A debut in Dead Souls

Scene from the opera Dead Souls

The characters in Rodion Shchedrin’s opera Dead Souls are both vivid and grotesque; each character, presented through an aria portrait, reveals some human weakness or flaw allegorically. The vivid nature of Shchedrin’s characters is also underscored by the play of orchestral timbres.

Bass singer Nikolai Kamensky has earned great acclaim in comic and buffo roles. The media has noted his appearances in operas by Gioacchino Rossini in particular, including the roles of Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola and Don Profondo in Il viaggio a Reims, whose “famous and dazzling aria” – a “traditional buffo tongue twister” – has been praised by the critics as “deserving the greatest approval of the audience.” In Dead Souls Kamensky has already performed a secondary role – that of the Captain Chief of Police. The role of the Procurator which he performed on 18 November has allowed the singer to develop another facet of his gift for comedy.