A Latvian lyric-dramatic tenor. Born in Riga. Graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music. He has performed on many European stages, including the Semperoper Dresden, La Scala, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Norwegian Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Frankfurt Opera, the Zurich Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Liceu (Barcelona), and others.
The singer gained international fame for his performance of Otello at the 2008 Salzburg Festival under the baton of Riccardo Muti. In 2009, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Prince in "Rusalka", and in 2011 at the Royal Opera House as Luigi (Il tabarro by Puccini). His repertoire includes dramatic roles from Verdi and Puccini: Gabriele Adorno ("Simon Boccanegra"), Otello, Radamès ("Aida"), Des Grieux ("Manon Lescaut"), Cavaradossi ("Tosca"), Dick Johnson ("La Fanciulla del West"), Calaf ("Turandot"), as well as Pollione ("Norma"), Don José ("Carmen"), Samson ("Samson et Dalila"), Turiddu ("Cavalleria Rusticana"), Canio ("Pagliacci"), and Russian repertoire: Hermann ("The Queen of Spades"), Grigory Otrepyev ("Boris Godunov"), Sergei ("Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk").
Recipient of the Swedish Jussi Björling Award, the Latvian Pauls Sakss Award, the Latvian Grand Music Award, and the Austrian Grand Award for Culture (2014).
The singer gained international fame for his performance of Otello at the 2008 Salzburg Festival under the baton of Riccardo Muti. In 2009, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Prince in "Rusalka", and in 2011 at the Royal Opera House as Luigi (Il tabarro by Puccini). His repertoire includes dramatic roles from Verdi and Puccini: Gabriele Adorno ("Simon Boccanegra"), Otello, Radamès ("Aida"), Des Grieux ("Manon Lescaut"), Cavaradossi ("Tosca"), Dick Johnson ("La Fanciulla del West"), Calaf ("Turandot"), as well as Pollione ("Norma"), Don José ("Carmen"), Samson ("Samson et Dalila"), Turiddu ("Cavalleria Rusticana"), Canio ("Pagliacci"), and Russian repertoire: Hermann ("The Queen of Spades"), Grigory Otrepyev ("Boris Godunov"), Sergei ("Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk").
Recipient of the Swedish Jussi Björling Award, the Latvian Pauls Sakss Award, the Latvian Grand Music Award, and the Austrian Grand Award for Culture (2014).
