Ukrainian opera lovers are not having the best time. The US has a specialized Opera News magazine with information on all major international operas and new DVD and CD releases by leading operatic stars. Russian opera lovers have the magazine Afisha [Billboard] that keeps them up-to-date with opera festivals and singers. But we can only dream about this.
Opera videotapes are impossible to find, and there is a dearth of radio and televisions broadcasts of operatic masterpieces. The National Opera of Ukraine stages one or two premieres a season. Its playbill is a sad sight, with the same repertoire repeated year in and year out, for decades on end. So we have to content ourselves with stories from our performers who are popular in the West about Europe and the US’s respect for the operatic genre, which has been fascinating the world for over 400 years, and look at photographs of scenes from operas staged by multinational troupes. If we’re lucky, we may chance upon a foreign-made amateur video of an entire performance and watch it, regretting that all of this has been made for them and not for us.
Susanna Chakhoyan, a soloist with the National Opera of Ukraine, recently participated in one of these international events.
“For over three years now I have been taking part in the Shaliapin Festival in Kazan, which has a long-standing tradition. The festival organizers invite performers, stage directors, and conductors from around the world. This year it was held for the 24th time, and its launch was dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birthday. The festival began with his opera The Magic Flute.”
“At one time your teacher, Yevhenia Semenivna Miroshnychenko, was unparalleled in her role as Queen of the Night. Kyiv music lovers still remember this production that was staged by the National Opera of Ukraine. You too must have dreamed of performing this extremely complex part. In the aria of seething rage alone the performer has to sing four F notes in the third octave.”
“It was precisely with this intention that I went off to audition in Kazan. Since I was extremely nervous, instead of the Queen of the Night aria, I decided to perform Pamina’s aria simply to warm up and calm down. But when I finished singing, I heard applause and shouts of ‘bravo’ from the audience. Everybody jumped out of their seats and started talking.
The producer and conductor told me: ‘Now we have Pamina. You will sing in the primary cast.’ They had found the character they were looking for. The opera is produced as a colorful fantasy show, and the stage sets are changed more than 50 times. When I watched this performance from the audience, I found myself thinking that it is hard to focus on the music because the whole time you are tempted to examine the scenery and costumes and watch the whole extravaganza.
The festival organizers invited a director from the South African Republic, Andrew Bott, who was also the art director, and the Swedish conductor Mika Eichenholz. The cast was also multinational. The Austrian, Manolito Mario Franz, who works in Munich, played my lover Prince Tamino. The part of the High Priest Sorastro was performed by the Bulgarian singer Petar Naidenov, while the Queen of the Night — Albina Shahimuratova — is a native of Kazan, but she performs in Moscow. During rehearsals and performances there was a very friendly atmosphere among the colleagues. We all helped each other.”
“How was it working on the part of Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of the Night?”
“It was interesting. This opera is a mystery. Many secrets remain unanswered. Who is Pamina’s father? Why did the magic flute appear? What does the golden globe represent, which was stolen by the Queen of the Night and provoked a war between the forces of good and evil?”
“How did critics perceive you in this role?”
“In a very original way. Certain associations with popular figures in our political community were created. Pamina is a female leader endowed with special powers. She helps Tamino with all his tests in order to enter the circle of the chosen. So about my heroine the critics wrote that she is a Ukrainian woman endowed with power and strength.”
“Do you possess such traits of Ukrainian women as love of freedom and striving for leadership?”
“Yes. Although I am part Armenian, I think Ukrainian culture and mentality have influenced me to a greater degree.”
“Do you have friends in the Armenian community?”
“They often invite me to take part in their events. I hope that someday, with the help of the Armenian Diaspora, I will visit Armenia, where I have never been, unfortunately. Once, when I was performing on the stage of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw concert hall, I was approached by some Armenians, who presented me with a statue of the Madonna and Child carved out of black crystal. They had seen my surname on the bill and driven from a town outside Amsterdam to hear the ‘Armenian woman from Ukraine’ sing in George Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers in a production by the Kazan Theater.”
“This is another wonderful opera that is never staged in Kyiv. What about your dream to sing the part of the Queen of the Night?”
“I rehearsed this part in Kazan and maybe I will perform it someday on the stage of the National Opera of Ukraine. I will dedicate it to my famous teacher Yevhenia Miroshnychenko.”
“What kind of relationship did you have with Yevhenia Semenivna? Word has it that she is very strict in class and has been known to hit students.”
“This has happened. I cried during classes. But this is not worth discussing. Just like Prince Tamino in The Magic Flute undergoes certain tests, every creative person must go through certain stages in life, like tears and insults, but no matter what, an artist must find the strength to endure and realize what is most important. The most important thing is to get a good education and become a master. I must say, though, that Yevhenia Semenivna loves her students like a mother, and this is the most important thing.”
