Gidon Saks was born in Israel and brought up in South Africa. He trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and at the University of Toronto. He was a member of the Ensemble of the Canadian Opera and later received a full scholarship to the Zurich Opera Studio.
A very engaging artist, Gidon charms the opera and concert stages over the world. Recent highlights include Konig Heinrich Lohengrin with the CBSO under Andris Nelsons, Hagen Götterdämmerung for La Fenice (which won an Abbiati Award), Claggart Billy Budd for Opéra National de Paris, Four Villains Les contes d’ Hoffmann under Antonio Pappano at Covent Garden, Scarpia at Bregenz Festival, Bluebeard at the Concertgebouw under Peter Eotvos, in Nantes and for the opening of a new theatre in Angers, and Don Pizzaro for Canadian Opera Company. His critically acclaimed performance as Claggart with the London Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding was also recorded by EMI / Virgin Classics, which won a Grammy Award 2010 for Best Opera Recording. Previously he sang this role for Royal Opera House, Opéra National de Paris, Scottish Opera, Geneva and Antwerp.
Other opera highlights in Europe include Kaspar Die Freischütz and Don Pizarro Fidelio for Staatsoper Berlin, title role of Boito’s Mefistofele for De Nederlandse Opera, Seneca L’incoronazione di Poppea for La Monnaie, title role Don Giovanni for Reisopera, Mefisto in Spohr's Faust in Vienna and Cologne, Filippo Don Carlo in Geneva and Palermo, Sparafucile Rigoletto, Ashby La Fanciulla del West and Cadmus/Somnus Semele for Vlaamse Opera. In the UK Gidon sang in The Pilgrim’s Progress under the late Richard Hickox at the Royal Opera House, title role Boris Godunov, Kaspar, Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress and Hagen for English National Opera, Leporello, Achillas, Sarastro for Scottish Opera, Don Pizarro, Count Figaro, Daland and Kochubei Mazeppa for Welsh National Opera. While with the Canadian Opera Company Gidon has sung Rochefort Anna Bolena with Dame Joan Sutherland, Daland Der Fliegende Holländer, Wurm Luisa Miller, Bluebeard and Boris Godunov. For Washington National Opera he sang Fafner Siegfried, Hunding Die Walküre, Daland and Musiklehrer Ariadne auf Naxos. Other opera appearances include Wurm at Spoleto USA Festival and San Francisco Opera, Konig Heinrich Lohengrin, Fafner and Hagen Der Ring des Nibelungen in Seattle, Mephistopheles Gounod's Faust for Cape Town Opera, Colline La Boheme and Kecal The Bartered Bride for New Israeli Opera.
Gidon has created several roles including George Moscone in Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk directed by Christopher Alden (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).
His recordings include Abbot Curlew River (Philips) with Sir Neville Marriner, the Gravedigger in Weill’s Silbersee (BMG), the title role in Handel’s Hercules under Minkowski (Deutsche Grammophon) and Saul with Rene Jacobs, which won a Gramophone Award. 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.
Highlights in 2010/11 season include Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress for Staatsoper Berlin under Ingo Metzmacher, Gaspard Le Freyschutz for Opéra Comique under John Eliot Gardiner, Fasolt Das Rheingold for La Fenice under Jeffrey Tate, Hagen Götterdämmerung in La Coruna and return to Nantes and Angers for Bluebeard’s Castle revival.
Gidon Saks is represented by Intermusica.
October 2010 / 561 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
Barbe-Bleue in Bartok Bluebeard's Castle
Angers Nantes Opera / cond. Daniel Kawka / dir. Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser
“Gidon Saks and Jeanne-Michèle Chardonnet are exactly the superstars required for this short hour of great violence.”
Le Figaro, October 2011
“The two singers are magnificent: Jeanne-Michèle Chardonnet has the tender and naïve guilelessness of a sincere lover, and Gidon Saks the anxious force of a flushed out and hunted animal.”
ClassiqueNews.com, October 2011
“The most memorable element in this production of ‘Château de Barbe-Bleue’ is the brilliant pairing of two completely committed artists, both from the original 2007 production: Gidon Saks in the role of Barbe-Bleue and Jeanne-Michèle Chardonnet in that of Judith. Whilst portraying Barbe-Bleue as disturbing and at times brutal, Saks nonetheless brought a deeply moving humanity and level of suffering to the character. Displaying a finely shaded tone, the Israeli bass was captivating with his dark toned vocal beauty and impressive power.”
ConcertoNet.com, October 2011
Gaspard / Der Freischütz / Weber / BBC Proms / Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
cond. Sir John Eliot Gardiner
“The singing was terrific, with Gidon Saks hair-raising as Gaspard.”
