Despite our busy commitments, we are obliged to participate often in Bulgarian productions, the world-famous bass is convinced
Last year, BNT viewers chose the “Bulgarian Opera Miracle” as the most significant event in our history in the 20th century. However, this miracle that glorified Bulgaria should not be talked about in the past tense. Today, the receivers and perpetuators of our operatic glory are different from their legendary predecessors, but they hold the same high standard and are worthy of our pride. Do we know them well enough? One of them is undoubtedly Orlin Anastasov. His career is developing upward and is confidently heading towards the expected apogee. The beginning of 2011 started with the part of Count Walter from “Louise Miller” in Munich, I saw him in the same role in March at the Paris Opera Bastille (Louise is also Bulgarian – Krasimira Stoyanova). Confident, absorbed and decisive, on stage he commands respect with his rich timbre voice and convincing acting presence, and in life he is reserved and modest. However, the reviews are the most eloquent proof of the world class of our young bass. Unfortunately, the press only covers the premiers, and in this case it was another series. However, in the opera sites, professional critics and deep connoisseurs are unanimous:
“The success is due above all to the voices… Orlin Anastasov as Count Walter is simply magnificent – both as an actor, and as a timbre, and as a singing line: a young Gyaurov”. www.classissima.com
“Beautiful voices have met here: …Orlin Anastasov with his deep and massive bass magnificently illustrates the ambitions and unyielding character of Count Walter.” www.classicinfo.com
“Orlin Anastasov impresses with the scale and power of his presence, and despite the cruel character of his character, he won the sincere applause of the audience.” www.forumopera.com
“With his magnificent, generous and rich voice, Orlin Anastasov triumphed fully deservedly. And he is Bulgarian like Stoyanova. We are witnessing a real great renewal of Bulgarian singing, let us – starting with the magnificent Boris Hristov, Nikolay Gyaurov and reaching Anna Tomova-Sintov and others.” www.altamusica.com
– Where do you place the part of Count Walter in the bass repertoire and do you feel comfortable in this role?
– “Louisa Miller” is a title that seems to have gained a lot of interest in the last few years. Regarding the role of Count Walter, I am convinced that it is one of the most vocally difficult roles in the bass repertoire, perhaps almost as intense as Zachariah in “Nabucco” or Boris Godunov. It is no coincidence that many of the great basses shy away from this role, which at times is purely baritonal as a tessitura (the opening aria is too high even for a basso cantante), alternating with episodic low notes from the extreme low register. In the last 2 years, after my debut in this role on the stage in Valencia, I participated in other productions of the same title – in Teatro Reggio in Turin, in Munich, now in Paris. I have upcoming performances in two more productions of “Louisa Müller” next year at the Milan Scala and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
– “Louise Müller” by Klaus Guth in Munich takes the action to the 60s of the twentieth century, and Gilbert Deflot to Paris – to a fairy-tale, somewhat puppet-like idealistic world. How do you feel about the ultra-modern direction of some opera works?
– At the risk of repeating myself or rubbing myself, I have always thought that the modern direction that has become extremely popular is nothing more than a quest for originality, born of a lack of logical ideas closely related to libretto and music. We have received an extraordinary legacy from these genius composers, and we shouldn’t do anything fancy, just be completely faithful to the score without allowing ourselves too many liberties in interpretation.
– Have there been cases when you refused participation because of scandalous direction?
– I have refused such modern productions, as well as participated in many such, if it does not get too distorted. Especially when I have invitations to Germany and Austria, I am always interested in these details.
– Are the extremes in directing a harm or an advantage? Can you convince today’s directors that opera is not just theater, that singing is a whole mechanism incomprehensible to the layman, that in the desire to be original in the direction, the directors only double the physical load of the singer?
– Not only do they double the physical load, but they can also drive singers crazy. I already said that everything is written in the scores. A director who is musically illiterate cannot do whatever he wants on the opera stage. There are too many factors that a director must take into account in order for the collaborative work to be fulfilling for everyone. A director once convinced me that when I spoke a certain phrase, I had to say it in a low voice and accompany it with a specific gesture. I answered him that all these phrases are backstage and we are not on stage at that moment. Ah, I forgot to mention that this was one of the modern directing…
– You have been on the world stage for more than 10 years. How is today’s opera singer different from previous generations of singers?
