Elena Maximova: “Thank you once again”
Elena Maximova is making her debut at the Mikhailovsky Theatre on 19 November in a gala concert dedicated to the memory of Elena Obraztsova. The world-famous mezzo-soprano will sing excerpts from Carmen in a number of duets with Arnold Rutkowski. A young Maximova won the Elena Obraztsova Competition for Young Opera Singers back in 2003. She now performs in principal roles at the world’s most famous opera houses.
“If it had not been for the Obraztsova competition, I would not have had an international career”, she observes. "I owe all I have now to Elena. She played a huge role in my life. I travelled to St. Petersburg to take part in her competition in 2003, when I was just starting out as a singer. It was a unique opportunity to meet some really famous singers, musicians, and producers. Obraztsova selected her guests astutely, so there were always some very interesting people on the jury. It’s great that she had the idea for the competition and made it a reality. I hope it will continue in future. It is a rare opportunity for young Russian singers not only to show what they can do, but also to make some contacts abroad and take their careers to a whole new level.
When I started singing solos at music school, Elena was the example we sought to emulate and the object of our adoration. She remains exactly that today. There are few people who can not only sing with mastery on stage, not only be in command of their voice, but also command the audience. We should see it as a blessing that we have recordings of her, so that we can still watch her and learn from her. Every singer takes the greats as examples, then uses everything she can glean from recordings or live concerts.
Someone recently posted two of Cherubino’s arias, sung by Elena Obraztsova, on YouTube. The recordings dated from the early 1970s, when she was at the height of her powers, very young but already singing with skill and delicacy. In those days we had our own school, which was different from the European school. I didn’t notice it when I was young, but I can now see that she performed those two arias with great delicacy and in a very stylized, European way. That’s a very personal example though. She performed some great roles — Santuzza, Princess Eboli! Young singers should learn from these performances. A recording of a concert that Elena gave in Japan, when she sang Tosca, made a very powerful impression on me. I listened to that recording about 15–18 years ago, but it is still vivid in my mind.
In the concert at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, I will be singing one of the crowning roles of Elena Obraztsova’s career — Carmen. I remember how nervous I was when I first sang the role in Elena’s production at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2012. They gave me a jacket for the fourth act — a Spanish-type cloak — and it had ‘E. Obraztsova’ written on it. I was shaking, I can tell you, and tears were just streaming down my face. At the same time, it gave me great strength. Appearing on the Mikhailovsky stage is my tribute, my huge thank you to Elena Obraztsova. It is now the only way I can say thank you once again."
