The youth opera program was created at the Bolshoi Theater in 2009, where it imposed the most stringent requirements on young people wishing to perform on one of the most prestigious stages in the country. There was even a competitive selection, where soloists were selected according to several criteria - this is understandable, because now we need to look for young, active and talented ones who will eventually replace opera stars and will constitute the future of Russian opera, which has recently become very in demand.
The selection criteria included both external data and the natural origin of the vocal cords (timbre, range, purity), love for art and classical music, and many others. And, despite the youth of the participants in this program, there are a lot of talented performers in it, some of them, for example, are already shining on world stages.
Vdovin, the artistic director of this program, is, in addition to being a teacher and mentor, also an inspirer of his students. Therefore, by purchasing tickets to a concert of the artists of the Youth Opera Program, you will see how clearly they use their natural voices, from a sensual soprano to a confident baritone, coupled with the skill and perseverance of their teachers.
The soloists devote themselves entirely to the music, which is reflected in their high-quality performance. Everything is somehow truly sincere, sincere - with a Russian scope. You will be able to see such rising stars as Kikot, Mazurova, Karyazina, Strazhevich, Radchenko, Shkarupa and others who will perform various quintets, overtures, duets and excerpts from famous Russian and foreign operas classics.
The youth opera program is one of the most important areas of creative activity of the Bolshoi Theater. Over the four years of its existence, it has revealed to the public and the entire opera world the names of new talented performers who worthily continue the traditions of the most prominent representatives of the “golden age” of Russian opera. Tickets for the concert of the artists of the Youth Opera Program traditionally arouse great interest among listeners.
Young artists, participants of the MOP, perform with great success on the stages of the best theaters in the world, in the programs of prestigious vocal competitions and large-scale music forums. The collaboration between the leading Russian theater and the most famous opera companies in Washington, Nice, and Berlin continues. The best Russian musicians show great interest and always take part in all the performances of talented young people with pleasure.
This autumn will give fans of vocal art two meetings with young opera performers. The concert of the artists of the Youth Opera Program in Moscow, according to tradition, will be a bright, memorable event. Guests of the theater who have purchased tickets for the concert of the artists of the Youth Opera Program in Moscow will hear the most famous vocal works performed by young singers. Tickets to the concert of the artists of the Youth Opera Program will allow you to feel how talented young people live today.
The orchestra sat on the stage, the singers acted on the proscenium - a leveled orchestra pit. And there were even armchairs and tables, some mise-en-scène was indicated, and candelabra were carried out and carried away by slender, evening-dressed youths from the mimance. The toilets of all the participating girls looked very bright and successful, changing in different rooms (costume designer Elena Zaitseva).
The Bolshoi Theater orchestra sounded harmonious and correct, a little softer in the hands of the guest maestro Christopher Moulds, louder and more relaxed in our Alexander Sladkovsky.
What surprised and even upset us in general was that all participants seemed much stronger in the Western European repertoire. There were much fewer Russian arias, and much more comments on the performance. A plus for the organizers - on the monitors on the sides, the captions of the translation of foreign works into Russian were broadcast - a cultural interlinear translation, and not the old conditional translation, and Russian arias - into English.
The very beginning of the concert caused rather bewilderment. The idea that all the young singers, in an exaggerated manner, timidly, almost sneaking, came on stage in their everyday denim and T-shirt clothes is not a bad one. But as the background of this demonstration - here, they say, we are just ordinary guys - the overture to “Idomeneo” by V.A. sounded. Mozart. The depth, the almost cosmic quality of the music, which is always fresh for the perception, and this was the only purely orchestral number and, at the same time, sounded decent, did not in any way correspond to the “crush” on the stage.
