BIOGRAPHY
Lithuanian tenor Edgaras Montvidas, whom Le Figaro exclaimed “’is’ Werther, as soon as he makes his entrance, both physically and vocally. The amber colour of his voice is immediately appealing, with a melancholy hue that attaches itself to the character, in both the power and the nuance” was educated in Vilnius before joining the Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In the 2025/26 season, Edgaras Montvidas will sing Andres in Wozzeck in concert with Sir Simon Rattle and the Bayerische Rundfunks Orchester, perform Laca in Jenůfa with Opéra de Montreal, Count Vaudémont in Iolanta with Finnish National Opera and Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly with Opéra de Toulon. In concert, he returns to Vilnius, first as the headliner of the 50th Birthday Concert at the Lithuanian National Opera house in Vilnius, and later, as the title role in Lohengrin with the Lithuanian State Symphony, as well as a role debut as Cavarodossi in Tosca with the Pažaislis Music Festival.
In recent past seasons, Edgaras Montvidas sang Steva in Jenůfa at the Staatsoper Berlin, Alwa in Lulu with Theater an der Wien; Zürich Opernhaus, Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Opéra de Lausanne as Don José in Carmen, the Bregenzer Festspiele as Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Norwegian National Opera as Lensky in Eugene Onegin and Stravinsky’s Perséphone with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Moreover, he performed Boris in Katya Kabanová with Staatsoper Hamburg as well as with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic conducted by Karina Canellakis, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Opera North, Monteverdi Madrigals in a ballet production at Opernhaus Zürich conducted by Riccardo Minasi, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Dutch National Opera (DVD) and Oper Frankfurt, Grigori in Boris Godunov in a new production by Barrie Kosky for his debut at Opernhaus Zürich, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in the title role of La Clemenza di Tito. Finally, he performed the title role in the world première of Egmont by Christian Jost at the Theater an der Wien, the title role in Werther and Pinkerton with Opéra National de Lorraine, Nancy, the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann for Komische Oper Berlin; Flamand in Capriccio with La Monnaie, Brussels; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Semperoper Dresden and Anatol in Vanessa with Glyndebourne Festival.
Concert highlights have included Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Pierre Boulez; the Shepherd in Szymanowski’s King Roger, Le Rossignol and Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit; Szymanowski King Roger with Sir Antonio Pappano for the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome; Verdi Requiem on tour with the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner; Szymanowski’s Harnasie with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle; Ravel’s L’heure espagnole with the LSO and a concert tour of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Les Siècles, both conducted by François-Xavier Roth.
Recordings include Hélios in Félicien David’s Herculanum with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and Hervé Niquet; Marcomir in Saint-Saëns Les barbares, Gounod’s Le tribut de Zamora and Godard Dante with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and, in August 2020, Saint-Saëns Le timbre d’argent with Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth. On DVD, Glyndebourne Festival has released Vanessa and Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Madame Butterfly with Bregenzer Festespiele, and with Dutch National Opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Based in London, Edgaras has been awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts 2023; Lithuanian Order of Merit medal by President Dalia Grybauskaite and has twice been awarded the Lithuanian Theatre Award ‘The Golden Cross of the Stage’ (2009 and 2022).