Božidar Smiljanić
bass-baritone
© Barbara Aumüller
During the 2024/25 season Božidar Smiljanić adds new roles to his repertoire: 2nd Officer, Theatre Director / Servant, Pharmacist & 2nd Knight of the Grail in new productions of Henze's The Prince of Homburg, Berg's Lulu, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's Doctor & Pharmacist & Wagner's Parsfal, and repeats his wonderful portrayal of Garibaldo in Handel's Rodelinda. Last season he enjoyed great success with roles including Achilla (new production of Giulio Cesare in Egitto), the title roles in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte and Zuniga in Carmen. Since joining the Ensemble in 2018/19 he has thrilled audiences with roles such as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Hans Foltz, Iwan Schuran & Zoroastro in new productions of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tchaikovsky's Sorceress and Handel's Orlando. Recent guest engagements have included the title role in Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Vlaanderen, a role he sang at English National Opera in 2020. Other roles in Frankfurt have included the Nightwatchman / Master of Masquerades in a new Nielsen's Masquerade, Zuniga in Carmen, the Doge of Venice in a new Rossini's Bianca e Falliero, which went to the Tirol Summer Festival in Erl, where he also sang in a new production of Chausson's rarely performed Roi Arthus, the One-Armed Brother in the last revival of our breath-taking Die Frau ohne Schatten and Fernando Villabella in Rossini's La gazza ladra / Thieving Magpie. Other important roles in Frankfurt have included Handel's Ariodate (Xerxes) and Farasmane (Radamisto), Sergeant (Manon Lescaut) and Eumée (Fauré's Pénélope). He was a member of English National Opera's Harewood Artists Programme who made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2014 and has appeared with companies including Scottish Opera, Garsington Opera and Glyndebourne on Tour. Concert work has included Masetto (Don Giovanni) with the Bamberg Symphony under Jakub Hrůša in the Elb Philharmonie in Hamburg, La damnation de Faust with the Royal Liverpool Philhamonic Orchestra under John Nelson, Gilbert & Sullivan's Yeomen of the Guard with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under John Wilson and Handel's Messiah with Hervé Niquet & Le Concert spirituel in the Philharmonie de Paris. He sang Don Simone in La finta semplice conducted by Ian Page at the re-opening of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. While studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London he toured Europe and the US with Bach cantatas under Masaaki Suzuki.