"Anything is possible — it's only a matter of will."

Ekaterina Kichigina (soprano) — the soloist of Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow, as well as of "Studio for New Music" ensemble. She was a member of two festival concerts and performed one of the main parties in the multimedia opera "Beyond the shadow" by Vladimir Tarnopolski.

— Kate, I congratulate you on your wonderful performance at the Festival. Everyone was impressed by the extreme sophistication of presented concert programs. How were the programs compelled? Were the compositions earlier in your repertoire or were they quite new for you?

— These compositions were completely new for me. The entire program was compelled by Faradzh Karayev. It comprised rarely performed pieces of music and seemed very interesting. Especially for the Festival, I learned The Songs with movement / Cancion con Movimiento by Vladislav Soyfer, the party in vocal duo Dreams Grammar / Grammaire des reves by Kaija Saariaho and several compositions of the cantata trilogy A Letter to Gösta Oswald / Brief an Gösta Oswald by Bo Nilsson. Of the whole program I was only familiar with opera "Beyond the shadow" by Vladimir Tarnopolsky, in which I sang a month ago at the premiere in the Musical Theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko in Moscow.

— And how would you evaluate the program of the concert-opening? I believe it contained a very sophisticated and not quite usual for such an occasion idea — the works of very different composers, sustained, however, in a close emotional way, without any bright contrasts. Someone called the program "monochrome", someone mentioned its "new Viennese" accent…

— Oh no, these were very different compositions and, from my perspective, my part of the program did not contain any obvious signs of the "new Viennese" style. The original Faradzh Karaev's idea was, that one concert comprised very subtle and unusual comparisons. For example, if we talk about Kaija Saariaho, it is, in fact, a very French composition, a kind of Impressionist one. It was written without any whole text (fragments of several poems by Paul Eluard were used as the phonetic basis). The Songs by Vladislav Soyfer I would interpret as sound styling inspired by folklore. Absolutely outstanding was Autumn Melody / Shaint d`automne by Edison Denisov (written to the remarkable text by Baudelaire), with a free-flowing rhythm that transcended every sense of "metricity." A kind of "Viennese accent," could probably be associated only with the compositions by Friedrich Cerha and Alban Berg.
For me the most remarkable thing about the concert was that it was made up of entirely vocal works. This is a very rare occasion: as a rule, instrumental music is mostly performed in the concert, and only one or two vocal pieces.

— Which composition of the program was the most difficult for you?

— Denisov was probably the most difficult. It is both the deepest and the most sincere work. I would like to work more on it. Some things in it you realize only after a few rehearsals with the orchestra. When I learn a composition myself, I have no clavier and, besides, you cannot play along on the piano with the score of A3 size, for the font is too small. So, in fact, at the very beginning of the learning process I find myself alone with my vocal line. It was only during the orchestral rehearsals (we had, by the way, four of them), that the score gradually began to build up a single unit, somewhat like a "single organism".
Bo Nilsson was also very complicated — it was a "fragmented", very detailed score, rich in detailed author's instructions in dynamics and agogics. The singer's voice was almost on equal terms with orchestral voices

— How interesting and comfortable was it to work with the State Symphony Orchestra of Azerbaijan directed by Rauf Abdullayev?

— I really appreciate this Orchestra. From the very first rehearsal there were practically no problems with the text, everything was learned by heart, and we could rehearse everything from the beginning till the end almost non-stop without any annoying mistakes. Rauf Abdullayev had only to correct some certain parts. I want to mention his very accurate professional gesture. I am glad that we were able to engage ourselves in more subtle things, rather than just to learn the lyrics.

— Basically you perform solo. During the Festival you often had to sing in different ensembles, such as with Nadiya Zelyankova in Concert duo by Kaija Sarriaho. In the opera "Beyond the shadow" there were no solos at all, and you sang all the time as part of a vocal trio. Do you like to sing in ensembles?

— Actually, these are two different kinds of activities, and they are two different pleasures. By the way, in modern music a party in the ensemble is almost equivalent to a solo party. Of course, there are some peculiarities: at the beginning of rehearsals we need to establish a contact, to get used to interaction, but then everything turns out just fine.

— I know that when working on the opera "Beyond the shadow" you played a major role in the training process of singers, who hardly sang contemporary music previously. Is the performing of contemporary music, in your opinion, difficult for vocalists specializing in academic repertoire?

— Olga Lutsiv-Ternovskaya and Svetlana Sumacheva — were very experienced and highly professional opera singers, and that was why the main thing that had defined the success in the performing of these complex works — was their sincere interest and a great desire. It was the most important, because without transparency, without seeking for the best, nothing would have happened. They were originally set to a positive result.
In this opera there were really difficult parties: they were difficult not only in intonation, but also in rhythmic. Some fragments of variable meter and particularly detailed dynamics were not easy to comprehend even for a very experienced person. In such cases it was necessary to sing according to the "arm" of the conductor. But everything is possible — it is only a matter of will and a sufficient number of rehearsals.

— After all the concerts did it occur to you, to come back to Baku for the next Qara Qarayev's Festival in the future?

— Yes, I would have participated in such a festival with great pleasure. This time, the program was very interesting for me. Especially when you consider that it comprises contemporary works with a large orchestra — which happens in Moscow very seldom.

Prepared by Press Center of the Festival