Janis Apeinis

Biography

Janis Apeinis is the leading baritone of the Latvian National Opera. His repertoire in Riga includes the title roles of Nabucco, Simone Boccanegra, Eugene Onegin and Don Giovanni, Escamillo Carmen, Michonnet Adriana Lecouvreur, Scarpia Tosca, Marcello La Bohème, Sharpless Madama Butterfly, Valentin Faust, Marquis de la Force Dialogues des Carmélites, Lescaut Manon Lescaut, Germont La Traviata, Conte di Luna Il Trovatore, Renato Un ballo in maschera, Tonio I Pagliacci, Enrico Ashton Lucia di Lammermoor, Malatesta Don Pasquale, Conte Le nozze di Figaro, Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Yeletsky The Queen of Spades, Eisenstein Die Fledermaus, Claudius in Kalnins' Hamlet, Three-headed Demon King in Kalnins' I Played, I Danced as well as leading roles in E.Ešenvalds’ operas Joseph is a fruitful bough and The Immured.

As a guest Janis Apeinis has appeared at Aalto Theater Essen in 2022 as Renato Un ballo in maschera as well as at the Tiroler Landestheater in the title role of Eugene Onegin and Carlo Gérard Andrea Chénier. He is a regular guest at the Vanemuine Theatre in Tartu, Estonia. In 2017 he performed Silvio I Pagliacci with Theatre d'Operette de Lyon and in 2020 sang Enrico Ashton Lucia di Lammermoor at Theater Koblenz. He has performed the title role of Eugene Onegin since 2013 at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St.Petersburg, the production has received two Golden Mask awards, for the “best opera production” and the “best stage director”.

Janis Apeinis graduated from the Jozeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music and received his Master’s degree in 2004. The same year he became prizewinner of the Jozeps Vitols Vocal Competition. In 2003 he made his stage debut at the Latvian National Opera. He has won the important Latvijas Gaze "Best Opera Singer" award in 2008, 2011 and 2012.