20th March soloist of NOVAT Opera Company Vladimir Kuchin will make his debut as José from Bizet’s “Carmen”.
The singer shared his thoughts with us in anticipation of his debut: “It happened so that I have two major debuts in March. First one was on 4th March when I sang Riccardo from Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” and the next one is going to be José from “Carmen” by Bizet. I must tell I am a bit more nervous about singing José for the first time – Riccardo’s character is more familiar to me, more intelligible. A noble and transparent person, an enlightener – he definitely is a positive character, carrying light and good to everyone around. If we talk about technical, vocal aspect, then I must tell Riccardo’s part is quite large and musically diverse, it suits my voice well and I’ve been mastering it for a long time. It’s a lot more difficult with José”.
Vladimir Kuchin is a Bauman Moscow State Technical University graduate with a degree in software engineering, and he applies a different approach for each part. He studies accurately the character’s psychology, analyzes his grounds: “At first I was ready to have a lot of question for José’s part. He’s a complicated character, but there are no uncomplicated people in real life. Plot of this opera is also quite controversial – there is no clear distinction between good and evil, and Jose is the one, experiencing this ambiguity to the fullest. He is also the only character facing a need to make a moral and a psychological choice and so he changes personally to the extent where no return for his previous life is possible. Of course, each character in “Carmen” strives for love and freedom, but it’s not love that operates them – they are all selfish in a way. ”
The singer describes his approach for an opera part as the following: “Of course I could look for the core of the role in music – interpret the score my way and find different keys, but it’s important for me to personally render the entire variety of my character’s emotions. One cannot simply detach vocal from emotions – one thing will lose its meaning without another”.
Bizet’s “Carmen” on 20th March, 19:00. José – Vladimir Kuchin, Carmen – Anastasiya Lepeshinskaya, Micaëla – Irina Churilova, Eskamillo – Pavel Yankovsky, conductor – Eugene Volynsky.
Tickets are available at the theatre box office, at novat.nsk.ru and with our partners.