| Erik Kurmangaliev | |
| Birth Date: | 2 January 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Kulsary, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union |
| Death Place: | Moscow, Russia |
| Occupation: | opera singer |
Erik Kurmangaliev (2 January 1959 – 13 November 2007) was a Russian-Kazakh opera singer, actor and a leading public figure in Russia's perestroika music scene.[1] [2]
Kurmangaliev was born in Kazakhstan, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union.[3] He attended a music conservatory in the city of Almaty,[1] and later transferred to the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow.[1] He was known for an unusual countertenor voice.[1]
Kurmangaliev debuted in 1980 at the Leningrad Philharmonia.[1] He later performed in Alfred Shnitke's Second Symphony and Dr. Faust cantata during his career.[1] His career reached his peak when he teamed up with director Roman Viktyuk in the early 1990s, when he appeared in the Russian language version of David Hwang's M. Butterfly.[1] Kurmangaliev made his last appearance in film appearance in Rustam Khamdamov's Parallel Voices.[1]
At one time, Kurmangaliev acted under nickname Erik Salim-Meruert, which are the combined names of his father and mother.
He died in Moscow on November 13, 2007, of a liver infection at the age of 47.[1]