“The National Opera has a large number of soloists. As a result, singers have to wait for months for their turn to perform on their home stage. They consider themselves lucky whenever they are called in to replace a performer who has taken ill. How much progress has been made to set up the Little Opera Theater, of which Yevhenia Miroshnychenko has spoken so much?”
“There is a permit to open the theater. The problem is that the former building of the Tramway Workers’ Club in Lukyanivska Street, which has been allocated for the theater, has not been renovated because of lack of funds. The Little Opera will open next year. I hope that when the theater opens, I will perform on its stage.”
“You have won numerous international competitions. You receive invitations to participate in international projects for which you rehearse parts that you do not perform on your home stage. Why do you appear so seldom on the stage of the National Opera?”
“The fact that I cannot replenish my creativity here on my home turf is a big problem. Our theater’s repertoire is based on operas by Verdi and Puccini, which require strong, dramatic voices. We have many female singers with these kinds of voices, and they have a wonderful chance to realize themselves in the theater. Meanwhile, for lyrical and coloratura sopranos voices like mine there is practically nothing to sing.”
“For example, the famous singer Viktoria Lukyanets, who now lives in Vienna, has seven soprano parts from Donizetti operas in her repertoire. Why not stage the wonderful works by this outstanding Italian composer, like Daughter of the Regiment or The Elixir of Love on our stage? Or Mozart’s The Magic Flute?”
“A singer cannot have a ‘down time’ or get out of shape while s/he waits for new roles. The administration has its own plans. Sometimes they coincide with my plans, and sometimes they don’t. So I look for any opportunity to sing. Recently I gave a solo concert at the National Philharmonic together with the Orchestra of Folk Instruments directed by Viktor Hutsalo, during which I performed Ukrainian vocal music.”
“Would you tell us about your participation in the famous Viennese Ball at the National Opera? The number of singers who were honored to participate in this event was quite limited. Later you performed at a masquerade ball at the October Palace.”
“It’s a very good thing that this beautiful tradition is being revived in Ukraine. At the National Opera I performed music from several popular operettas: Adel’s couplets from The Bat by Johann Strauss and the song of Judith from the same-titled operetta by Franz Lehar. At the masquerade ball I performed The Dnipro Waltz together with Viktor Hutsalo’s Orchestra of Folk Instruments, Tales of the Vienna Forest with the radio orchestra conducted by Volodymyr Sheiko, and Olympia’s aria from Jacques Offenbach’s operetta The Tales of Hoffman. The organizers surprised the audience by bringing in a porcelain doll that emerged from a box onstage, and I sang the couplets of the doll Olympia as if I were this marionette.
“I liked the festive atmosphere of these two nights: the performances were followed by a ball, which was an opportunity to socialize with various interesting people. As far as I know, the organizers are planning to hold these balls on a regular basis. The next one will take place this spring.
Austria’s Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Miess personally invited me to the Viennese Ball. Incidentally, after I won three prizes at the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna in 2005, the Austrian Embassy learned about me, and its staff members have become my regular listeners. You know, when I was singing Adel’s couplets at the ball, I noticed the ambassador among those standing in the front row, and decided to address my song to him. He kindly went to the podium and played along.
For my performance at the ball I was presented with two dresses by the French fashion designer Karen Babayan, who made them especially for me. By the way, the National Opera custom made a dress for me only once — for the premiere of the opera Romeo and Juliet by Charles Gounod. In general, we singers have to perform in shared costumes that have to be fitted to each particular figure.”
“Is it a coincidence that a Ukrainian singer of Armenian descent had a dress made for her by a Frenchman of Armenian descent?”
“Not quite. We met at a concert at the National Opera, which was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Then the Armenian Diaspora asked Karen Babayan to make a dress for me. We have been friends ever since. Despite his young age, Karen has his own individual style. I was very impressed with his collection dedicated to the theme of roses, which was displayed during the Viennese Ball. I was the last model of the show.
“By the way, the masquerade ball at the October Palace was more democratic. Tickets were much cheaper, which is why even students could afford them. I think that balls are another opportunity to introduce European traditions into the Ukrainian lifestyle. They help improve relations between men and women, while the heightened mood and romantic relations during balls later penetrate daily life.”
“Susanna, how is it that a beauty like you is still not married?”
“First of all, I am still young. Secondly, men probably perceive performing women the way they appear onstage: as magnificent and inaccessible duchesses and princesses, which is why they are afraid even to approach them. There’s that. But real men, who are not afraid of obstacles, still exist, and there are such men in my milieu. I believe that I will still find my destiny.”
