Concert Stars of the Mariinsky Theatre in Chaliapin`s legacy . Sergei Aleksashkin (bass), Yevgeny Nikitin (bass) and Vladimir Vaneyev (bass) World famous Mariinsky Ballet and Opera Theatre - Opera and Concert Hall
Schedule for Stars of the Mariinsky Theatre in Chaliapin`s legacy . Sergei Aleksashkin (bass), Yevgeny Nikitin (bass) and Vladimir Vaneyev (bass) 2022
Bass-baritone: Yevgeny Nikitin Bass: Sergei Alexashkin Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov Composer: Alexander Dargomyzhsky
Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra
Stars of the Mariinsky Opera Company
featuring Sergei Aleksashkin (bass)
and Yevgeny Nikitin (bass) The programme includes:
Scenes and arias from the operas The Power of the Fiend by
Alexander Serov, Rusalka by Alexander
Dargomyzhsky and Aleko by Sergey Rachmaninoff
Chaliapin at the Mariinsky Theatre
On 1 February 1895, on his twenty-second birthday, Fyodor Chaliapin sang at a
closed audition for singers at the Mariinsky Theatre. The same day, his contract
had been signed, whereby the young artiste was to appear in three debut
performances: Faust (Mephistopheles), Ruslan and Lyudmila
(Ruslan) and Carmen (Zuniga). The singer appeared on the stage of the Imperial
theatre for the first time on 5 April 1895 as Mephistopheles in
Charles Gounod’s opera Faust. The newspapers reported muted praise:
St Petersburg was not trustful of the singer… “I appeared with such
enthusiasm and with such faith in this dear paradise, the Mariinsky Theatre.
Here – I dreamed – I would develop my God-given powers. Here
I will find quiet freedom and true art,” Chaliapin recalled. But in actual fact
everything was more complicated than that. The board considered the singer too
young and did not give him any major roles. Only once, at the end of his first
season, wanting to help the young singer, did the bass Mikhail Koryakin feign
illness on the day Alexander Dargomyzhsky’s opera Rusalka was being
performed. Chaliapin was very familiar with the role of the Miller, yet he
nonetheless decided to ask for acting advice from Mamont Dalsky, a performer at
the Alexandrinsky Theatre and the darling of St Petersburg. The performance
proved a tremendous success. At one of the young performer’s appearances one
month earlier, he had been seen by Savva Mamontov and not long after that
Chaliapin became a soloist with the Moscow Private Opera. Chaliapin returned
to the Mariinsky Theatre only several years later, late in 1899 when his
name was well known throughout Russia. And one year later he was known all over
the world. At the Mariinsky Theatre he sang his most glorious roles – Boris
Godunov, Varlaam, Salieri, Dosifei, Galitsky, the Demon, Susanin, Farlaf,
Holofernes, Don Basilio, Don Quichotte, Mйphistophйlиs (Gounod) and Mefistofele
(Boito). In 1911 the singer decided to try his skills as a director, staging
Modest Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina. The tenor Ivan Yershov, Chaliapin’s
great colleague at the Mariinsky Theatre, confirmed that “If he is given the
chance to direct our entire repertoire, what heights the Mariinsky Theatre would
attain great heights!”
The Russian singing tradition from Chaliapin to the present day in the voice
of Aleksashkin is, undoubtedly, tangible. He can concentrate on
the vocal side of the role, subjecting his existence to the spirit of the music.
Let us add to this his talent to undergo transformations, his ability to express
through a gesture or facial expression the spiritual state of his character, the
entire range of emotions from tormenting grief to the triumph of will power.
Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti
A rich, intense and majestic bass with powerful overtones, the powerful
figure to match the voice and the subtle performance in terms of acting and
singing. Vladimir Vaneyev carries the role without
over-pressing it, without overusing the forte, without excess pathetique, but
with inner power and conviction. His skill and immersion into the role seem to
be absolute. Kultura
...Listening to Nikitin’s powerful yet intense voice, admiring his perfect
and free control of all the sound ranges and loving his heroic image that is no
less bewitching than his voice, it is impossible not to think of Chaliapin.
Nikitin conveys a sense of power combined with the broad scale
of veiled compassion felt by the great performer towards his character.
MatthewParis.com
Schedule for Stars of the Mariinsky Theatre in Chaliapin`s legacy . Sergei Aleksashkin (bass), Yevgeny Nikitin (bass) and Vladimir Vaneyev (bass) 2022
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