Giorgio Surian (Rijeka, 1954) is a distinguished Croatian bass-baritone and National Opera Principal, widely regarded as one of the most prominent vocal artists on the Croatian and European opera scene. He received his musical education at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and the conservatories in Trieste and Padua, later perfecting his craft at the prestigious Teatro alla Scala’s training centre in Milan.
He made his operatic debut at the age of twenty at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka, launching a remarkable international career. Surian has since performed on some of the world’s most renowned stages: La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Arena di Verona, Opéra National de Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, Teatro Real in Madrid, and festivals such as Salzburg and the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
With more than 160 bass and bass-baritone roles to his credit, he has collaborated with some of the greatest conductors of our time, including Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Carlos Kleiber, and Claudio Abbado, as well as celebrated directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Luca Ronconi, and Werner Herzog. Since 2008, he has also been active as a professor at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.
For his outstanding contribution to the art of music, he has received numerous awards, including the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Marko Marulić, the Milka Trnina, Vladimir Ruždjak, and Orlando Awards, and two Croatian Theatre Awards – for his portrayal of Macbeth and for lifetime achievement. In 2021, he was appointed Director of Opera at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.