Ariunbaatar Ganbataar in Il trovatore at the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, January 2026 / Photo: Marcello Orselli
On Saturday, a broadcast of Nabucco from Berlin offered the chance to hear another great Mongolian baritone quickly gaining ground on the international stage: Ariunbaatar Ganbataar.
Parterre Box‘s Harry Rose caught Ganbataar in an Otello in Parma last fall and found much to admire:
The standout of Friday’s performance turned out to be the Mongolian baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar as Iago, a fine, understated actor with a handsome and wisely wielded instrument. He balances harsh declamation with note-perfect singing, the Credo in particular coming off with an ease and suaveness that hinted at what lay beneath this Iago’s more placid veneer. Sophisticated as an actor and scrupulous as a singer, this is a talent to watch.
Ganbataar’s Berlin run as Nabucco goes until next week, but he’ll return to the role twice next season: in Parma in October and in Los Angeles in February, the latter engagement being his American debut in a staged opera. Anticipating those performances and seizing on the excitement of Saturday’s broadcast, Parterre Box puts on offer a clip of Ganbataar as the Count di Luna in a performance of Il trovatore recorded earlier this year in Genoa.
Verdi: Il trovatore, “Il balen del suo sorriso”
Ariunbaatar Ganbataar
Conductor: Giampaolo Bisanti
Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa
15 January 2026
In-house
