12.10.2018
Wagnerian heights
Anna Buslidze is a very young singer who has spent just two seasons at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. Her most important role to date has been Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, and her first international success was as finalist in the prestigious Wagner Voices singing competition.
"For me, it was surprising enough that I got through the selection process before the competition. A jury assessed recordings from participants from 80 countries, and in August, 40 singers were invited to Bayreuth to take part in the first round. Then the competition moved to the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe for the semifinals. There were 18 of us, and I was the only one from Russia. I was one of six finalists. The finals took place with an orchestra in front of a packed hall and a paying audience. I sang Fricka from Valkyrie and Brangäne from Tristan and Isolde. All the finalists won awards: we weren’t competing against each other.
People often think that Wagner’s not suited to younger voices, that Wagner’s for mature singers. When you’re just starting out as a professional and going to auditions, you’re normally asked to sing Olga, Polina, or Lyubasha (from The Tsar’s Bride). In opera houses, you usually start with Mozart and Donizetti. I can’t say that was going particularly well for me, but I worked with coaches, attended masterclasses, and had internships in Norway and Germany. It was only when I started working with Wagner and his music that I started to feel the right vocal sensations. It might seem paradoxical, but it was thanks to Wagner that I ended up able to sing Mozart’s Cherubino.
I first heard about Bayreuth when I was studying at the conservatoire in Perm, and had dreamed about visiting the town ever since. I found myself in Bayreuth for the first time on my way back from a competition in Nuremberg, where I hadn’t won anything. I saw the composer’s house, the Festival Theatre, and other places connected with Wagner. Wagner is everywhere in Bayreuth. There are lots of sculptures and plastic statues of Wagner scattered across the city; for some reason, they’re all painted blue. Next to these blue Wagners are statues of his dog, also blue. That’s his beloved dog, Russ, a Newfoundland, who was buried beside the composer. The dog’s grave is just as carefully tended as his owner’s. I spent my childhood with a Newfoundland called Vasily. He was huge. He weighed 14 stone, and was a great swimmer, like most dogs of his breed are. When we adopted him, he was called Weiss, but once we got him home, we gave him a more Russian-sounding name. I visited Wagner’s grave with a request for him. I guess Vasily and Russ managed to communicate somehow, and Wagner decided to give me a chance.
I don’t look anything like how people tend to imagine a Wagnerian singer looking. I’m not tall; I don’t have strong shoulders or blonde curls. I’m basically on a different scale. But winning this award at the Wagner Voices competition gives me hope that my professional life will be closely tied to his music."
"For me, it was surprising enough that I got through the selection process before the competition. A jury assessed recordings from participants from 80 countries, and in August, 40 singers were invited to Bayreuth to take part in the first round. Then the competition moved to the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe for the semifinals. There were 18 of us, and I was the only one from Russia. I was one of six finalists. The finals took place with an orchestra in front of a packed hall and a paying audience. I sang Fricka from Valkyrie and Brangäne from Tristan and Isolde. All the finalists won awards: we weren’t competing against each other.
People often think that Wagner’s not suited to younger voices, that Wagner’s for mature singers. When you’re just starting out as a professional and going to auditions, you’re normally asked to sing Olga, Polina, or Lyubasha (from The Tsar’s Bride). In opera houses, you usually start with Mozart and Donizetti. I can’t say that was going particularly well for me, but I worked with coaches, attended masterclasses, and had internships in Norway and Germany. It was only when I started working with Wagner and his music that I started to feel the right vocal sensations. It might seem paradoxical, but it was thanks to Wagner that I ended up able to sing Mozart’s Cherubino.
I first heard about Bayreuth when I was studying at the conservatoire in Perm, and had dreamed about visiting the town ever since. I found myself in Bayreuth for the first time on my way back from a competition in Nuremberg, where I hadn’t won anything. I saw the composer’s house, the Festival Theatre, and other places connected with Wagner. Wagner is everywhere in Bayreuth. There are lots of sculptures and plastic statues of Wagner scattered across the city; for some reason, they’re all painted blue. Next to these blue Wagners are statues of his dog, also blue. That’s his beloved dog, Russ, a Newfoundland, who was buried beside the composer. The dog’s grave is just as carefully tended as his owner’s. I spent my childhood with a Newfoundland called Vasily. He was huge. He weighed 14 stone, and was a great swimmer, like most dogs of his breed are. When we adopted him, he was called Weiss, but once we got him home, we gave him a more Russian-sounding name. I visited Wagner’s grave with a request for him. I guess Vasily and Russ managed to communicate somehow, and Wagner decided to give me a chance.
I don’t look anything like how people tend to imagine a Wagnerian singer looking. I’m not tall; I don’t have strong shoulders or blonde curls. I’m basically on a different scale. But winning this award at the Wagner Voices competition gives me hope that my professional life will be closely tied to his music."
