Azer Zada tenor
Born in Baku, Azer Zada debuted his vocal career in 2009 as a soloist at the Azerbaijani State Opera. After moving to Italy, he enrolled in the Accademia d’Arte Lirica of Osimo, attending masterclasses with Magda Oliviero, Raina Kabaivanska, Renata Scotto and Renato Bruson. He is awarded of numerous prices in competitions as Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino and the First Prize in Concorso Voci Verdiane. In 2014, he was admitted at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, being regularly engaged for roles in Turandot, Rigoletto, Aida, Don Carlo, La Traviata and I Due Foscari, under conductors as Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Nello Santi and Myung-Whun Chung.
In 2016, he made his debut as Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth, at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi di Salerno, under the baton of Daniel Oren. Later this year, he performed in the Verdi’s Messa di Requiem, conducted by Jader Benjamini. In the season 2017-18, Zada debuted many roles. He performed Don José in Carmen, at Teatro Coccia di Novara and Teatro Vittorio Emmanuelle di Messina; Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème in Fano, Chieti and Ascoli Piceno. Later this season, he made his house debut at Teatro La Fenice as Rodolfo and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. The lyric season ends with performances of Carmen at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. During the summer, he was invited as Cavaradossi in Tosca, at the Soirées Lyriques de Sanxay and Luglio Musicale Trapanese.
During the 2018-19 season, Zada returns to Teatro La Fenice as Pinkerton, and debut as Ismaele in Nabucco, at the Teatro Verdi di Padova. At the Teatro Reggio Emilia, he sings again Cavaradossi, followed by his debut as Alfredo in La Traviata, at the Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari. Later, he performed La Bohème at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Messa di Requiem at Heydar Aliyev Center. He has his first solo concerts at Baku State Philharmonic Hall and in the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In the same season, he made his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in La Traviata and performed Madama Butterfly at Moscow Philharmonic Hall. At the end of the season, he returned to Trapani for performances of Carmen.
Zada began his 2019-2020 season with performances of Tosca at Teatro La Fenice, followed by his role debut as Radames in Aida at the Teatro Alighieri. He returned to the role of Rodolfo in La Bohème, at Bolshoi Theatre and Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, and debuted in Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, at the Ravenna Festival, under the baton of Riccardo Muti.
Highlights of the 2020-21 season includes the role of Radames in Aida, at the Arena di Verona, in occasion of the opera’s 150th anniversary, conducted by Riccardo Muti, and his debut at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos de Lisboa, in La Wally. He returned to the Bolshoi Theatre for performances of La Bohème, Tosca and performed Carmen at Soirées Lyriques de Sanxay.
In the season 2021-22, he will perform the roles of Pollione in Bellini’s Norma, at the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania; Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo; Alfredo in La Traviata, at the Teatro Marrucino di Chieti, and Ismaele in Nabucco, at the Ravenna Festival. Later this year, Naxos will release his first solo album.