Biography
Born in Leningrad. Graduated from the vocal department of the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in 1983 (K. Laptev’s class) and in 1988 from the directing faculty (class of Professor R. Tikhomirov and Professor S. Lapirov).
He has been an opera director and soloist at the Mariynsky Theatre since 1988.
Repertoire
His opera repertoire includes over thirty roles, among them:
Shchelkalov (Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov)
Pastor (Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina)
Duke (Rakhmaninov’s The Miserly Knight)
Don Carlos (Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery)
Denisov (Prokofiev’s War and Peace)
Baron Douphol (La Traviata)
Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro)
Tours
He has toured in the USA, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Italy, Finland, Argentina and Chile.
Has performed as a soloist at the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Rome Opera, La Scala, the New Israel Opera and the Dresden Semperoper as well as at concert venues including Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Concertgebouw and the Brussels Philharmonic.
He has worked with stage directors including Stephen Lawless, David Freeman, Graham Vick, Tim Coleman and Elijah Moshinsky, Stefan Piontek, Julie Taymor, Emil Pasynkov, Irina Molostova, Temur Chkheidze, Vladislav Pazi, Yuri Alexandrov.
Yuri Laptev staged productions of Donizetti’s Il Campanello di Notte (2002), Rigoletto (2006) and Carmen (2008) at the Rostov Musical Theatre as well as Boris Godunov at Vyborg Castle, Tchaikovsly’s Iolanta and Mazeppa at Vyborg Castle and at Ivangorod Fortress. Has directed the White Nights balls run over the years at Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo and the Konstantinovsky and Marble Palaces.
He trained in organization of the creative process and the structure of theatre at the Royal Opera House in London.
Yuri Laptev is a St. Petersburg State Conservatoire Professor.
Discography
Recordings include: Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel, War and Peace, The Gambler, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Maid of Pskov, Verdi’s La Forza del Destino (Philips Classics).
Art. Lebedev Studio