Alexandre Grigoryevich Naoumenko (Russian: Александр Григорьевич Науменко) is a Russian

operatic Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

vocal coach A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often al ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Life and career

Naoumenko was born in

Lipetsk Lipetsk (, ), also Romanization of Russian, romanized as Lipeck, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh (river), Voronezh River in the Do ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. After graduating from the Lipetsk College of Music, he studied at the

Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

under prolific Georgian tenor

Zurab Sotkilava Zurab Lavrentievich Sotkilava (, ka, ზურაბ სოტკილავა; 12 March 1937 – 18 September 2017) was a Georgian/Soviet operatic tenor. Since the early 1970s, he lived and worked in Moscow. He was named a People's Artist of ...

, later continuing his training at the Moscow Opera Studio.Argumenty i Fakty (Аргументы и Факты) Interview
(in Russian). He attended master classes with

Alfredo Kraus Alfredo Kraus Trujillo (; 24 November 192710 September 1999) was a distinguished Spanish tenor from the Canary Islands (known professionally as Alfredo Kraus), particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles. He was ...

Renata Scotto Renata Scotto (24 February 1934 – 16 August 2023) was an Italian soprano, opera director, and voice teacher. Recognised for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered to have been one of the pr ...

Renato Capecchi Renato Capecchi (born Cairo, November 6, 1923; died Milan, June 30, 1998) was an Italian baritone, actor, and opera director. He sang in the Italian premiere of Shostakovich's ''The Nose (opera), The Nose'' and Prokofiev's ''War and Peace (Prok ...

Ernst Haefliger Ernst Haefliger (6 July 191917 March 2007) was a Swiss tenor. Biography Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland, on 6 July 1919 and studied at the Wettinger Seminary and the Zürich Conservatory. Later he became a pupil of Fernando Carpi in ...

, Nancy Evans and Aldo Baldin. While in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Naoumenko sang the roles of Podholusin ( The Marriage) for the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

, Alfredo ( La Traviata), Lensky (

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (, Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: Евгеній Онѣгинъ, романъ въ стихахъ, ) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. ''Onegin'' is considered a classic of ...

) and Don Giovanni ( The Stone Guest), at the Moscow Conservatory Bolshoi Hall. In 1991 he gave his American debut at San Francisco's

War Memorial Opera House The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, United States, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco W ...

in the role of Platon Karataev (War and Peace) conducted by

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...

. After moving to the UK, he sang with

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

in roles such as Dr Caius (Falstaff) under

Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the bassoon when in primary school, at Bryanston School, Dorset, and in the National ...

and Ladislav (

The Two Widows ''The Two Widows'' () is a two-act Czech opera by Bedřich Smetana based on the libretto of . The libretto is based on Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefille's one-act play ''Les deux veuves''. The opera was composed between June 1873 and January 1874, ...

). Naoumenko then worked extensively throughout Europe, singing roles including Cavaradossi (

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

) with European Chamber Opera, Fenton (Falstaff) with

English Touring Opera English Touring Opera (ETO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom founded in 1979 under the name Opera 80 by the then-existing Arts Council of Great Britain. In 1992 the company changed to its present name. Today it is sponsored in part by A ...

, Don Jose (

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

) at the Chelmsford Festival, Misail (Boris Godunov) with Opera Ireland conducted by

Alexander Anisimov Alexander Mikhailovich Anissimov (Анисимов, Александр Михайлович; born 8 October 1947) is a Russian conductor. Anissimov was born in Moscow. In 1995 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony ...

, Mylio (Lalo's Le Roi d’Ys) with

University College Opera University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of University College London. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra, chorus and some singers drawn from the student body. Fou ...

, Flute (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Doctor Caius (Falstaff) for the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

, conducted by

Steuart Bedford Steuart John Rudolf Bedford (31 July 1939 – 15 February 2021) was an English orchestral and opera conductor and pianist. He was the brother of composer David Bedford and of singer Peter Lehmann Bedford and a grandson of Liza Lehmann and H ...