But it turned out that “Idomeneo” continued to be performed by Alina Yarovaya. And this, in my opinion, is one of several repertoire mistakes - missteps of the directors. Having charmed me at the last chamber evening with her musical and scenic organics, Alina Yarovaya in the recitative and Ilia’s aria was too absorbed in the vocal difficulties of the part and the seriousness of the heroine’s experiences - which is why a throaty tint appeared in the sound. The feeling - the performance is exaggeratedly mature for such a lovely girl. When the same Yarovaya came out a few numbers later in a duet from “The Magic Flute” - it was a pearl! Such Papagena will decorate even Vienna, even Salzburg, without stretching it.
As expected, Pavel Kolgatin delighted with Nadir's romance from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. Excellent command of the piano, musical meaning of every word. Even a slightly flawed top note did not spoil the impression. It’s a pity that I didn’t have the opportunity to evaluate and compare the singer in the Russian repertoire.
The French page was continued by Venera Gimadieva with Juliet's waltz from Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. Well, what can I say – both Juliet and the scene performed at the finale of the concert and Violetta’s aria from Verdi’s “La Traviata” are already ready-made stage images. There were no reasons for criticism - there were only exclamation marks in the working program. If only the young artist kept everything as it is - command of a light, clear soprano, refined technique, plasticity, perfect Italian. Finally, something that we are often sanctimoniously ashamed to say: yes, looking at her is an aesthetic pleasure; there are few of those in Hollywood!
Most of the numbers alternated according to the contrast of musical material, so the romantic lightness of Juliet was replaced by baroque severity - the duet of Cornelia and Sextus from Handel’s opera “Julius Caesar”. It was performed by Nadezhda Karyazina and Alexandra Kadurina, an already established duet. It’s surprising that both of them are declared mezzo-sopranos, but how different the nature of the voices is, perfectly merging in the ensemble.
Nadezhda Karyazina is actually a contralto, a rare gift of nature, the almost masculine density of timbre combined with her tall stature and the singer’s article immediately bring to mind the “boy” roles of Vanya or Ratmir, for which there is always a shortage of performers. So far, she has noticeable intonation problems, and less stage “courage” than other participants, but all this, perhaps, can be overcome.
Alexandra Kadurina is a light mezzo, on the contrary, just one of those who impress not with the voice itself, but with the control of it. It seemed that she had successfully overcome the technical roughness heard in the chamber program in February. And I was especially impressed by the scene with Charlotte’s letters from Massenet’s Werther, which opened the second part of the concert. Here's to hitting the top ten! The subtlety of phrasing, the meaningful singing of each word, the dramatic intensity - all this was performed by Kadurina. And the artist’s youth and very ballet-like thinness enhanced the authenticity of Goethe’s heroine.
All vocalists know that Lyudmila’s cavatina from Glinka’s “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is an insidious thing. But Ulyana Aleksyuk, who performed it, is a fairly experienced artist, already involved in the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater. Having started well, the singer began to lower her intonation already in the words “... about my love, about my dear Dnieper” - and so she went out of tune with almost the entire aria until the finale. Those who don’t hear this may have liked it, but for me it gave me an uncomfortable feeling of struggling with the tonality. And, lo and behold, the virtuoso Filin Polonaise from A. Tom’s “Mignon” was sung by the same Alexyuk very successfully, with brilliance, only forgivably missing a couple of flourishes.
A difficult battle with Pyotr Ilyich’s “nonvocality” was the scene of Robert and Vaudemont from Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta.” My winter favorite Alexey Lavrov this time clearly pushed his beautiful baritone, and in the sung “Who can compare with my Matilda” he sounded harsh and uninteresting. Then he appeared only in ensembles - he gave several captivating phrases of the Count in the finale from “The Marriage of Figaro”: perhaps in the solo it was a clamp from excitement.
Boris Rudak, undoubtedly, overcame Vaudemont's most difficult, instrumentally written romance, suffering painfully, almost without hitting the notes. (During the intermission I heard the orchestra members justifiably grumbling about the falsity of this particular performer). And the same Rudak, whose voice is very interesting in itself, started Rudolf’s aria from Puccini’s “La Bohème” low, sounded well in the middle, carefully took the notorious upper “C”, but, as if scared, did not do the usual fermata on it.
