest province by area of Turkey.-Districts:...
of Turkey. He has sung in leading opera houses in the United States and Europe.
Initially, he studied at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and later with San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
's Merola Opera Program
Merola opera program
Merola Opera Program is a San Francisco training program for opera singers, coaches, and stage directors.- Merola Opera Program :Merola Opera Program is the San Francisco Opera's training and performance program for promising young artists...
, and at the Academy of Vocal Arts
Academy of Vocal Arts
The Academy of Vocal Arts is a school dedicated to providing free higher education to aspiring opera singers. The school was founded in 1934 by Helen Corning Warden and is located at 1920 Spruce Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:...
in Philadelphia from which he graduated in 2004. He also studied in Italy with Bonaldo Giaotti and Katia Ricciarelli
Katia Ricciarelli
-Biography:Born at Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music.She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in La bohème in Mantua in 1969,...
at the Accademia Lirica Internazionale "Katia Ricciarelli" in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
. In 2003, he became Turkey's first ever representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....
.
Singing career
His stage debut came in 1998 when he sang Don Geronio in Rossini's Il turco in ItaliaIl turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani...
with the Turkish State Opera
Turkish State Opera and Ballet
The State Opera and Ballet is the national directorate of opera and ballet companies of Turkey, with venues in Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Mersin, Antalya and Samsun...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. He also sang with the company the following year as Abimelech in Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah (opera)
Samson and Delilah , Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire...
. In 2002 while still a student at the Academy of Vocal Arts, he made his international debut as Duke Alfonso in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (opera)
Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with...
at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, followed by a series of other house debuts before he graduated. These included his US debut at the Baltimore Opera as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
in 2002; appearances at both the Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada.It performs in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre accompanied currently by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, one of two specialized opera orchestras in Canada...
and Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...
as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
in 2003; and performances as Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
both at the Palm Beach Opera
Palm Beach Opera
Palm Beach Opera, a professional opera company in West Palm Beach, Florida resident at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, was founded in 1961 as "Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches." Over its history, the company has presented a season of fully staged operas ranging from a single production...
and at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
in 2003.
Bilgili made his Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut on 7 May 2004, when he sang Leporello without either a "full-stage or orchestra rehearsal" in the final performance of Don Giovanni that season. When he took his solo bow at the end of the performance, the audience roared in appreciation. He returned to the company in 2009 as Ferrando in Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
.
Between 2005 and 2006 he added several new roles to his repertoire including Timur in Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
in Barcelona and New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, both in 2005; Mefistopheles in Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
for Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera is an opera company based in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Organized in 1974 by a group of Norfolk, Virginia community volunteers, Virginia Opera presented its first productions in 1975 and in the intervening four decades has become known and respected nationwide for the...
in 2005; Banquo in Macbeth
Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
, first sung with the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
in 2005, followed by performances of the role at Vancouver Opera and Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera
The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...
in 2006; and Escamillo in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
at Den Norske Opera in Oslo and the Savonlinna Opera Festival
Savonlinna Opera Festival
Savonlinna Opera Festival is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna , built in 1475...
, both in 2006.
More role debuts followed in 2007 - 2008, including several house debuts. These included Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
in 2007; Ramfis in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
with Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:...
in 2007; Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers for Florida Grand Opera
Florida Grand Opera
Florida Grand Opera is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of two opera companies in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region:...
in 2008; and Giorgio in I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
in 2008.
Prizes
- First Prize – Neue Stimmen International Opera Competition (2001)
- First prize – the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition (2002)
- First Prize – Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus (2002)
- Winner - 3rd Concert of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (2003)
- Gerda Lissner Foundation Winner (2005)
- 2nd Place - Mirjam Helin Competition-Helsinki,Finland (2004)
- 2nd Place - Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition - Canada (2002)
- 1st Place - Mario Lanza Opera Competition - (2001)
- 1st Place - J.Parkinson Italian Opera Competition - (2001)
- 2nd Place - Licia Albanese- Puccini Foundation International Voice Competition (2001)
- Winner Loren Zachary Opera Competition - (2001)
- 1st Place - Giargiari Bel Canto Competition - (2000)
- First Prize Siemens Art Award Opera Competition (1998)
Sources
- BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competitionBBC Cardiff Singer of the World competitionBBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....
, Profile: Burak Bilgili, 2003 - Kahramankaptan, Sefik, "A Turk at New York's Metropolitan Opera", Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 16 May 2004
- Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, Bilgili, Burak (Bass) – performance record from the MetOpera Database - Simon, Scott, "An Opera Understudy's Chance to Shine", National Public Radio, 15 May 2004
- So, Joseph, "Prize Song — Are singing competitions a way to the top?", La Scena Musicale, Vol. 10, No. 8, 14 May 2005.