– The tastes and views of the singers, the theaters, and the audience have changed. Especially the singers. Almost nobody sings the way it was sung in the golden years of opera anymore. And perhaps to some extent this is logical, because precisely those voices that remained in history as phenomenal have long been gone.
– Due to the exhausting lifestyle, do you feel different from other people? How do you handle the load?
– Well, no, in my opinion, the lifestyle of an opera singer is not at all exhausting compared to many other fields of work, there is nothing to deceive ourselves about. Also, we have a lot of free time between shows, nobody sings every night.
– The work of the singer is incomprehensible to the audience – it requires solitude, immersion.
– I completely agree about isolation and immersion. Anyway, there are singers who need a lot of time to get into the role, to prepare for a difficult opera. There are others, like Chaliapin, for example, who until his very entrance on the stage was joking with the people around him and at the last moment he launched himself on the stage, shouting: “Church, chhurch, child…” And we all know what he was like the result. What I’m trying to say is that with each singer, the approach is purely individual, and everyone decides what their preparation for a performance should be, entirely according to their own skills and views.
– Art demands sacrifices that remain hidden from the audience for which it is created. What did you sacrifice for the sake of singing?
– I don’t know what kind of victims it might be. I also thought at first that it would not go without victims, but later I realized that there is another way. You just have to be grounded and not take yourself too seriously.
– The fans – plus or minus, harm or incentive are they for you? Do they manage to replace the lack of information in our country about the performances of our singers around the world?
– You can’t do it without the fans – it’s like having a match in an empty stadium. The atmosphere of great art is disturbed. And the fact that there is not enough information about us in Bulgaria is not a good sign at all. And on this issue, solutions could and should be found. After all, we don’t, and that’s why we sing – so that people all over the world can ask themselves the question, how can such a small country be a constant participant and “donor” of such voices. Until people in Bulgaria feel the real reasons for national pride, they will continue to be informed episodically about what is happening outside Bulgaria.
– In the last few years, you have been one of the Bulgarians on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. Is this the most prestigious opera house in the world in your opinion?
– One of the three most prestigious theaters along with Covent Garden and Milan’s Rock. Certainly the Metropolitan is the best-performing theater at the moment, but La Scala Milano remains the holy grail of opera to which every singer aspires.
– In our country, only your disc with Orthodox chants is known, and there are several DVDs with your participation that are known only to music lovers. The same applies to the DVDs with the participation of Veselina Katsarova, Krasimira Stoyanova, Alexandrina Pendachanska, Vladimir Stoyanov. One of their screenings within the music festivals in Sofia, Varna, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Varna and Burgas would please the Bulgarian audience, which is thirsty for the high art of opera. What do you think about that question?
– I think that the thirsty opera audience in Bulgaria would be much more pleased with the participation of these names (why not together) on the Bulgarian stages. And in this case, I’m not talking about impossible things, it’s just that, despite our heavy commitments, we are obliged to participate often in Bulgarian productions.
– Bulgarian opera theaters from the countryside are on the verge of survival. Would you help them by participating in performances and recitals?
– Personally, I had many performances in Bulgaria in the last 2 years – 2 times in “Don Quixote” in Sofia, “Don Carlos” in Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo, “Ernani” at “Varna Summer”, recitals in the hall “Bulgaria” and at “March Music Days” in Ruse. Nothing is impossible, there is only good will.
– In a program on the “Hristo Botev” program of BNR, Yulia Wiener said bitterly during her lifetime: “In Germany I am a Kamerzengerin, but here I am nobody.” Should the titles for artists abolished 20 years ago be restored, albeit in a different form?
– Returning the ranks, albeit in a different form? I am absolutely FOR it. It is imperative.
– What do you have coming up in the near future?
– After Paris, “Sicilian Vespers” come in San Carlo Naples in April-May, and in June-July – “Attila” in Milanska skala and Tsarevets. I start the new season in September in Bilbao with “Simon Bocanegra”, in October-November I will sing Boris Godunov for the opening of the season in Valencia. “Louisa Müller” follows again, but now in Berlin and at the Milan Rock.
#Scala #holy #temple #opera
