Russian-American tenor Viktor Antipenko, praised for his effortless, expansive sound, and excellent technique, continues to sing leading roles to great acclaim and has become a singer to watch in the dramatic repertoire.
In the 2024-25 season, he makes his role and house debut singing Canio in I Pagliacci at Staatsoper Hannover and as Siegmund in Die Walküre at Theater Dortmund under the baton of Gabriel Feltz and staging by Peter Konwitschny. Mr. Antipenko will also be reunited with conductor Rafael Payare to open the Caramoor Summer Music Festival with Beethoven’s Symphony #9.
Last season, he made debuts at the Sydney Opera House singing Luigi in Il Tabarro under the baton of Lidiya Yankovskaya with Opera Australia; Pacific Opera Victoria performing Siegmund in Die Walküre; and Atlanta Opera where he reprised his signature role of Siegmund conducted by Arthur Fagen and directed by Tomer Zvulun. He also returned to the New National Theatre Tokyo of Japan to perform Lensky in Eugene Onegin. Mr. Antipenko was added to the roster of Lyric Opera of Chicago where he covered the role of Radames in Aida with Music Director Enrique Mazzola at the helm. In concert, he joined conductor Franz Krager for performances of Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Moores School Symphony Orchestra alongside baritone Sergei Leiferkus and made his San Diego Symphony debut performing Siegmund in an Act 1 concert of Die Walküre with Music Director Rafael Payare.
In previous seasons, Mr. Antipenko made house debuts at Scottish Opera for performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh as Luigi in Il Tabarro in a production by Sir David McVicar; and Lyric Opera of Kansas City debut as Don José in Carmen with Roberto Kalb on the podium. Mr. Antipenko returned to Staatstheater Kassel for Hermann in Pique Dame and Israeli Opera for his role debut as Manrico in Il Trovatore. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Pinkerton in the famous Anthony Minghella production of Madama Butterfly. Mr. Antipenko also made his role and house debut performing Radamès in Aida at the Israeli Opera conducted by Giuliano Carella and directed by Stathis Livathinos and debuted at Arizona Opera as Don José in Carmen under the baton of Christopher Allen. He rounded out the season by performing Scriabin’s Symphony #1 and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells under Leon Botstein as part of Bard’s SummerScape series. Mr. Antipenko sang Siegmund in an Act 1 concert of Die Walküre at the Frischluft und Musick Festival Ortenau in Germany alongside Günther Groissböck and Cornelia Beskow under the baton of Michael Güttler. Additional highlights include singing Prince Guidon in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel at Dallas Opera; the title role in Samson et Dalila at Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck; Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Theater Chemnitz; Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra with Tiroler Landestheater; Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre for Theater Chemnitz; and a Don José in Carmen for a semi-staged concert version at Lotte Concert Hall in South Korea.
Previous roles also include Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Hermann (Pique Dame), Andrey (Mazeppa), Enzo Grimaldo (La Gioconda), Luigi (Il Tabarro), Grigori (Boris Godunov), Riccardo (Oberto), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), and the title roles in Wagner’s Parsifal and Lohengrin. Mr. Antipenko has sung at the Bolshoi Theatre, Ópera de Oviedo, Opéra de Rouen, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Opéra de Lyon, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and Hawaii Opera Theater. On the concert stage, he has appeared as the tenor soloist in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with The Philadelphia Orchestra; Shostakovich’s Jewish Folk Poetry at the Staatstheater Kassel; Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus with the New York Metamorphoses Orchestra; Stravinsky’s Les Noces at the Grand Philharmonie Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia; and at the Heidelberger Schlossfestspiele Musikfestival in an “Hommage a Sevilla” gala performance. Mr. Antipenko has worked with esteemed conductors Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Jurowski, Yuri Bashmet, John Neschling, Yuri Temirkanov, as well as with stage directors Peter Konwitschny and Tomer Zvulun.
