Gidon Saks was born in Israel and brought up in South Africa, where he began his musical studies at Cape Town University. He was subsequently trained at the Royal Northern College of Music with John Cameron, and then at the Opera School at the University of Toronto with Patricia Kern.
He was a member of the Ensemble of the Canadian Opera Company where his roles included Rochefort Anna Bolena with Dame Joan Sutherland, Daland Der Fliegende Holländer, Wurm Luisa Miller , Bluebeard, and Boris Godounov. He received a full scholarship to the Zurich Opera Studio, and was then engaged in Gelsenkirchen and Bielefeld, where he perfected his German, and added many roles from Entartete operas to his repertoire - onstage and in recording.
Since then opera engagements have included Franck's Les Beatitudes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Berliner Festwochen under Vladimir Ashkenazy), Claggart Billy Budd (Scottish Opera, Geneva, Antwerp, Royal Opera House and at the Bastille) Leporello Don Giovanni, Achillas Giulio Cesare, Sarastro The Magic Flute (Scottish Opera), Colline La Boheme and Kecal The Bartered Bride (New Israeli Opera), Don Pizarro Fidelio, Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro, Daland and Kochubei Mazeppa (Welsh National Opera), Sparafucile Rigoletto, Ashby La Fanciulla del West and Cadmus/Somnus Semele (De Vlaamse opera), Don Giovanni (Reisopera), Filippo Don Carlo (Geneva and Palermo), Wurm (Spoleto USA Festival and San Francisco Opera), Kaspar Die Freischütz (Staatsoper, Berlin), Don Pizarro (Staatsoper, Berlin, Finnish Opera, Helsinki, Piazza della Signoria) Shostakovitch`s Execution of Styenka Razin (Florence under Bychkov and the Piazza della Signoria under David Robertson) Konig Heinrich Lohengrin, Fafner and Hagen Der Ring des Nibelungen (Seattle), Seneca L'incoronazione di Poppea (La Monnaie), title role in Boito's Mefistofele (De Nederlandse Opera), Mefisto in Spohr's Faust (Vienna and Cologne), Mephistopheles Gounod's Faust (Cape Town Opera), The Pilgrim's Progress (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) which was also recorded under Richard Hickox, Boris Godounov, Kaspar Der Freischutz, Nick Shadow The Rake's Progress and Hagen Götterdammerung (English National Opera).
Gidon has created several roles including George Moscone, Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk (Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera and San Francisco Opera) which was also recorded for Teldec under Donald Runnicles, Hamilcar in Fénélon's Salammbô (Bastille), and the Messenger in Goehr's Arianna (Royal Opera House).
Recordings include Abbot Curlew River (Philips) with Sir Neville Marriner, the Gravedigger in Weill`s Silbersee (BMG), which also marked his Prom debut, the title role in Handel's Hercules under Minkowski (Deutsche Grammophon) and Saul with Rene Jacobs, which won a Gramophone Award.
Recent performances have included Hunding Die Walküre and Daland in Washington DC, Scarpia at Bregenz Festival, Bluebeard at the Concertgebouw under Peter Eotvos, in Nantes and for the opening of a new theatre in Angers, and a critically acclaimed concert performance of Claggart for the LSO. Future plans include Don Pizzaro for Canadian Opera Company, Claggart for Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 4 Villains Les Contes d`Hoffmann Covent Garden, a return to DC to sing Fasolt, Hunding and Hagen in their new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Hagen Götterdämmerung La Fenice and an invitation from Santa Fe.
Gidon Saks is also active as a director/designer and is visiting Professor of Voice at the Conservtoire of Ghent in Belgium. He also frequently gives masterclasses internationally.
June 2008 / 532 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material. We update our biographies regularly. Please contact us if this biography is out of date.