Yuri Kissin was born in Perm (Russia). After starting his career in Israel, he moved to France and spent a couple of years at the Paris Opera Studio (formerly named Centre de Formation Lyrique). He was then invited back to take part in many productions both on the stages of the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Garnier: War and Peace, Tosca, Parsifal, « K » by Philippe Manoury, Don Carlos, Boris Godounov, Evgeny Onegin, La Traviata, Capriccio, Ariadne auf Naxos, Lulu, Dialogues des Carmélites, Madame Butterfly, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Salomé, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ariane et Barbe Bleue, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Billy Budd, Francesca da Rimini, Gianni Schicchi, La Cerisaie and Khovantschina.

 

In the past few seasons, he sang on most of the French opera houses and festivals: Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Montpellier, Toulouse, Rennes, Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, Toulon, Dijon, Bordeaux, Limoges, Nancy, Nantes, Metz, Nice, and abroad in Madrid, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Moscow, Perm, Amsterdam, Maribor, Monte-Carlo as well as at the Royal Opera House in Denmark and in Sweden. He sang in the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Lacoste, Antibes, Chartres, Sédières, Open-air Opera Festival in France... He also sang with most of the prominent Parisian Orchestras. 

 

His repertoire includes such roles as Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Leporello and Masetto (Don Giovanni), Don Alfonso (Cosí fan tutte), Basilio and Bartolo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Haly (L’Italiana in Algeri), Don Magnifico and Alidoro (La Cenerentola), Frère Laurent (Roméo et Juliette), Colline (La Bohème)… as well as many comprimari.

 

He recently sang Bartolo from Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Capitole in Toulouse, Zaretsky from Eugene Onegin at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Johann from Werther in Bordeaux, Bartolo from Le Nozze di Figaro, Haly from L'Italiana in Algeri and The Innkeeper from Manon in Tel-Aviv, Monterone from Rigoletto in Jerusalem, Ein Gralsritter from Parsifal in Toulouse, Crébillon from La Rondine in Toulouse, Hermann and Schlémil from Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Monte-Carlo, Colline from La Bohème in Massy, Escamillo from Carmen in Haifa, Der Sprecher from Die Zauberflöte in Williamsburg, Virginia, and he took part in a concert version of Samson et Dalila at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. He sang Bartolo and Antonio from Le Nozze di Figaro in Avignon, Truffaldino from Ariadne auf Naxos in Toulouse, Il Sagrestano from Tosca touring France with the Open-air Opera Festival, Landéric from Frédégonde by Saint-Saëns in concert in Tours.

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During season 2022-2023, he sings Hermann and Luther from Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Ferrando from Il Trovatore in Tel-Aviv and will take over the role of Leporello from Don Giovanni for his debut at the Sydney Opera.