. In Germany he performed the role of Mozart ( Mozart and Salieri). He sang Platon Karataev (War and Peace) and The Italian Prisoner in Strauss's

Friedenstag ''Friedenstag'' (''Peace Day'') is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss, his Opus 81 and TrV 271, to a German libretto by Joseph Gregor. The opera was premiered at the National Theatre Munich on 24 July 1938 and dedicated to the leading singe ...

at the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

under

Edo de Waart Edo de Waart (born 1 June 1941, Amsterdam) is a Dutch retired conductor. He is Music Director Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. De Waart is the former music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2016-2019), chief conductor ...

, also broadcast for Dutch Radio. After making numerous concert and oratorio appearances in Moscow such as

Das Lied von der Erde ''Das Lied von der Erde'' (The song of the Earth) is an orchestral work for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six movements for a large orchestra and tw ...

with the Kremlin Orchestra, Mozart's

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

conducted by

Yuri Simonov Yuri Ivanovich Simonov (; born 4 March 1941) is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Nikolai Rabinovich, and was later an assistant conductor to Yevgeny Mravinsky with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Simono ...

and

Les Noces ''The Wedding'', or ''Svadebka (''), is a Russian-language ballet-cantata by Igor Stravinsky scored unusually for four vocal soloists, chorus, percussion and four pianos. Dedicating the work to impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the composer described ...

conducted by

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagog ...

at Moscow's Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, he continued this abroad. Naoumenko sang Verdi's

under

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridg ...

at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

as well as Beethoven's

Missa Solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...

and Bach's

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance in a churc ...

in Stuttgart under

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakade ...

. Other parts include Mydas in Bach's Phoebus and Pan and Tchaikovsky's Ode to Joy. Naoumenko's recordings include the role of Moisei Shahkes in

Rothschild's Violin "Rothschild's Violin" ( – also translated as "Rothschild's Fiddle") is an 1894 short story by Anton Chekhov. Publication "Rothschild's Violin" was first published in '' Russkiye Vedomosti'' Number 37, in February 1894. In the same year it was ...

( Fleishman/

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

) conducted by

, recorded for

Melodiya Records Melodiya () is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union. History Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya" in accordance wi ...

. He has worked with

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.Howard Shelley Howard Gordon Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara with whom he performed and recorded in a two-pia ...

Joan Rodgers Joan Rodgers C.B.E. (born 4 November 1956, Cleator Moor, Cumbria, England) is an English operatic soprano. Early life She attended Whitehaven Grammar School, gaining French, German and Russian A-levels. She read Russian at the University of Li ...

, Maria Popescu and

Sergei Leiferkus Sergei Leiferkus (born 4 April 1946) is an operatic baritone from Russia, known for his dramatic technique and powerful voice particularly in Russian and Italian language repertoire. He is most notable for his roles as Scarpia in ''Tosca'', Iag ...

Other work

Naoumenko works as

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

coach at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, having previously taught at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

He also works with leading orchestras, choirs and music foundations throughout Britain and Russia,Belcanto Fund (Фонд Бельканто)
, (in Russian). including the

London Symphony Chorus The London Symphony Chorus (abbreviated to LSC) is a large symphonic concert choir based in London, UK, consisting of over 150 amateur singers, and is one of the major symphony choruses of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1966 as the '' ...

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

CBSO Chorus The CBSO Chorus is a choir, chorus based in Birmingham, England. Description It was founded in 1973 as the CBSO Chorus. Simon Halsey has served as Chorus Director since 1983. Between 1995 and 2009 was known officially as The City of Birmingham S ...

and Jackdaws Music Education Trust.Jackdaws Educational Trust Profile
/ref> He recently worked alongside

in the UK premiere of The Brothers Karamazov at the

Barbican Hall The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and ...

. Alongside his stage career,RIA Novosti Announcement
, "Всемирно известный тенор Александр Науменко споет в Липецке"] (in Russian).Concert Review
(Обаяние места и интеллекта) (in Russian).В Коломне пройдет концерт «Шедевры русской и зарубежной классики 11 April 2013 (In Russian)
/ref> Naoumenko continues a busy schedule as a vocal coach and composer.

References

Alexandre Naoumenko - Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naoumenko, Alexandre Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Russian male opera singers Russian tenors Russian male composers People from Lipetsk