On November 17, the principal singer of the Mariinsky Theatre Primorsky Stage Mergen Sandanov will take the stage of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera House as Radamès in Verdi’s Aida.

The artist will perform at the Krasnoyarsk theatre for the first time but the part of the Egyptian warrior won’t be his debut:

“The opera company of our theatre has been scrupulous about the preparation of the Aida opera: the famous coach from La Scala Massimiliano Bullo worked with us. I tremendously enjoyed working on the role: Verdi's music is beautiful and fits my voice well. It was Radamès I performed during my tours abroad. This year in August I sang the part four times in the German town of Kiel. I am very glad I have the chance to sing in Krasnoyarsk,” Honoured Artist of the Republic of Buryatia Mergen Sandanov said.

Mergen received his higher musical education at the Novosibirsk Conservatory. He has been a principal soloist of the Buryat Opera and Ballet Theatre for several years. Since 2018, he has been working in Vladivostok on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. He performs leading parts of the tenor repertoire there: Cavaradossi and Calaf (Tosca and Turandot by Puccini), José (Carmen by Bizet), Alfredo and Riccardo (La Traviata and Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi), a young gipsy (Aleko by Rachmaninoff), Vakula the smith, (Christmas Eve by Rimsky-Korsakov), and others.

It’s no coincidence that the 17th of November was decided for performing Giuseppe Verdi's Aida: this day exactly marks the 150th anniversary of the Suez Canal inauguration. Verdi was asked to write an opera for this historical event. On this day, principal singers of the Krasnoyarsk Opera House, Honoured Artist of Russia Svetlana Ratslaf-Levchuk and laureate of international competitions Daria Ryabinko will take the stage along with Mergen Sandanov as Aida and Amneris.