Niakan, Mahdi
No. 53
Voice type: Tenor
Country: Iran
Date of birth: 18 December, 1986
The tenor’s birth name is Mahdi Zareiniakan, he was born in 1986 in Tehran, Iran. Since 2017, he is on master’s studies with Prof. Ulf Bästlein at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, having received his bachelor’s degree in that year with Prof. Annemarie Zeller at the same university. He took masterclasses and private lessons with KS. Giacomo Aragall, Prof. Wolfgang Müller-Lorenz, KS Ildikó Raimondi, at the AIMS (American Institute of Musical Studies) in Graz with Thomas Harper, Dorit Hanak, Darryl Cooper, as well as with Fiorenza Cossotto. His stage experiences include: Bühne Baden, Teatro Miotto Spilimbergo (Italy), Theater im Palais (TiP) – Graz, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Haus für Musik und Musiktheater (MUMUTH) in Graz, the Operettenspiele Murau festival and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, alongside performing in concerts with conductors Johannes Wildner and Gerrit Prießnitz, among others.
Competition Repertoire
Preliminary
Liszt: Liebesträume – O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst
Donizetti: Una furtiva lagrima – Nemorino’s romance from L’elisir d’amore
Puccini: Addio fiorito asil – Pinkerton’s aria from Madama Butterfly
Semi-final
Puccini: Che gelida manina! – Rodolfo’s aria from La bohème
Gounod: L’amour! L’amour!... Ah! lève-toi, soleil! – Roméo’s aria from Roméo et Juliette
Final
Gounod: Salut! demeure chaste et pure – Faust’s cavatina from Faust
Donizetti: Tombe degli avi miei… Fra poco a me ricovero – Edgardo’s recitative and aria from Lucia di Lammermoor
Mozart: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön – Tamino’s aria from Die Zauberflöte