“Everyone was silent for too long” – Newspaper Kommersant No. 234 (7435) of 12/16/2022

Russian mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova sings at the New York Metropolitan Opera as the Egyptian princess Amneris in Verdi’s Aida, the theatre’s most commercially successful performance. In this party – and in these costumes – many world stars shone before her, among whom was the famous Olga Borodina. On the scope of the New York “Aida” and working with Jonas Kaufman Olesya Petrova told Vladimir Dudin.

– How do they meet the Russian mezzo-soprano in New York now?

– Greeted very warmly. All performances are sold out, almost four thousand people. But I haven’t been here for three years because of the pandemic and I really miss it. Then, three years ago, I flew in to perform with Sondra Radvanovsky and Placido Domingo at the console in the same production, which was then going to close, and then release a new one in 2020, but everything fell through. The theater first froze the performance, deciding that it was not up to Aida now. But they could not do without it, and now they have taken out the already packed beauty from the storerooms, adding another season to the performance, this time really the last one. I am singing nine performances now and the last block will be in April-May.

– What is the number of your visit to the Metropolitan?

“It turns out that 2023 will be the tenth year since I first came here. In 2013, I only insured Konchakovna in Borodin’s Prince Igor, staged by Dmitry Chernyakov, participated in all rehearsals, it didn’t come to a performance, but even then they loved me here. Later she was on insurance in the part of Maddalena in the old production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. And I made my debut in André Chénier by Giordano as the Blind.

– But still, singing at the Met Amneris is a completely different matter, the big leagues.

– It seems like it is. But I’m not one of those who is ready to rest on their laurels. The thirst for work does not leave, I want to sing, sing and sing, because everyone was silent for too long. And the golden age, everything is easy to sing. Colleagues here say with such enthusiasm: “You stole the performance again! Heroine!”

– “I stole the performance” – that is, “pulled the blanket over myself”?

– Yes Yes exactly. “The play “Aida” is called, and we had “Amneris” again,” my partners joke.

– And how do you like the New York “Aida”, a performance by Sonia Frisell? He’s old, 1988.

“You know, I think if old Giuseppe had seen this production, I’m afraid he would have banned many others. It is so classic in the good sense of the word, incredibly beautiful, and the triumph scene is absolutely grandiose: the king of Egypt and I are standing upstairs, around the retinue, there is a glint of gold everywhere, Radames rides out in a chariot drawn by two live horses, about 200 people are on stage. Pure pleasure, eyes and ears rejoice. I am not opposed to new readings of the classics, but I love this production very much, and it is a pity to part with it. If I didn’t know what opera was, and I came to such an “Aida” for the first time, I would have fallen in love with this genre forever by 100%. But what to do, this production will sink into oblivion. And the next “Aida” will be staged, they say, in the style of “Indiana Jones”.

– I think you are no stranger to the big classical “Aides” – you still sang Amneris in the “Arena di Verona” this summer, didn’t you?

— Yes, with Jonas Kaufmann! My only regret is that we did not work together for so long, he had already arrived for the performance. But the partner turned out to be amazing, it was incredibly pleasant to sing and play with him, he is a master of masters. In duets, I caught myself thinking that I wanted to sing eye to eye, but the Arena is not an ordinary theater, there you need to sing mainly in front of the audience, so I had to break away from each other. After the performance, we said that we would like to play more, but again, this is not the kind of scene where you can go into a difficult acting game, especially when you have the conductor Daniel Oren in front of you, demanding that you look at him all the time. Kaufman is an insanely charismatic artist, his energy is colossal, on stage he dissolved in the process, in music the way I love it, like the last time, without sparing himself. And this is so cool, but, unfortunately, it is not always found, some singers just go out and sing claviers, because “you need to take care.” But Jonas can’t do it any other way.

Does the Met offer you anything further?

– Yes, next year, in the fall, I will have debuts in Puccini’s Triptych – Frugola in Cloak and Princess in Sister Angelica, I never sang them. Then in October there will be Ulrika in Verdi’s Masquerade Ball. I was once supposed to sing this opera at the Met with Dima Hvorostovsky, but everything was canceled due to his illness. And in 2024, Azucena is waiting for me here in Il trovatore, it’s just happiness. In general, an optimistic future. But we all live only for this now – a happy future, in the present, happiness, alas, is not enough.

– It turns out that you are now perceived as a singer par excellence Verdi?

Yes, both in Europe and America. Therefore, I have continuous Amneris and Azuchens – my “nurses”, and I love these parties very much. But in the foreseeable future, for example, Jezhibaba in Dvořák’s Rusalka is waiting for me. And in Novosibirsk – Lyubasha in The Tsar’s Bride, and thank God that she again appeared in my life. In general, I would really like to sing Russian music, to return to Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans, which I sang with pleasure in Perm. I really want to sing Marfa in Khovanshchina, which I have never sung. Another of my great desires is that I dream of Delilah, I really want to resume Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther. I almost gave up hope for Carmen, but who knows, miracles do happen.