Orlin Anastassov

Twenty years old, Orlin Anastassov sang the King of Egypt in Aida at the State Opera in his native Rousse; first prize at Operalia in 1999 followed hard on it, and a La Scala debut the same year as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia — the shortest available route from a provincial debut to the international circuit. Born in 1976 into a family of opera singers, he began his vocal studies with Georgi Deliganev and continued at the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia. The Verdi and Russian basses have carried him since — Zaccaria in Nabucco, Ramfis in Aida, Procida in I vespri siciliani, Attila, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra, Timur in Turandot, Méphistophélès, and the title role in Boris Godunov — with the principal Mozart basses alongside, and he is heard regularly as bass soloist in Verdi's Requiem. His discography includes the Grammy-winning Les Troyens under Colin Davis, together with I vespri siciliani, Nabucco, Aida and Boris Godunov. He has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera and the Paris Opera.