The National Opera of Ukraine continues to please the audience with meetings with masters. Recently the soloist of the Vienna Opera Marian Talaba, who started his career on Kyiv stage, performed with the leading Kyiv vocalists Tetiana Anisimova, Lilia Hrevtsova, and Serhii Mahera in a play Turandot.
It will be reminded that music lovers heard this singer perform the Jose part in the opera Carmen in 2015, after a nine-year-long break, and this time Talaba sang the part of Prince Calaf in Turandot. Namely this part played an important role in the artistic life of the performer. Twelve years ago, after he performed in Turandot, Marian Talaba’s name became popular along with the top soloists of the theater. In spite of his young age, the singer took up the complicated dramatic part, relying on his good vocal school, after being taught by teachers S. Maksymenko at Chernivtsi Music School, V. Timokhin and O. Vostriakov at NMAU, and inspired by winning the Lysenko Contest. A year later he received an invitation from the Vienna Opera and accepted it. Marian admitted that it seemed that something was guiding him to the top levels of the artistic destiny: back during his studies at the music school, he firmly believed that he would study in Kyiv, and sing in Vienna.
“I don’t think I am a competition singer, because you need to have passion for this,” Markian TALABA admits, “It was too late to apply to the Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw, but an accident helped me. I met a Polish singer (we performed together at a gala concert) and she showed me how to accredit for the competition. I sang Calaf aria at the third round, and after that received an invitation and signed a contract with the Vienna Opera. The conditions in the theater are quite strict, but I didn’t hesitate for a minute. The stages differ. At the stage line in Vienna the singer bathes in sound, and the balance is checked so well that there is no need to force the sound, outvoice the concert or the choir. And in other theaters you sometimes need to make your sounding louder. This doesn’t make your singing more beautiful, but at least the audience will hear you. I think the possibility to work practically with all well-known conductors gives the performer an opportunity of artistic growth.”
The audience shouldn’t see the dependence of the singer on the conductor, but there is dependence.
“Yes, a lot depends on the conductor, but the most important thing is that all difficulties and nuances should be solved at the rehearsals, so that during the performance you could dedicate yourself to the partners and the audience. The stage of the Vienna State Opera attracts many outstanding conductors. Over 10 years I have had an opportunity to work practically with all maestros invited to the theater, except for Riccardo Muti, because he was staging Mozart, and this is not my composer, although I had to sing in The Magic Flute last season. I like more Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Puccini’s works, which are better for my voice.”
Tenors with dramatic quality of the voice are by far most popular category of singers in the world. How can you handle with such a valuable instrument? How have you managed to take your niche in the staff of such a famous theater?
“You should never relax. I perform on stage with varying frequency, but I’m always busy: this can be a lesson, or learning parts, or a rehearsal – with full output. Every singer dreams to get to the Vienna stage. The administration of the theater holds auditions practically on a regular basis. Not every singer will stay even if he gets to the company. The terms of the contract are clear and strict, and if you fail to fulfill them, the contract just stops. There is a great competition, and the line of the aspirants is very convincing. I have been able to stay, although for several years at the beginning I was nearly shocked at how much they work there. I even started to perceive rest as part of work. But gradually I adapted and learned to use my energy wisely. Incidentally, I started to learn German actively on my fourth year of work and life in Austria. Now I have mastered it.”
How did you communicate before?
“Everyone in the theater (from the janitor to directors) speaks Italian. The singer will always get along with the concertmasters, all the more so in Vienna the concertmaster doesn’t fulfill the function of the pedagogue, like in Ukraine, there everyone is doing their job, this is a work of two professionals who understand the language of music. So I didn’t have any problems at work, I just lacked time for other things. And I need to give attention to my family two. My older children [Markian has three children. – Author] started to speak German sooner, and then they helped me learn it.”
It is the second time you have accepted an invitation from the administration of the National Opera of Ukraine to perform in the theater’s productions. Will this cooperation continue?
“Yes, I will continue to do this with pleasure, whenever I get invitations. This is a very good project both for invited singers, and for the company of the theater, as well as for Ukrainian audience. Because if the theater ‘boils in its own juice’ all the time, its development stops. Kyiv opera singers have huge potential and great voices, but in fact it is important to bring in other soloists from time to time, so to say, to let a fresh stream. It will be useful for everyone. The stage of the Wiener Staatsoper, for example, is a venue for many most famous performers, who sing in La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. All new music trends are being followed and selected in Vienna. There is no doubt that the honorarium policy is a bonus. Ukraine so far lacks the money to invite world celebrities, but Ukrainian performers who have achieved international fame and success abroad need to perform on their home stage very much. I go to my homeland not to earn money, but to support the theater where I used to work and where I started my career of an opera singer, to communicate with fellow performers and the audience, which is very hospitable in Ukraine. I want very much that the time of economic stability came as soon as possible, the war in the east stopped, the Crimea annexed by Russians returned to Ukraine, and Ukraine became an equal country among the richest European countries with highly developed culture.”
