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Vladimir Galouzine (biography)
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There is always true grit in your performances – perhaps because you perform broken-hearted and tragic characters. In terms of acting they are also very powerful. Is that natural skill, the ability to immerse yourself in a role or the school?
I trained as an actor – for eight years I worked at the Musical Comedy Theatre. There it was basically dramas with some music thrown in. That’s how I gained experience as a serious actor in my youth, understanding my own particular kind of theatre, and I use that basis to this day, I understand why I am there onstage. Unfortunately, at the Conservatoire we had no instruction in dramatic acting. And that is exceedingly important. I was lucky.
As for the roles, fortunately I have the opportunity to select what I want. And so I sing the roles that I like. For example, I don’t sing as Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana which has incredibly beautiful music but no developed plotline and no interesting characters. I could never approach the role of José – stunning music, but the character doesn’t interest me, I’d rather sing the role of Carmen. There are, of course, exceptions, such as Calaf where the drama may not be particularly great, but Puccini’s music is phenomenal and incredibly convincing in terms of the image produced.
Herman, Otello, Canio and Des Grieux are all integral, deep and interesting roles, the operas they are in are brilliant with beautiful music and well-constructed musical and theatrical plots. These operas are “performer-proof.” The image is so vividly defined that if you understand what you are doing and why and can also act a bit then the effect is tremendous.
I remember you in the role of Beppe in Donizetti’s Rita at Yuri Alexandrov’s theatre.
I came to Alexandrov from the Musical Comedy Theatre. That was my type at the Musical Comedy Theatre – simple characters. And with that character of Beppe I found my niche there. The heroes waltzed and sang a little, but the simple characters joked all the time and sang very little. Basically they danced.
Today the question of directing in musical theatre is a hard nut to crack: lots of arbitrary decisions by directors, poor professionalism and few musically competent directors. Could you turn down a production the concept of which you found unacceptable?
In Houston after one performance some journalist expressed annoyance that I had performed what the stage director had asked of me instead of refusing. But in this business if you turn something down once, twice or three times then they stop asking you and they can forget you even exist. As for professionalism, if I have already agreed to appear in a production I might not like it, I might be against it, but as a professional I have to complete my task honestly and in good faith – to produce what the stage director wants to see. Although that often works against the character. Back in Houston when I was singing as Herman I was an unlikeable and – for me personally – quite odious character. In the scene with the Countess, who’s lying naked in a bath and throws a towel over herself when she sees Herman, he pulls the towel off her and splashes bathwater in her face. It was so terribly stupid and it works against the character, while there should be compassion for him when he shoots himself in the finale – which is what Tchaikovsky wanted. For him it was important not to judge Herman but to empathise with him as our lives are a complex mass of sin, and the final phrase – “God! Forgive him and have mercy on him...” God forgives, people forgive, but when he is such a poisonous character it is hard to feel any degree of sympathy for him whatsoever.
A singer, a musician, an actor... In your opinion, are there any other qualities without which it is impossible to be a great singer?
There is, of course, in addition to the “singer-actor-musician” package, the need for civility, and spiritual qualities are very important. Because the human voice is a reflection of character, of personality, and the timbre tells you what kind of person this is. A talented person is a handsome person – he might be sinful but he can work on himself. In my opinion you also need asceticism. Meaning he shouldn’t just do things in order to earn money for himself. He should also think about those who are near and those who are far away – he should help someone.
Do you have much spare time or any hobbies to fill that spare time?
I don’t have any hobbies, but in my spare time I do like to go somewhere really quiet with my family, into the countryside where there are no traces of urban life and no noise. I like peace – peace with people who are close to me.
In your spare time do you listen to other genres of music, and if yes which kinds?
As a rule, I like relaxing from music. But if I have the chance, for example during the holidays when the children come to visit, I love visiting portrait galleries and museums. The only problem is that at the height of the tourist season you have to be wary of crowded places or you may fall ill. Because it’s a brave person who sings when unwell, and I don’t like turning down contracts so I limit myself in what I go and see. With regard to music, I don’t listen to pop music, nowadays there is little in the genre worth listening to – not like the group Queen. I love listening to Queen, Freddie Mercury was a brilliant performer. There is not one song that resembles another, his imagination was so rich. But if I listen to the Beatles whom everyone admires so much I can hear almost one and the same melody in every song. Too much of the same and a little tedious. But Queen has such energy to it, such imagination, and for that genre of music I consider it the ideal.
Khovanshchina will be one of the festival’s special events. You have sung the role of Andrei Khovansky in it many times, and this time you are performing the role of Vasily Golitsyn.
I really love Musorgsky and Khovanshchina. Though Musorgsky probably didn’t really like Andrei Khovansky as he wrote very little for the character. I would like to be Marfa in Khovanshchina, or Dosifei or Ivan Khovansky. These characters are well-rounded and intense, while Andrei is a useful link between Marfa’s unhappy love and historic events. The role of Andrei was basically my first at the Novosibirsk Opera House, and when I began to work at the Mariinsky I kept the role in my repertoire as a matter of course.
This Mariinsky Theatre production is very old and it is brilliant, both in terms of the set designs and the directing. The sets are magnificent. And in the final scene when I am standing with Marfa and the monastery collapses and burns to the beautiful music I can feel my spine tingle, even today, the impression is so immense. That’s why I enjoy singing that opera. The last time at the Metropolitan I sang as Golitsyn – that role is slightly larger and more interesting, but it’s still not a big role. And when I leave after the performance I have the strange sensation of wondering if I have been singing or not.
Apart from operatic works, do you perform chamber music or cycles such as Songs and Dances of Death?
Not yet – not so long ago I was asked to record Musorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death in Salzburg. But that’s a very serious work to undertake and it is generally mezzos and basses who do so. And you need time for it all. As always, it is something I never have, my schedule is incredibly busy. Even my wish to relax with my family in the country tends to remain a dream rather than actually take place.
Speaking with Natalia Kozhevnikova |
