Yusif Eyvazov

Yusif Eyvazov came to singing sideways: born in Algiers in 1977, he was training as a meteorologist when a colleague's advice sent him to the Baku Music Academy, and in 1997 he moved to Italy, where his formation was completed under Franco Corelli and Ghena Dimitrova and where he won competitions at Capriolo, Montagnana and Milan. The voice that emerged is a dramatic tenor of markedly Italianate cut, and the repertoire followed it — Manrico, Radamès and Otello; Calàf, Cavaradossi and Des Grieux. He first sang at the Metropolitan Opera in November 2015, as Calàf, and at the Salzburg Festival the following August as Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, a performance preserved in Deutsche Grammophon's live recording of the production. La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Berlin Staatsoper, Covent Garden, the Teatro Real and the Liceu have all followed, along with the Arena di Verona. Named People's Artist of Azerbaijan in 2017, he has directed the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Baku since 2023. In March 2025 he sang in Sofia, in an opera gala with the Sofia Philharmonic shared with Anna Netrebko.