Egils Siliņš: “I am convinced that the audience will return to the Opera and will not be afraid of the obstacles of the pandemic.”
Photo: Dainis Bušmanis
Aija Kaukule, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
On Sunday, July 4, the Latvian National Opera will end the season with the White House’s first opera music event this year – the most beautiful Italian opera arias will be performed at the concert “Opera Star Summer”, where world opera stars Pyotr Becal and Adrian Gonzalez also Chairman of the Board of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB), the world-demanded bass baritone Egils Siliņš. With him – a further conversation about the management of the Opera ship in a pandemic crisis and its future course.
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Mr. Siliņa, I will start with the topicality – the happy news that the first live music concert is expected at the opera house this year, a bit overshadowed by the ticket price (120 euros), which probably cools the desire to go to a concert even for a hardened opera. Does this mean that in the ‘new world’ we will continue to approach European opera house ticket prices in our Opera, where, it is no secret, they often amount to several hundred euros?
E. Siliņš: No, I can reassure you that prices will remain democratic in the future. This time the price is higher due to two guest artists, especially – Pyotr Becal. He is currently one of the most visible and sought-after tenors in the world, one might say, next to Jonas Kaufman.
Adriana González, winner of the 2019 Operalia competition, will also take part in the concert. The second reason is that we can have a total of 240 spectators. In addition, we dedicate part of the tickets free of charge to our Covid doctors and laboratory staff. In this way, those who buy a ticket support the invitations of these people.
It must be taken into account that, for example, ticket prices for the concert of Elīna Garanča will be higher than for the concert of the daily repertoire.
The concert layout is unusual – spectators on stage, artists – in the auditorium… Why such an interesting solution?
It is planned to film the concert and broadcast the recording in front of the Opera a week later – those who will find the tickets too expensive or who will not be able to enjoy the concert in person for other reasons will have the opportunity to see it on the recording, possibly in several iterations.
Thinking about the recording, the following concert solution was also chosen – we have a very good visual background of the auditorium and also good acoustics, with the orchestra playing in the hall. We made sure of that by creating a record for New Year’s concerts.
You will sing yourself in the concert. You have to ask, what have you chosen from Italian opera music as a famous singer of Wagner’s opera?
I will sing both Raimondo’s aria from “Lucia di Lammermoor” and an aria from Umberto Giordano’s opera “Andre Chennai”, as well as the finale of the first act from the opera “Tosca”.
I am glad that we will also have a duo with Pyotr Becal, with whom I have a twenty-year friendship. We tried to find Italian and French opera music, which is both popular and easy to understand and interesting to the public.
I can’t help but ask why our Alexander Antonenko is not among the opera’s opera stars. It has been said in the past that there is a conflict between you…
The conflict has never existed, it was probably invented by the press. Alexander Antonenko performed at our Opera in October, singing “Tuscany”, shortly before the Opera closed due to a pandemic. He also performed in many concerts in Latvia last summer and, as far as I know, will perform in Jūrmala this summer, as well as in other concerts.
We should not think that we do not appreciate the performance of Alexander Antonenko. Rather, we want to offer our listeners something that does not happen often in Latvia.
You took over the management of the Opera shortly before the pandemic crisis began. What losses or perhaps has it brought to the White House you run?
Sorry, this is one lost year. The losses are for the opera cunfte all over the world, because the opera has not functioned anywhere anywhere. Of course, for me, as a manager who had just started working and had planned two years ahead – both the invited artists and the repertoire and so on – this has been a challenge, because everything had to be canceled, removed from the lists or moved somewhere from time to time.
We will open the season on September 10 with the premiere of the ballet “Dracula”. Two weeks later, on September 26, there will be the premiere of Verdi’s opera “Simons Bokanegra”, and on October 31 – Rossini’s opera “Cinderella”. Both performances have already been prepared during the pandemic, and rehearsals have taken place.
It is valuable, excellent opera music, and I am sure that the audience will return to the Opera as before and will not be afraid of the obstacles of the pandemic. Work is currently underway on Jānis Kalniņš’s opera “Hamlets” – rehearsals will begin in early November, but the premiere is expected on January 13 next year.
What challenges did you face at the Opera working behind closed doors?
There was a constant awareness that if someone is tested positive or if they get sick, we should automatically close Opera for ten days or isolate the ward where the patient is.
In some cases, it also happened – both in November, staging “Simonas Bokanegras”, and in sewing and decoration workshops, working on “Cinderella” in April.
However, you get used to this insecurity, knowing that you can expect a bad call every day. All the attempts of “Cinderella” took place with the singers in masks.
