Mikhail Timoshenko
Franco-Russian baritone
Praised for his “rare beauty of tone, at once powerful and balsamic” (Tagesspiegel), Franco-Russian baritone Mikhail Timoshenko pursues a career that takes him from major European opera stages to the more intimate world of Lied.
Born in the Urals and trained in Germany, he developed an essential part of his artistic identity in France. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris, where he made his debut on the company’s stage and also appeared in Jean-Stéphane Bron’s award-winning film L’Opéra. He had previously studied at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Michail Lanskoi.
Among his notable roles are Don Giovanni at the Opéra national du Capitole de Toulouse, Malatesta (Don Pasquale) at Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, Marcello (La Bohème) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Ottokar (Der Freischütz) at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Albert (Werther) at the Opéra de Lausanne, Chtchelkalov (Boris Godunov) at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Belcore (L’Elisir d’amore) at the Opéra national de Lorraine, and Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at the Opéra national de Paris and the Opéra national de Montpellier. He also took part in the creation of Alexandre Desplat’s En Silence.
In concert, Mikhail Timoshenko has collaborated with Teodor Currentzis, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Markus Poschner, Emmanuelle Haïm and Martin Haselböck. He has appeared at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Salzburg Festival, Bergen International Festival, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Berliner Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus Berlin.
Lied occupies a central place in his artistic life. Together with pianist Elitsa Desseva, he forms the Timoshenko–Desseva Duo. Winners of the Wigmore Hall / Independent Opera Song Competition, the International Hugo Wolf Competition in Stuttgart and the Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz, they have performed at Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Brucknerhaus Linz, the Musée d’Orsay, and at festivals including Heidelberger Frühling, Hitzacker and Boswil.
His discography includes Mozart Masses (Naxos), Im wachen Traume (ECM) and Une nouvelle fête baroque (Erato). With Elitsa Desseva, he recorded Jacques Ibert’s Quatre chansons de Don Quichotte (B Records) and released the album Eduard Erdmann: Lieder on Hänssler Classic in 2024. His performances have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3, SWR, WDR and Medici.tv.
A prizewinner of the International Singing Competition Bordeaux Médoc and the Siemens Opera Contest, Mikhail Timoshenko has also received the AROP and Cercle Carpeaux Prizes of the Opéra national de Paris as well as the Maria Callas Grand Prix in Greece.
Philanthropy plays an important role in his life: since 2009, Mikhail Timoshenko has given charity concerts in support of people with disabilities, notably in collaboration with the non-profit organisation Mayak.