Konstantin Shushakov added “tar” to the Russian part of the program. Wonderful Papageno - not only vocally, just a Mozart type! But at the same time, Yeletsky’s aria from “The Queen of Spades” - as he reported, bare notes, sometimes questionable intonation, an unreasonably fast tempo, nothing from the noble Prince!
Two performers performed only in the second part, singing a single Russian aria. Oksana Volkova, whom I had not heard before, in Joanna’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s “The Maid of Orleans” tried not only to sing, but also to be a real warrior-maiden - which is facilitated by her bright appearance. But the unevenness of her voice and the somewhat low intonation in the reprise prevented her from believing it completely.
The only bass participant, Grigory Shkarupa, presented an almost rarity in modern times - the Miller's aria from Dargomyzhsky's "Rusalka". Once popular, this opera today has unfairly found itself on the periphery of the interests of singers and directors. Oh, how nicely he began the genre “So all of you young girls...”, but he couldn’t stand the complex three-part form a little, by the end he began to clearly get tired, he just finished singing the aria - and that’s all.
I would especially like to mention Svetlana Kasyan. Her performance evoked a difficult feeling. This young singer has enormous potential, her voice is a jewel, a powerful dramatic soprano, capable of anything in the future - even the “bloody” verists and Wagner. A paradoxical combination with a miniature graceful figure and the profile of an Egyptian figurine, an obvious stage temperament. But you just need to be careful with all this! So far, both of her numbers again resembled clothes “for growth.” Lisa's aria from "The Queen of Spades" - the tragic confession at Kanavka - was performed rather low, rather not even in tonality, but in the artificially deepened sound of her voice. “Oh, I’m exhausted with grief...” - I wanted more flow, breadth, and the phrases were a little short, like a student. And I was completely disheartened by the choice of a Western aria – the Scene of Elizabeth at the Crucifixion from Verdi’s Don Carlos. Famously! Mature prima donnas don’t often decide to sing this in concerts. The volume and vocal complexity here are combined with some kind of prophetic depth, even supra-plot of the music. (an obvious semantic analogy is “The Streltsy Nest Sleeps” in Shaklovity’s “Khovanshchina”). For all its simplicity, this aria captivates anyone listening to it for the first time. Yes, they played the soulful orchestral introduction in an original way - Svetlana Kasyan appeared in the spotlight in the stalls, walked regally, climbed onto the stage, leaning on the hand of a young man in tails, her crimson dress evoked associations with Mary Stuart on the scaffold. She started out with a completely different sound than in Liza - with a lighter, harsher sound. And, in general, all the vocal text was voiced competently. But only! The unusually fast pace and some abruptness of phrasing were more likely associated with Verdi’s Lady Macbeth, and not with the sacrificial sufferer Elizabeth of Valois.
Each section of the concert was completed by ensembles. And if the first of them is a super hit of all time, the famous sextet from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” seemed performed somewhat formally, then the carefully finished finale of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” became a spectacular end to the evening.
Despite all the criticism, this is an optimistic remark. On leaving the hall, I remember the young man’s remark addressed to his companion: “Everything is fine, only my palms hurt, I’m tired of clapping.” So that at the performances and concerts of current graduates of the Bolshoi Theater Youth Program, the audience's palms will always hurt!
The Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater is a special stage. Here you can hear those works that are not tolerated on the historical and modern stages. And this hall is especially loved by the participants of the theater’s Youth Opera Program. This year they prepared for the audience a series of creative evenings dedicated to various composers. Tickets for Works by P.I. Tchaikovsky are already on sale.
Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky is one of our national symbols. Who hasn't heard "The Queen of Spades" or "Eugene Onegin"? Even those who are not interested in classical music know the arias from these operas. But young artists will perform at the concert not only the most famous, but also rare works that few people know. If you want to be among those who will hear the “unknown Tchaikovsky,” we recommend that you buy tickets for the concert of the artists of the Youth Opera Program.
This evening is not the only interesting event expected in the fall. The full version is presented on our website.
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