Kazan opera almost meets Giuseppe's requirements
On 1 February, International Opera Festival named after Fyodor Shalyapin opened in Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Musa Jalil. This festival has been organized in Kazan for the 34th time. Correspondents of Realnoe Vremya tell what the theatre prepared for music lovers this year and how it was.
Verdi is the most popular composer
Despite the crisis, over 50 soloists and conductors who came from nine countries will participate at Shalyapin festival. As for the plays of the festival, Giuseppe Verdi was the most popular composer. So, on 1 February, Yefim Maizel, a producer from the US, presented Verdi's Il Trovatore. La Traviata, Rigoletto, Aida and Nabucco are next in turn.
The theatre programme is a bit different from the programme of the previous years. One novelty is that this year the gala concert is prepared by the participants of Youth Opera Programme of Bolshoi Theatre, who penetrate into the difficulties of vocality under the auspices of one of the best Russian teachers Dmitry Vdovin.
There will be Albina Shagimuratova's recital, a singer who is cementing her position in the niche of opera temple of fame. It is curious that Shagimuratova will perform to the accompaniment of the great piano player Boris Berezovsky, not with the symphony orchestra. The intrigue is how these two stars will co-exist in one musical space.
What is more, Italian opera is represented by The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini and Il Trovatore by Giacomo Puccini. On 2 February, the audience will acquaint with Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Queen of Spades is the next fully-fledged premiere of Kazan opera. Spectators will give their opinion on the work of Yuri Aleksandrov.
Apart from Queen of Spades, Tchaikovsky's oeuvre is represented by Evgeniy Onegin. And on 13 February, Shalyapin's birthday, spectators traditionally can enjoy Boris Godunov with the participation of Mikhail Kazakov in title role, a soloist of Kazan Opera and Bolshoi Theatre. By the way, on 13 February there will be a requiem in remembrance of the servant of God Fyodor in Epiphany Cathedral of Kazan where the greatest bass singer was baptized. And flowers will traditionally be laid at the base of his monument. Another unusual event for opera festival is a synthetic play called Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace) Mass in B minor by Bach directed by Vladimir Vasilyev, a great dancer, where choreography and vocal harmoniously combine.
We were first
Stability is one the characteristics of Shalyapin festival. Created more than a quarter of a century ago by the director of the theatre Raufal Mukhamtezyanov, the festival of Kazan laid the foundation of the movement in the former USSR. Even famous Stars of the White Nights festival is younger than ours. Theatre managers understood that a festival was an excellent way to acquaint the audience with new performers and attract people to concert halls.
The opening of the festival, which was held by the support of the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Ministry of Culture of Tatarstan, was traditional: people waiting for extra tickets near the entrance, crowded concert hall and sauntering dressy people. The audience was not stingy in applauses during the acts and enjoyed the champagne and the performance of Zakhar Steinberg string quartet during the entr'acte.
Without angels
The premiere of Il Travatorewas in September 2015. Chronologically, it was the last premiere of the theatre and the first one in this season. The producer is Yefim Maizel, who came from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory, has been working as assistant inMetropolitan Opera for a long time. So, his carefulness in the psychological motivation of characters and clear work with mimic ensemble are well-grounded.
It seems that in Maizel'splay there are no sinless characters except Leonora (Maria Pakhar, a soloist of the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre). Both Azucena (Dina Khamzina, Astana Opera) and Count di Luna (Evez Abdulla, Germany) are hell-bent with revenge. According to the director, he wanted to show that evil, which is correct at first sight, can generate only evil. Violence will never bring to peace and harmony. Today's topical thought was solved by Maizel in Il Trovatore.
Verdi himself said that a good tenor, good baritone, good soprano and good mezzo-soprano are necessary for the successof his opera. It would be like this but the tenor Georgiy Oniani's illness impeded. It was said in entr'acte that the singer was ill (soloists also suffer from influenza), and the spectators were sympathetic. Maizel's tragic and mystic play where tongues of flame on video projection on the scene devoured the gipsy, and walls of the castle are dull and mysterious is an example of the play that was created as a homageto the composer. The producer managed to illustrate fantastically the beautiful modulation of Verdi's music when a tragic fragment is followed by lyric and where chores are harmonious.
The tenor's illness is sad news but it did not spoil the overall impression of the play. And it can be said that Shalyapin festival has raised the bar high from the very beginning.
