Tenor YEVGENY AKIMOV (Simpleton) has been a prizewinner at the 1st International Pechkovsky Competition (St. Petersburg, 1994), and is a recipient of the Golden Mask Russian theater prize (1997, 2003) and the Golden Sofit, St. Petersburg's most prestigious theater prize. Born in 1967 in Leningrad, Akimov graduated from the vocal faculty of the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory (class of L. Morozov), and became a soloist with the "Zazerkalye" Children's Music Theater, where he performed the roles of Finist (The Tale of Finist the Falcon), Nemorino (L'elisir d'amore), and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte). He has been a Mariinsky Theater soloist since 1996 and has performed at the world's leading theaters, among them the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Covent Garden, and the Grand Opéra. He has taken part in joint productions of the Mariinsky Theater and the San Francisco Opera (Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery) and La Scala (Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov), in addition to various projects with the world's leading singers, such as Giuseppe Giacomini (Otello), Plácido Domingo (Parsifal), and Ferruccio Furlanetto (Boris Godunov).

In 2002, at Rome's Accademia Santa Cecilia, he performed as Zinovy Borisovich in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich. In 2003, together with Maestro Gergiev, he appeared at the opening of the season at Carnegie Hall, performing the cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry by Shostakovich. That same year, he took part in the premiere of Rodion Shchedrin's new opera The Enchanted Traveler, conducted by Lorin Maazel (Avery Fisher Hall, New York). In 2002/03, he toured with the State Musical Theater of Rostov on Don to the UK, performing as Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia). He performed as Don Antonio (Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery) in 2004 at the Teatro Regio in Turin.

Akimov regularly works with the National Opera of Moldova and takes part in the Maria Bieshu Invita festival, and frequently performs concerts at St. Petersburg's most prestigious chamber music venues. His CD recordings include Boris Godunov, Betrothal in a Monastery, Prince Igor, The Tsar's Bride, The Love for Three Oranges, Semyon Kotko, and The Demon.

Akimov's repertoire includes over 30 roles, among them Bayan (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Prince Vladimir (Prince Igor), Simpleton (Boris Godunov), Andrei Khovansky (Khovanshchina), Indian Merchant (Sadko), Ivan Lykov (The Tsar's Bride), Tsar Berendey (The Snow Maiden), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Andrei (Mazepa), Prince Sinodal (The Demon), Dante (Rachmaninoff's Francesca da Rimini in concert), Fisherman (Le rossignol), Mikola (Semyon Kotko), Cassio (Otello), Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Alfredo (La traviata), Don Antonio (Betrothal in a Monastery), Zinovy Borisovich (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Rodolfo (La bohème), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Daland's Steersman (Der Fliegende Holländer), Froh (Das Rheingold), Narraboth (Salome), and the tenor roles in Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and Mahler's Eighth Symphony.

08/07