Editor-in-Chief, Gramophone, January 2012
“Gidon Saks, summoning fiends from a cauldron under Sir Henry Wood’s nose, revelled as the baddie.”
Richard Morrison, The Times, September 2011
“Gidon Saks as Gaspard had the most terrifically complex colouring to his high-lying bass voice that in itself had the ability to evoke a Heathcliffe-like richness of character, a meanness that was simultaneously irresistible.”
Igor Toronyi-Lalic, The Arts Desk, September 2011
Gaspard in Weber Le Freischutz
Opera Comique / cond. Sir John Eliot Gardiner / dir. Dan Jemmett
“With his powerful, sonorous bass voice, and his strong inner characterisation, Gidon Saks brought to life the evil Gaspard, ruined by Satan.”
Bernhard Drobig, Online Musik Magazine, April 2011
“The singing was first rate too: Gidon Saks as the Mephistophelian Gaspard (aka Kaspar) was the real stand-out performance, his large, dark, perfectly steady bass voice easily filling the intimate space of the Opéra Comique.”
James Jolly, Gramophone, April 2011
"Quant au Gaspard de Gidon Saks, on ne peut lui reprocher un quelconque manque de caractère. L’interprète est magnétique, rendant parfaitement le côté malsain du personnage, renforcé par la noirceur du timbre et le volume sonore impressionnant. Malheureusement il faut supporter en contrepartie une diction française incompréhensible et surtout une ligne de chant sans arrêt malmenée avec force aboiements (en particulier dans sa chanson à boire au premier acte, ‘Dans la joie et les plaisirs’ bien débraillée). Il s’apparie cependant bien avec le Samiel guttural de Christian Pelissier, petit personnage parfaitement inquiétant."
(“As for Gidon Saks’ Gaspard, one cannot accuse him of lack of depth in his characterisation. His interpretation is magnetic, rendering perfectly the character’s unsound side, a rendering reinforced by the darkness of timbre and impressive sonorous volume [of his voice].”)
Antoine Brunetto, Forum Opera, 12 April 2011
“[Max] was crushed in every way by Gidon Saks,a terrifying Gaspard and a true Wagnerian, who gives the impression of having escaped from some tetralogy, mysterious and demonic yet always singing properly, and so impressive because of it that he almost jars with the general tone of the piece, the limits of which he represents.”
Didier van Moere, www.concertonet.com, April 2011
“Gidon Saks’ vibrant Gaspard, whose bark-like projection seemed to confirm that he is indeed one of Satan’s henchmen.”
Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde, April 2011
“One lays down ones arms before Gidon Saks’ sonorous and biting Gaspard.”
Jean-Charles Hoffelé, www.concertclassic.com, April 2011
Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress
Staatsoper Berlin / cond. Ingo Metzmacher / dir. Krzyszof Warlikowski
"The evening's real firecracker was the Israeli-born South African bass-baritone Gidon Saks as an extremely sleazy Nick Shadow, the opera's Méphistophélès. Saks, a New York City Opera veteran, refused to be hampered by a ridiculous wardrobe (courtesy of Claude Bardouil) that alternately brought to mind Andy Warhol, Boogie Nights and Roy Scheider in All That Jazz. Saks sang with perverse glee and an insistently snickering growl. It was such a full-bodied and physical performance (even in the seductive recitatives) one feared Saks might run out of steam. But he made all this sonic deviltry seem natural and sang freely."
A.J. Goldmann, Opera News, December 2010
“Gidon Saks' distinctive baritone and his poignant talent go hand in hand.”
Offene Fragen, Markische Allgemeine, December 2010
Hagen in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (concert performance)
Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia / cond. Victor Pablo Perez
“Gidon Saks was exceptional: powerful voice, perfection in singing, tremendous projection, and absolutely engaging with dramatic expressions.”
Julio Andrade Malden, La Opinion Coruna, October 2010
King Henry in Wagner’s Lohengrin
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / cond. Andris Nelsons
“Gidon Saks was noble and authoritative as King Henry, but also full of compassion”
Rian Evans, Opera Magazine, June 2010
“…excellent bass…Gidon Saks as a properly regal Heinrich”
Rupert Christensen, The Telegraph, June 2010
“…vocal elements rang out without confusion… Gidon Saks easily supplied gravitas as King Henry.”
Geoff Brown, The Times, June 2010
“Gidon Saks was a commanding, sympathetic King Henry”
Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post, June 2010
Hagen in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (concert performance)
Washington National Opera / cond. Philippe Auguin
“Gidon Saks sang with considerable dramatic force as Hagen.”
