Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu made his Royal Opera debut in 2007 as Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) and has since sung Alfredo Germont (La traviata), Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) and Shepherd (Król Roger) for The Royal Opera.  Recent engagements include Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) and Rodolfo (La bohème) for Bayerische Staatsoper, Don José (Carmen), Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Faust (La damnation de Faust) and Des Grieux for Zurich Opera, Pinkerton and Roméo (Roméo et Juliette) for Vienna State Opera, Cavaradossi for the Roma Caracalla Festival and Don José for the Edinburgh International Festival and Dallas Opera. Upcoming highlights include a role debut as Lohengrin (Lohengrin) for Dallas Opera, appearances as Cavaradossi in the Oxford International Opera's inaugural performance of Tosca and returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper, Vienna State Opera and Santa Fe Opera.