How can you sing in a mask?
I laugh – if a bear can be taught to skate, then a person can learn everything.
I myself have sung in masks in Vienna and London – it is true that they were pulled in rehearsals, not in performances, but the choir sang in masks.
There were also some colleagues who refused to sing, knowing that another colleague had not passed the test that day.
How big a gap does this time have in our Opera’s finances? Did selling recordings help stabilize the budget?
The sale of performance recordings compensated only the technical costs of transmission, only the recording of the New Year’s concert brought profit. Rather, the broadcasts were a reminder that we function and are. However, the financial situation of the Opera and Ballet is currently stable.
The state subsidizes our salaries, although it must be said that the choir and the orchestra were idle when 80 percent of them are paid. However, knowing that the state as a whole subsidizes 70 percent of the revenue we need – the other 30 percent we earn ourselves by investing these funds in the creation of new productions – now the question is how to really finance the creation of new productions in the future.
At the moment, the pandemic has not been overcome, and we do not know what it will end with and what the lack of money will be.
Much will depend on how many spectators will be able to attend the performances in the fall. If there are 300 spectators in our hall, then we are playing at a loss. If half or 50 percent of the opera house is filled, then we can cover the losses without inviting guest artists.
Earlier, when staging “Simon Bokanegra”, we promptly gave up all guest artists. It gave an opportunity to our new generation of soloists, who were able to grow calmly, slowly and prepare for this new production.
Are there any new blood in the Opera Artists’ Ensemble right now?
In February, singer Rinalds Kandalincevs and ballet dancer Jūlija Vasiljeva started working for us. At the moment, we have to take care of the composition of low voices – in our ensemble, after the departure of Roman Polisadov, one bass is chronically missing. There is also a lack of low votes in the women’s voice group. At the moment, we are talking to people who could work for us constantly.
Your own low voice resources are now not enough…
I do not participate in our new productions, Latvian law does not really allow it.
The government tax reform came into force in July. Do you anticipate that it will also affect the already relatively low remuneration of opera and ballet artists?
Until now, salaries at the Opera have been in the mode of survival formula – low salaries and bonuses in the form of royalties, compensating for the relatively low salaries of musicians who have studied, studied for many years to be able to do this work.
In the future, artists’ remuneration in net terms will become lower, as certain royalties will be subject to higher taxes.
Unfortunately, we often raise various taxes and tariffs, including on electricity and gas, and then run after and try to patch up the deficit in the budget, rather than raising workers’ wages proportionately in that progression.
In Western countries, such as Germany, wages are brought closer to overall levels as soon as inflation occurs. The government’s move to provide social security for creative people is not wrong, but the opportunity to pay higher taxes to people should be compensated.
You are always combining a successful singing career in the world with directing our Opera. What is your current calendar of concerts at world opera houses?
Everything that had been planned for the last 14 months has been canceled on average, but from 2022 onwards there is a rather intense schedule. There will be a “Wandering Dutchman” at the New National Theater in Tokyo, where in 2023 I also planned Wagner’s “Masters”.
I am also invited to sing at the Bilbao Opera and the Wagner Days in Budapest, as well as performances of Wagner’s entire cycle of the “Niebelung Ring” in Shanghai.
The fact that the Japanese love Wagner is nothing new, but now he is being introduced to China quite intensively – this is a positive news for our opera cunfte, because it means a huge number of new opera listeners.
You will also sing Wotan in the production of Wagner’s opera “Valkyrie” produced by Juris Žagars at the Cēsis Art Festival…
The third act of “Valkyrie” will be performed in Cesis, where I will be happy to collaborate with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. Let’s try to meet Andris Poga soon to sing the parties. Of course, “Valkyrie” is no stranger to me – I will sing Wotan in Wiesbaden this week.
All I can say is that Cēsis knows how to organize music festivals, and we can only rejoice at the abundance of activity that Juris Žagars has – we need more such crazy, culture-obsessed people.
On August 27, you will sing in a completely different range – in a chamber music concert of Latvian composers in the Small Mežotne Castle together with mezzo-soprano Zanda Švēde, pianist Mārtiņš Zilberts and cellist Dacis Zālīte-Zilberts.
I like to sing Latvian chamber music and do it outside Latvia as well. This spring I had planned to sing the Latvian music program at my solo concert in Tokyo, but now it has been moved to next year. I received an email this morning asking me to sing while I was singing “Loengrin” in Tokyo. Some compositions from this program will also be performed in the Small Mežotne Castle.
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