Tim Smith, Opera Magazine, April 2010
“Bass-baritone Gidon Saks’ menacing Hagen was larger than life and highly convincing as the menacing psychopath who murders Siegfried and destroys a kingdom to get at the ring. His massive voice was never buried in Wagner’s dense orchestral score, and his diction was crisp and precise.”
T.L.Ponick
, Washington Times, November 2009
“…a cast of singers led, in order of excellence, by bass-baritone Gidon Saks as Hagen
Saks as Hagen creates perhaps the performance's most chilling visual image in Act 3 when, after mortally wounding Siegfried by stabbing him in the back with his spear, he runs to the opposite side of the stage and stands there, panting and holding his hand over his heart as if to say: "My God - I've really done it!"
His rich, black voice, especially potent in the upper part of his range, is ideally suited both to his brooding soliloquy in Act 1 and to his boisterous exchanges with the chorus of vassals in Act 2. Altogether, a superior performance.”
Associated Press, November 2009
“as Hagen in a Washington National Opera concert performance of Götterdämmerung, where I hung on every word, and where, in his monologue at the end of the first scene of Act 1, Saks had so much watchful menace in his motionless body that he almost didn't have to sing.”
Greg Sandow, The Arts Journal, November 2009
Hagen in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
Gran Teatro la Fenice / cond. Jeffrey Tate / dir. Robert Carsen & Patrick Kinmonth
“Hagen was played by the powerful bass, Gidon Saks.”
Il Gazzattino, June 2009
“A vocal triumph for all the cast, but the optimum roles were that of Hagen – played by Gidon Saks, whose voice is profoundly dexterous and suited to the drama and the conflict between the powers - Waltraute and the three Norns.”
Il mattino, la tribuna, la Nuova, June 2009
“The extremely expressive singers deserve our attention, among whom at least two must be mentioned here: Gidon Saks (Hagen) and Jayne Casselmann (Brunilde).”
Il Giornale, July 2009
“Gidon Saks’s mephistophelian Hagen was excellent. He took full advantage of his impressive physicality to bestow the necessary negative charge on the character.’ Saks’s voice has huge volume… completely perfect for this role.”
Operclick, June 2009
“The overpowering and evil Hagen was played by the booming Gidon Saks.”
Teatro.org, June 2009
“The Israeli bass-baritone Gidon Saks gave a remarkable interpretation of Hagen, in both his acting and his singing.”
Asterisco Informazioni, June 2009
Four Villains in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann
Royal Opera House / cond. Antonio Pappano / revival dir. Christopher Cowell (original production John Schlesinger)
“Gidon Saks played the (four) villains with saturnine charisma.”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, November 2008
Claggart in Britten’s Billy Budd
London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / cond. Daniel Harding
Virgin Classics 5 19039 2
“Gidon Saks catches the malevolence and cringing oiliness of the corrupt master-at-arms well.”
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times, October 2008
"Gidon Saks, meanwhile, is wonderfully baleful and dark-voiced as Billy's nemesis, the evil Master-at-Arms John Claggart - a match for Hickox's John Tomlinson and Britten's Michael Langdon."
Matthew Rye, The Telegraph, September 2008
Claggart in Britten's Billy Budd
London Symphony Orchestra / cond. Daniel Harding
"It was Gidon Sak's Claggart that pushed this Billy Budd over the edge into greatness. It was an extraordinarily powerful, diseased creation, cavernous and black and completely inside the role. Sak's baleful presence defined the Indomitable's claustrophobia, and he went beyond portraying Claggart as merely a compulsive force of evil to reveal him as oddly powerless to stop himself from destroying Billy… It was a fantastic performance."
Peter Reed, Opera Magazine, January 2008
"Saks, disturbingly, almost balefully handsome, was like some Miltonic fallen angel bent on destroying the positivity of creation. A great, utterly convincing characterisation, this was arguably the finest performance of the role for some years."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, December 2007
"Rightly dominant was the Canadian giant Gidon Saks, barrel-chested and barrel-voiced as a sneering, brutally misanthropic Claggart."
Richard Morrisson, The Times, December 2007
"Gidon Saks chilled one to the marrow with the malevolence of his stage persona, combined with a cavernous tone that irradiated evil - a tremendous performance."
Barry Millington, The Evening Standard, December 2007
"The revelation was Gidon Saks's Claggart, as definitive an impersonation of evil in word, tone and physical demeanour as I would wish to hear."
Andrew Clark, Financial Times, December 2007