“I’ve sung so many Verdi operas that I don’t miss them at all.”

The Bavarian State Opera hosted the premiere of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, staged by Australian director Benedict Andrews and conductor Aziz Shokhakimov. Hasmik Grigoryan performed the role of Lisa, Brandon Yovanovitch sang Herman, and Boris Pinkhasovich sang Yeletsky. For the first time in her career, the Countess was performed by the famous Lithuanian singer Violeta Urmana, known, in particular, for her work in the performances of Dmitry Chernyakov. About his turn to Russian opera after thirty years of career, about the image of Pushkin’s Countess and about his impressions of Chernyakov’s performances Violeta Urmana told Vladimir Dudin.

— You haven’t sung at all in “The Queen of Spades” before? Polina, for example?

— I didn’t sing a single Russian opera until 2019. But now I do it very often and I admit that I feel great in this repertoire, primarily because I know the Russian language very well. There are many roles in the Russian repertoire that are ideal for my voice after a thirty-year career. The Queen of Spades is, of course, one of the most widely known Russian operas, but I was not intimately familiar with it, with the exception of a few famous arias from it, until rehearsals began in Munich. I was first offered to sing The Countess in Paris in 2021, but the performance was canceled due to Covid. I remember that then, while preparing for a new role for myself, I listened to Elena Obraztsova on YouTube and was deeply impressed by her ability to transform into roles, and in the most traditional way.

– But the production in Munich was decided in exactly the opposite way – in an extremely unconventional way. How did you perceive it?

— Yes, Benedict Andrews’s performance is very far from the traditional interpretation. I have never seen anything like this in any other opera house in the world. But I liked his decision, and I tried to “dive” into this performance, into its special atmosphere. Benedict gave me freedom of action, did not constrain me with strict tasks, and allowed me to play the role the way I felt it. But I still had to adapt my feelings to the proposed director’s decision. And the scene at the Kanavka in which Liza drowns herself—this scene is central and dramatically important for the director—had to be changed a little at my request. This production has its own powerful visual concept, which harmonizes quite harmoniously with Tchaikovsky’s music, which is quite dark and sometimes downright depressing. The space of the stage plays its role in this concept: its dark, absorbing emptiness “speaks” its own language to both the artists and the audience. I would say that the performance turned out to be very interesting, with powerful suspense, somewhat shocking, especially for traditionalists.

— How did you imagine the image of the Countess in “The Queen of Spades” before meeting the director of the new production?

— I proceeded from the dramatic collision in Tchaikovsky’s opera, from the words and music that describe the personality of this heroine. For me, she is just a woman with a very rich life experience behind her. In the opera, Tomsky most vividly describes her story in the past in his ballad. And this story can be developed, revealed and enriched in different ways in talented directorial interpretations. The Countess may also seem to us like a mystical person, full of secrets, because everyone knows that she owns the secret of three cards, which she learned about in her youth – cards, thanks to the right combination of which you can win in the game and in life. One can feel respect and reverence for her in a certain sense due to her high social status. We may even feel sorry for the Countess at the moment of her death. This role is not long, but it is key to the dramaturgy of the opera, and it can be made very interesting if the director has a convincing vision and the singer has a wide range of expressive possibilities. Tchaikovsky’s music helps with this – beautiful, deep, comprehensive, which enriches each and everyone who comes into contact with it. And, probably, it leaves no listener indifferent.

— In this “Queen of Spades” you sang together with your compatriot, soprano Hasmik Grigoryan. How did your relationship work out?

“We were both infinitely happy to sing together, considering that we had been looking for operas in which we could work on the same stage for a very long time. After Strauss’s Salome staged by Dmitry Chernyakov in Hamburg, this Queen of Spades became the second production in which we performed together. Hasmik is a great actress and a wonderful singer. I won’t reveal secrets, but more than one production awaits us ahead.

— In the summer at the Salzburg Festival you will sing another Russian old woman – Granny in Prokofiev’s “The Gambler”.

“I’m looking forward to this first Granny with great impatience, I can already foresee how great it will be.”

— Last season, you also sang Natasha Rostova’s godmother, Akhrosimova, in Prokofiev’s “War and Peace,” directed by Dmitry Chernyakov at the same Bavarian State Opera. You have a long-standing stage romance with this director. What exactly attracts you personally to him?

— We have already done six different productions with Dmitry. I will not hide that I am a big fan of his work and every time I am incredibly happy to be a participant in his performances. I learn so much from him, it’s like I’m going through school. Every time Dmitry offers interpretations of opera stories that you never suspected. At the same time, they are always very logical and harmonious, although they always disrupt the inertia of perception. When I did Clytemnestra with him in Elektra in Hamburg, I immediately realized that there was no need to build some kind of plan for this role, because it wouldn’t have coincided with him anyway. And so it happened. I really liked this production, I think it is a perfect diamond. It will be repeated again in November in Hamburg, and I can’t wait for that moment.

“War and Peace” was a very complex production, but, as always happens with Chernyakov, it turned out to be a great event and a tremendous success. My role as Akhrosimova is very small, but it was so great to work on it with Dima. The entire cast was simply exceptional. And Vladimir Yurovsky very carefully and seriously worked out the parts with each soloist. This way of interaction between a conductor and musicians and singers is very close and pleasant to me. The maestro is very competent in all matters in any repertoire, no matter what he undertakes, and always achieves the highest results.

— Don’t you miss Verdi’s operas?

– You know, I sang so many Verdi operas, both as a mezzo-soprano and as a soprano, that I don’t miss them at all. I still sing Wagner. But there are still so many operas that I still didn’t know as a performer. Let’s say, “Katya Kabanova” by Janacek or “The Night Before Christmas” by Rimsky-Korsakov. When they offer it to me, I enjoy discovering new operas.