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DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
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BASS
Season 2011 – 2012
Columbia Artists Management LLC
1790 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 841-9682 Fax: (212) 841-9557
Personal Direction:
Elizabeth Crittenden, Artistic Advisor & Consultant
crittend@cami.com
Updated August 2011
Please destroy all previous press materials.
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
BASS
Dimitri Kavrakos has appeared regularly with all of the major opera houses of the world as well
as with symphony orchestras including Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
Montreal, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and Paris under the batons of Daniel Barenboim, James
Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Edo de Waart, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Giuseppe Patane, Helmut
Rilling, Sir Georg Solti, and Riccardo Muti. His concert repertoire includes the Verdi Requiem,
Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
Operatic appearances have had the bass performing at the Metropolitan Opera in roles such as
Ferrando in Il trovatore, Timur in Turandot, Oroveso in Norma, Raimondo in Lucia di
Lammermoor, Walter in Luisa Miller, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and the King in Aida, and the
Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo. He has long been associated with the Lyric Opera of Chicago
where he has appeared many times in Aida, Lakmé, Samson et Dalilah, Luisa Miller, La
sonnambula, La forza del destino and others.
He has appeared also in the opera houses of Houston, Toronto (Arkel in Pelléas et Melisande),
Denver, Seville, Rio di Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Paris (Bastille), Florence (as well as their tour to
Japan), Milan (La Scala), London (Royal Festival Hall), and Salzburg and Glyndebourne
Festivals.
A native of Athens, Greece, Dimitri Kavrakos made his professional debut as Zaccaria with the
National Theatre of Athens. His Italian debut was as bass soloist in the Verdi Requiem at Spoleto
and his American debut was in Refice's Cecilia in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. He has
recorded the Commendatore in the Glyndebourne Don Giovanni for EMI/Angel under Bernard
Haitink and Lodovico in Otello for Decca/London under George Solti. He has also recorded Les
danaides and Rossini's La petite messe solennelle for EMI, and Norma, La vestale, and Rigoletto
for SONY under Riccardo Muti.
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
BASS
OPERATIC REPERTOIRE
BELLINI
I puritani
Norma
La Sonnambula
Walton
Oroveso
Rodolfo
BERLIOZ
La damnation de Faust
Mephistopheles
CHERUBINI
Medea
Creonte
DEBUSSY
Pelleas et Melisande
Arkel
DONIZETTI
Lucia di Lammermoor
La favorita
Raimondo
Baldassarre
GOUNOD
Roméo et Juliette
Capulet
MEYERBEER
Les Huguenots
Marcel
MOUSSORGSKY
Boris Godounov
Pimen
MOZART
Cosi fan Tutte
Die Zauberflöte
Don Giovanni
Le Nozze di Figaro
Don Alfonso
Sarastro
Il Commendatore
Bartolo
PONCHIELLI
La Gioconda
Alvise Badoero
PROKOFIEV
The Fiery Angel
Betrothal in a Monastery
Inquisitor
Mendoza
PUCCINI
La Boheme
Turandot
Colline
Timur
ROSSINI
Mose in Egitto
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Mose
Don Basilio
SAINT SAENS
Samson et Dalilah
Abimelech
TCHAIKOVSKY
Eugene Onegin
Gremin
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
BASS
OPERATIC REPERTOIRE
VERDI
Aida
Attila
Don Carlo
Ernani
La Forza del Destino
Luisa Miller
Macbeth
I Masnadieri
Nabucco
Rigoletto
Simon Boccanegra
Il Trovatore
Il Re
Attila
Inquisitore
Silva
Padre Guardiano
Count Walter
Banquo
Massimiliano
Zaccaria
Sparafucile
Jacopo Fiesco
Ferrando
WAGNER
Der Fliegende Holländer
Lohengrin
Tristan und Isolde
Die Walküre
Tannhäuser
Daland
King Heinrich
King Marke
Fafner
Landgraf
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
BASS
ORATORIO REPERTOIRE
BEETHOVEN
Missa Solemnis
DVORAK
Stabat Mater
ROSSINI
Petite messe solenelle
ROSSINI
Stabat Mater
VERDI
I Vespri Siciliani
VERDI
Messa di Requiem
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
BASS
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
Reviews
MUSSORGSKY/Boris Godunov as Pimen:
Lyric opera of Chicago
"His strong, plaint bass had a distinctive glow, a tender undercurrent that makes us believe that
every word he sings comes from his heart."
- Chicago Sun-Times
"Dimitri Kavrakos intoned Pimen's narrative with suitably grave dignity."
- Chicago Tribune , John von Rhein
"The velvet-voiced Greeek bass, Dimitri Kavrakos, sang Pimen beautifuly, and his lyric sound
was a most useful contrast to the Slavic timbre of Matorin."
- Das Opernglas, John Koopman
DEBUSSY/Pelléas et Mélisande as Golaud and Arkel:
Lyric Opera of Chicago
"Dimitri Kavrakos was a stolid, sympathetic Arkel."
Canadian Opera Company
"Kavrakos gave a grans eloquent performance as Arkel."
- The Globe and Mail, Robert Everett Green
Canadian Opera Company
"....and Dimitri Kavrakos' bass providing ideal foils as Golaud and Arkel."
- The Toronto Star, William Littler
Canadian Opera Company
"Dimitri Kavrakos gave a noble performance of the old King Arkel."
- National Post, Tamara Bernstein
Canadian Opera Company
"In supporting roles, bass Dimitri Kavrakos is a very strong King Arkel."
- The Buffalo News, Herman Trotter
VERDI/I Lombardi as Pagano and Eremita:
Megaro Music Hall, Athens, Greece
"Dimitri Kavrakos gave a splended performance as Pagano and Eremita in 'I Lombardi'...... He
displayed both characters in a marvelous way. With his beautiful voice, perfect technique and
sense of musicality has a 'special way' to touch you right in your heart, giving his audience the
pleasure to listen. A genuine artist....
- Estia
DIMITRI KAVRAKOS
BASS
Dimitri Kavrakos
Reviews (cont'd)
VERDI/I Vespri as Procida:
Washington Concert Opera
"Perhaps the most impressive performance of the evening was by Greek bass-baritone Kavrakos,
whose entrance aris (O tu Palermo) was electrifying."
- Opera Canada - Winter 1993 - Carl Dolmetsch
VERDI/Macbeth as Banquo:
Cologne
"Dimitri Kavrakos as Banquo displayed a lovely voice.....
- Opera - Carl H. Hiller
VERDI/Messa da Requiem as bass solist:
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
"Equally as passionate was...........or Kavrakos' throaty and lyrical basso."
- Tribune Review - Dec 5, 1997, Todd Gutnick
DVORÁK/Stabat Mater as soloist:
Cincinnati May Featival
"Kavrakos displayed a compelling smooth bass with depth and color. Against the high voices of
the chorus, his voice created an other-wordly effect."
- The Cincinnati Enquirer - June 5, 1993, Janelle Gelfand
BELLINI/Norma as Oroveso:
Houston Grand Opera
"Dimitri Kavrakos was a mellow presence, with an open bass voice that expressed all the
varieties of anxiety the druids faced as Norma went through her own emotional flare-ups."
- Houston Chronicle - Ann Holmes