During the 2024–2025 season, Russian-American tenor Viktor Antipenko made his role and house debut singing Canio in I Pagliacci at Staatsoper Hannover with conductor Masaru Kumakura and director Dirk Schmeding, before returning to Theater Dortmund to revive his portrayal of Siegmund in Die Walküre under the baton of Gabriel Feltz, directed by Peter Konwitschny. Antipenko was reunited with conductor Rafael Payare to open the Caramoor Summer Music Festival with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and he made his Fort Worth Symphony debut as Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, conducted by Robert Spano and directed by James Robinson.
In 2023–2024, he made debuts at the Sydney Opera House singing Luigi in Il tabarro under the baton of Lidiya Yankovskaya with Opera Australia, performed Siegmund in Die Walküre at Pacific Opera Victoria, and reprised his signature role of Siegmund at Atlanta Opera, conducted by Arthur Fagen and directed by Tomer Zvulun. He also returned to the New National Theatre Tokyo of Japan to perform Lensky in Eugene Onegin. Antipenko was added to the roster of Lyric Opera of Chicago where he covered the role of Radames in Aida with Music Director Enrique Mazzola at the helm. In concert, he joined conductor Franz Krager for performances of Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Moores School Symphony Orchestra alongside baritone Sergei Leiferkus, and made his San Diego Symphony debut performing Siegmund in an Act 1 concert of Die Walküre with Music Director Rafael Payare.
In previous seasons, Antipenko made house debuts at Scottish Opera for performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh as Luigi in Il tabarro in a production by Sir David McVicar; and Lyric Opera of Kansas City debut as Don José in Carmen with Roberto Kalb on the podium. Antipenko returned to Staatstheater Kassel for Hermann in Pique Dame and Israeli Opera for his role debut as Manrico in Il trovatore. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Pinkerton in the famous Anthony Minghella production of Madama Butterfly. Antipenko also made his role and house debut performing Radamès in Aida at the Israeli Opera, conducted by Giuliano Carella and directed by Stathis Livathinos, and debuted at Arizona Opera as Don José in Carmen under the baton of Christopher Allen. He rounded out the season by performing Scriabin’s Symphony No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells under Leon Botstein as part of Bard’s SummerScape series.
Antipenko sang Siegmund in an Act 1 concert of Die Walküre at the Frischluft und Musick Festival Ortenau in Germany alongside Günther Groissböck and Cornelia Beskow under the baton of Michael Güttler. Additional highlights include singing Prince Guidon in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel at The Dallas Opera; the title role in Samson et Dalila at Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck; Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Theater Chemnitz; Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra with Tiroler Landestheater; Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre for Theater Chemnitz; and a Don José in Carmen for a semi-staged concert version at Lotte Concert Hall in South Korea.
Antipenko has sung at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bolshoi Theatre, Seattle Opera, Ópera de Oviedo, Staatstheater Kassel, Opéra de Rouen, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, New York Metamorphoses Orchestra, Opéra de Lyon, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Hawaii Opera Theater, at places as far reaching as the Grand Philharmonie Hall in St. Petersburg, Heidelberger Schlossfestspiele Musikfestival, and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow.
