Galina Vladimirovna Gorchakova (russian: Галина Владимировна Горчакова, born 1 March 1962) is a distinguished Russian
lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and ot ...
.
Beginnings
Gorchakova was born in
Novokuznetsk
Novokuznetsk ( rus, Новокузнецк, p=nəvəkʊzˈnʲɛt͡sk; literally: "new smith's", cjs, Аба-тура, ''Aba-tura'') is a city in Kemerovo Oblast (Kuzbass) in south-western Siberia, Russia. It is the second largest city in the obla ...
to a musical family. She moved to
Novosibirsk in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
with her parents who were singers at the opera house there. It was in that city that she attended music school, college and the
Conservatoire
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
from which she graduated in 1988.
While she was there, she was auditioned for the opera company of
Sverdlovsk and transferred there as a leading soprano. After a period, she became dissatisfied and asked to audition at the
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
in
St Petersburg. Artistic director
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...
invited her to join the company as a guest artist and she sang ''
Il trovatore
''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
'' and ''
Prince Igor
''Prince Igor'' ( rus, Князь Игорь, Knyáz Ígor ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the Ancient Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which re ...
''.
''The Fiery Angel''
She was asked to learn the role of Renata in
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
's ''
The Fiery Angel'' for Sir
Edward Downes
Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera.
He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for hi ...
who was auditioning singers for a joint production of the opera for
Covent Garden and the Mariinsky. She won the role which became her breakthrough role, and with which she made her Western debut at the 1991
Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
in London. She also sang the role the following year at the Royal Opera House and this was a triumph for her. International success in the same role followed in Milan, New York, San Francisco. It was only after her international acclaim that she was offered a permanent position at the Mariinsky theatre.
Repertoire
She has also sung in many other key Russian operas: Tatiana in ''
Eugene Onegin
''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is ...
'', Lisa in ''
The Queen of Spades'', ''
Iolanta
''Iolanta'', Op. 69, (russian: Иоланта, links=no ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play ...
'', ''
Mazeppa'', ''
Ruslan and Lyudmila''. ''The Maid of Pskov'' and Fevroniya in ''
The Invisible City of Kitezh''.
She has also sung the Italian repertoire, Cio-Cio San in ''
Madama Butterfly'' the opera in which she made her ''
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
'' debut in 1995, ''
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...
'', Elisabeth de Valois in ''
Don Carlo
''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedr ...
'', the Leonoras in ''Il trovatore'' and ''
La forza del destino'', ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...
'', and ''
Norma Norma may refer to:
* Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Astronomy
*Norma (constellation)
*555 Norma, a minor asteroid
* Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy
Geography
*Norma, Lazi ...
''.
Valery Gergiev
Although Gergiev played a key role in her early success and despite the many performances and recordings in which she has sung under his baton, both at the Mariinsky and on tour, Gorchakova has spoken harshly of his arrogant attitude towards her and other Russian singers and of what she perceives as attempts by him to stop her international career as payback for her leaving the Mariinsky.
She was a prize-winner in the Mussorgsky and Glinka competitions. She is a
People's Artist of the USSR.
She was married, but is now divorced and has a son.
References
Sources
*Official websit
Galina Gorchakova.
*Holland, Bernard
''New York Times'', 7 January 1995
*Marques, Nuno Miguel
''Classical Voice''
*Mermelstein, David
''New York Times'' 20 December 1998
*Robinson, Harlow
Into the West ''
Opera News'', April 1997
*Warrack, John Hamilton and West, Ewan (eds.)
"Gorchakova, Galina" ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 204–205.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorchakova, Galina
1962 births
Living people
Russian women opera singers
Russian sopranos
People from Novokuznetsk
Novosibirsk Conservatory alumni