On 1 February the internationally renowned singer Maria Guleghina will return to the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok with her most acclaimed role - Tosca in the Giacomo Puccini’s opera of the same name and on 4 February the singer will give a solo recital with the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage conducted by Pavel Smelkov.
Maria Guleghina’s lush, sensual voice, filled with real Italian passion, is coupled with immense dramatic performance, making an incredibly powerful impact on the audience. It is not a coincidence that the singer’s signatory role is Tosca. The multifaceted talent of the singer, equally dazzling in the grand opera and in the vocal repertoire, is most pronounced in her solo concerts.
The programme of her solo recital at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre is devoted to the oeuvre of Giuseppe Verdi. Verdi played a crucial role in Maria Guleghina’s creative life. Just a year after the beginning of her professional career, she was invited to the holy of holies of the Italian opera - La Scala - to perform the leading part in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera opposite the great Luciano Pavarotti: a unique case, taking into the account the fact that the Italians are the most “operatic’ nation and Verdi is their most revered and awed composer. After her triumphant debut which gave a meteoric start to her international career, the Italian affectionados called her “a Russian soprano with Verdi flowing through her veins”. Maria Guleghina’s performance in operas by Giuseppe Verdi is an epitome of the highest mastery, resulting, among other things, from many years of her collaboration with the best conductors and singers, experts and guardians of Verdian traditions.
