George Petean

Making his operatic debut as Don Giovanni in Timișoara in 1997, George Petean has since sung Verdi baritone roles — Rigoletto, Germont, Renato, Di Luna, Posa, Macbeth, Nabucco and the title role of Simon Boccanegra. He trained at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in his native Cluj-Napoca, spent the years from 2002 to 2010 as a member of the Hamburg State Opera ensemble, and has appeared since at La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Covent Garden, the Paris Opéra, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Real, Dutch National Opera and the Arena di Verona. Marcello in La bohème and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia belong to the same career from its earlier years. His recorded work includes Verdi and Mascagni for Deutsche Grammophon, BR-Klassik and Accentus Music. Piano and trombone preceded singing in his Cluj studies, which he continued with Vicente Sardinero and Giorgio Zancanaro. The Grand Prix at the Hariclea Darclée competition came in 1999, and the Marcello that opened his international career was sung at the Rome Opera in 2000.