Maria Guleghina, with "Verdi in her veins," wows Washington (03/16/03)

Maria Guleghina, with "Verdi in her veins," wows Washington

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - Ukrainian soprano Maria Guleghina, who debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York 12 years ago, finally brought her artistry to the nation's capital, in the tile role of the Washington Opera Company's innovative production of Verdi's "Aida."

In seven performances, between February 22 and March 11, the Odesa-born diva captivated sold-out audiences, much as she did the Egyptian commander Radames in the opera.

The music critics of Washington's two dailies were smitten as well. "Thrilling" and "compelling" were some of the accolades used to describe her performance, and there was the suggestion that despite her Ukrainian heritage, she had "Verdi in her veins."

"Maria Guleghina made a vivid, exciting Aida," The Washington Post's top music critic, Tim Page, wrote about her at opening night. "Her voice is large, dark, versatile and charged with emotional intensity; moreover, she has presence. Her high notes are occasionally uneasy but they always come through eventually, and her declamatory singing is sometimes thrilling. I liked her in wild-eyed, supercharged numbers such as 'Ritorna Vincitor' more than I did in a sustained lyrical utterance such as 'O Patria Mia,' but the impression she left was overwhelmingly favorable. For all of her Ukrainian heritage, Guleghina has Verdi in her veins."

A few performances later, The Washington Times critic, T.L. Ponick, added some more praise to Ms. Guleghina's performance.

"In the title role, soprano Maria Guleghina was compelling," he said. "Conflicted, passionate, her Aida is forced to make a devil's bargain with father and country while somehow not betraying Radames. The discovery of her ruse brings the opera to its tragic denouement, and Miss Guleghina wrings every last bit of emotion out of the shifting scenery of Aida's life. Her low notes are distinctive in their clarity and force."

The production was innovative of necessity. Because the opera house at the Kennedy Center is undergoing major renovation, the opera was staged at the DAR Constitution Hall, a large-enough, majestic hall, but one never intended for opera, nor even concerts, for that matter - no large curtained stage, no apparatus for changing backdrops and scenery, and no orchestra pit, to name just a few major complications.

The company spent $2.5 million redoing the hall: taking out the first 18 rows of seats to make room for a large open stage area, placing the orchestra behind the stage, and making do without any curtains and traditional sets. Instead, "virtual scenes" were projected onto scrims that were unfurled onto the stage from above or moved in horizontally from the wings. And the projected scenes - sometimes realistic, of temples and monuments, at other times abstract, using repetitive cartouches and other Egyptian ornaments - changed colors, moved about and even spiraled to enhance the mood.

In another innovation, fiber-optic self-illuminating textiles were used to make some of the costumes glow - effectively in a bird ballet scene, but less so in the final scenes with Aida, Amneris and Radames.

While this was Ms. Guleghina's official Washington debut, it was not her first appearance with the Washington Opera. Last summer she sang the lead in "Tosca" during the company's tour of Japan. Washington's opera buffs have heard her perform before on the Metropolitan Opera Saturday radio broadcasts and have seen her on a recent PBS television broadcast of "Nabucco" recorded at La Scala.

Ms. Guleghina was born in Odesa to Ukrainian-Armenian parents. She began her singing career in 1985 with the State Opera in Mensk. Two years later, she debuted at La Scala as Amelia in "Un Ballo in Maschera" opposite Luciano Pavarotti, which established her internationally. Recently she sang in new productions of "Macbeth" in Paris and "Un Ballo in Maschera" in Tokyo. Future engagements include an invitation to sing in 2005 for the Metropolitan Opera's new production of "Macbeth."

On March 4, the Embassy of Ukraine, with the support of The Washington Group Cultural Fund, hosted a reception in Ms. Guleghina's honor.

Welcoming Ms. Guleghina, Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryshchenko called her "the best ambassador of Ukraine."

Ms. Guleghina said she was proud to represent the various cultures that are a part of her life - Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Belarusian and Lux-embourger - and to do it through music, which serves to unite the peoples of the world.

She introduced her "cover" in the role of Aida, a fellow Ukrainian soprano from Odesa, Tatiana Zakharchuk, and noted that yet another Ukrainian singer was in the production, Kyiv-trained tenor Oleh Kulko, who was the "cover" for Radames.

While the two "covers" did not get an opportunity to substitute for the principals during the evening performances, they sang the roles in afternoon "look-in" performances for schools and other groups.

Among the guests at the Embassy reception was Ms. Guleghina's stage rival Amneris, American mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti.

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