Saimir Pirgu; "Di rigori armato il seno"; DER ROSENKAVALIER; Richard Strauss

This channel is the re-establishment of previous channels that have been sadly terminated.
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Saimir Pirgu--tenor
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Speranza Scappucci--conductor
2015
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"Saimir Pirgu (born 23 September 1981 in Elbasan) is an Albanian international opera singer (tenor).[1] In 2014 he was awarded the Italian citizenship by the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano.[citation needed]

Biography
Saimir Pirgu was born in Elbasan, Albania on the 23rd of September 1981. He graduated in singing at the Conservatory Claudio Monteverdi in Bolzano (Italy)[2] where he studied with Vito Maria Brunetti.

At the age of 22 he was discovered by Claudio Abbado who chose him to play the role of Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte. He collaborates with the most prestigious theaters and musical institutions in the world as: Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opéra National de Paris, Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, Berlin State Opera and Deutsche Oper, Salzburg Festival, Vienna Musikverein, Bayerische Rundfunks in Munich, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.[citation needed]

He has been directed by Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Antonio Pappano, Daniele Gatti.[citation needed]

He worked with Franco Zeffirelli, Woody Allen, Peter Stein, Graham Vick, Willy Decker, Deborah Warner, Luca Ronconi, Kasper Holten, David McVicar, Ferzan Ozpetek, Mario Martone, Michael Haneke, Robert Carsen.[citation needed]

Among his last appearances are: La damnation de Faust at Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, Rigoletto and King Roger at Royal Opera House London, La traviata at Metropolitan Opera New York, Santa Fe Opera and Berlin State Opera, The Magic Flute at Teatro alla Scala, L'elisir d'amore at Vienna State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lucia di Lammermoor at Los Angeles Opera, La traviata and I Capuleti e i Montecchi at San Francisco Opera, La bohème and Lucia di Lammermoor at Washington National Opera, Un ballo in maschera in Tel Aviv, La clemenza di Tito at the Opéra national de Paris, Rigoletto at the Arena di Verona and Vienna State Opera, La bohème at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Mozart's Requiem at Symphony Center Chicago, Verdi's Requiem at Salzburg Festival, Vienna Musikverein, Bayerische Rundfunks in Munich, Pilharmonie de Paris and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.[citation needed]

Pirgu won the first prize in the international competitions Caruso in Milan in 2002, and Tito Schipa in Lecce in the same year. He was recognized with the Franco Corelli award in 2009 in Ancona (Italy) and with the prestigious "Pavarotti d'Oro Award" in 2013.[citation needed]

In December 2015, he released his album Il Mio Canto, edited by Opus Arte.[3]

Pirgu made his debut with Opera Australia in 2017 as Shepherd in Szymanowski's King Roger at the Sydney Opera House.[4]

Religious views
Saimir Pirgu has described himself as an atheist, although he has said "if a God exists he exists in music".[5]

Honors and awards
2002: First Prize at "Caruso" competition (Milan)
2002: First Prize at "Tito Schipa" competition (Lecce)
2004: "Eberhard-Waechter-Gesangsmedaille" Award (Vienna)
2009: "Franco Corelli" Award (Ancona)
2013: "Golden Pavarotti" Award
2016: "Çelësit të Qytetit" ("The Key of the City"), an honor of the capital of Albania, Tirana.:" Wikipedia