ORHAN YILDIZ
BARITONE
REVIEWS
“Orhan Yildiz’s noble baritone suited the role as Ottokar well.” — Seen and Heard International
“Yıldız cuts an appealingly dashing figure — with his finely-tuned baritone and easy stage demeanour.”
— The Opera Critic
Turkish baritone Orhan Yildiz has established himself across leading European opera houses and is increasingly recognised for his emergence into the central Italian baritone repertoire. Rooted in Mozart and bel canto refinement, his voice combines flexibility, tonal warmth and an expanding dramatic breadth — qualities that naturally support his growing presence in Verdi’s lyric-dramatic roles.
After graduating from the State Conservatory of Mersin University, where he studied with Roman Werlinski, Yildiz gained international attention as a finalist at the prestigious Operalia Competition. He received the Jury Prize at the Belvedere Competition and was awarded Second Prize, the Audience Prize and a Special Prize at the Francisco Viñas Competition in Barcelona.
From 2010 to 2016 he was engaged as a principal soloist at Staatstheater Braunschweig, followed by an appointment as principal soloist at the Vienna State Opera from 2016 to 2020. He has since appeared as a guest artist at major houses including Hamburg State Opera, Vienna Volksoper, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, Malmö Opera, Royal Swedish Opera Stockholm, Göteborg Opera, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen.
His repertoire initially centred on Mozart roles such as Don Giovanni, Guglielmo and Count Almaviva, alongside bel canto parts including Figaro, Dandini and Malatesta. In recent seasons, his artistic focus has increasingly moved toward Verdi’s lyric-dramatic characters, with acclaimed portrayals of Giorgio Germont, Ford and Paolo Albiani signalling a natural progression toward roles such as Miller (Luisa Miller) and Rodrigo (Don Carlo).
Current and upcoming engagements include appearances as soloist in the Royal Danish Opera’s Kongelig Sommeropera 2026 tour, Giorgio Germont at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and performances during the 2026–2027 season at Gothenburg Opera as Germont (La Traviata), Miller (Luisa Miller) and Lescaut (Manon), further confirming his growing prominence in the Italian lyric-dramatic repertoire.
-
Bellini
Riccardo — I puritani
Bizet
Escamillo — Carmen
Donizetti
Belcore — L’elisir d’amore
Dottor Malatesta — Don Pasquale
Enrico Ashton — Lucia di Lammermoor
Gounod
Mercutio — Roméo et Juliette
Massenet
Lescaut — Manon
Mozart
Count Almaviva — Le nozze di Figaro
Don Giovanni — Don Giovanni
Guglielmo — Così fan tutte
Puccini
Marcello — La bohème
Rossini
Dandini — La Cenerentola
Figaro — Il barbiere di Siviglia
Stravinsky
Nick Shadow — The Rake’s Progress
Tchaikovsky
Jeletzki — Pique Dame
Verdi
Amonasro — Aida
Ford — Falstaff
Giorgio Germont — La traviata
Miller — Luisa Miller
Paolo Albiani — Simon Boccanegra
Renato — Un ballo in maschera
Rodrigo — Don Carlo
-
Bach
Matthäus-Passion
Brahms
Ein deutsches Requiem
