16.02.2017
Mikhail Agafonov to make St. Petersburg debut
Mikhail Agafonov is coming to perform in St. Petersburg for the first time in his career. The Russian tenor, who enjoys widespread fame all over Europe, will be appearing at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Der fliegende Holländer on 28 February and Un ballo in maschera on 8 April.
The singer started his professional career at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Following an invitation to study for a year in Vienna, he remained in Europe for almost two decades. “I can relate to those people who never really got used to life in the West,” Agafonov says. “I feel much better in Russia; singing here is enjoyable and exhilarating. International contracts meant I could only rarely spend time at home. Finally, though, I decided to return to Russia. Last year I started collaborating with the opera company at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, and since 1 January I’ve been a fully-fledged member of this group. The invitation to perform at the Mikhailovsky Theatre is another piece of happy news for this year.”
Agafonov’s creative body of work features performances at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Paris National Opera, plus opera theatres in Dresden, Berlin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Toronto, Miami, Tokyo and others. For many years, he was a soloist at the National Theatre Mannheim in Germany. He played the roles of Herman inThe Queen of Spades and Calaf in Turandot at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2012. His repertoire includes leading tenor roles in Giuseppe Verdi’s works — Radamès, Othello and Don Carlos; Pollione in Norma; Cavaradossi, Pinkerton and Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini’s operas; Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana; Canio in Pagliacci; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor; and many more.
“During my time in Germany I came to understand the meaning of the term ‘director’s opera’, or, to be more precise, the diktat of a director’s opera,” says the singer. “It carries numerous connotations: on the one hand you can have outstanding and incredibly powerful productions. However, at the other extreme, you can end up with a total mess, where neither the musical composition nor the singers’ talent are of remote interest to the director, whose aim is purely to shock the audience as much as possible.” Der fliegende Holländer, directed by Vasily Barkhatov, in which Agafonov will be singing Erik, can also be categorized as a director’s opera, but is, in the singer’s opinion, one with a fascinating and well-thought out concept, “with respect to the audience and the music.” He describes Un ballo in maschera, where he will be singing the role of Gustav, as “a beautiful, stylish and elegant production.”
The singer started his professional career at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Following an invitation to study for a year in Vienna, he remained in Europe for almost two decades. “I can relate to those people who never really got used to life in the West,” Agafonov says. “I feel much better in Russia; singing here is enjoyable and exhilarating. International contracts meant I could only rarely spend time at home. Finally, though, I decided to return to Russia. Last year I started collaborating with the opera company at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, and since 1 January I’ve been a fully-fledged member of this group. The invitation to perform at the Mikhailovsky Theatre is another piece of happy news for this year.”
Agafonov’s creative body of work features performances at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Paris National Opera, plus opera theatres in Dresden, Berlin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Toronto, Miami, Tokyo and others. For many years, he was a soloist at the National Theatre Mannheim in Germany. He played the roles of Herman inThe Queen of Spades and Calaf in Turandot at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2012. His repertoire includes leading tenor roles in Giuseppe Verdi’s works — Radamès, Othello and Don Carlos; Pollione in Norma; Cavaradossi, Pinkerton and Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini’s operas; Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana; Canio in Pagliacci; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor; and many more.
“During my time in Germany I came to understand the meaning of the term ‘director’s opera’, or, to be more precise, the diktat of a director’s opera,” says the singer. “It carries numerous connotations: on the one hand you can have outstanding and incredibly powerful productions. However, at the other extreme, you can end up with a total mess, where neither the musical composition nor the singers’ talent are of remote interest to the director, whose aim is purely to shock the audience as much as possible.” Der fliegende Holländer, directed by Vasily Barkhatov, in which Agafonov will be singing Erik, can also be categorized as a director’s opera, but is, in the singer’s opinion, one with a fascinating and well-thought out concept, “with respect to the audience and the music.” He describes Un ballo in maschera, where he will be singing the role of Gustav, as “a beautiful, stylish and elegant production.”
