A Dec. 4 performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Don Carlos” in Kyiv Opera Theater was marked by the presence of a guest star – or returning star. Ievgen Orlov, a Ukrainian opera singer who has been living in Western Europe for the past five years, performed as Spanish King Philip II.
During the opera’s five acts, the king confronts his son, Don Carlos. The source of their strife is the king’s wife, young French princess Elisabeth of Valois, who loves the son.
The day after the show, the Kyiv Post met Orlov in a make-up room at the Opera House.
“The role of Philip II is my favorite one because it reveals the voice and at the same time it requires acting. Philip appears on the stage as a loving father, a tender spouse or a jealous lover,” Orlov says as he sits in a tiny room with room for a sofa, piano and shabby washstand.
He is used to better conditions.
Orlov, 32, has shared the stage with opera legends like Ukrainian soprano star Oksana Dyka or Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. He performed in the world’s best opera theaters – Metropolitan Opera in New York, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opéra de Montréal in Canada, Spanish Opera de Bilbao, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Klosterneuburg in Austria and many others.
Orlov returned to Kyiv at the invitation of the National Opera House to perform in the project “Ukrainian Opera Singers in the World.” In January, he will move to Berlin and start working at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Orlov went abroad in 2010 because he didn’t see any career prospects in Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, because of the lack of finances Kyiv Opera has no possibilities to invite either famous opera singers or interesting bandmasters,” he says, although the average monthly salary of an opera singer in Kyiv can be only $400.
Orlov’s repertoire includes Mister X from Imreh Kalman’s operetta “The Circus Princess,” Don Basilio from Gioachino Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville,” King Philip II of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Don Carlos,” Egyptian high priest Ramfis from Verdi’s “Aida,” high priest Zacharia from Verdi’s “Nabucco,” and Sir Giorgio from Vincenzo Bellini’s opera “The Puritans.”
Even after 10 years of professionally performing, he is anxious every time he appears on stage.
“I was scared my first times on stage, and my panic negatively influenced my voice then,” he says. But he “learned how to use his anxiety and transfer it into emotions on the scene.”
Orlov started at age 16. In 1998, he was a violoncello student at Donetsk state music school, when he first tried singing.
“Once at the music school I saw an announcement about the recruitment of singers to a local choir,” he recalls. “In the announcement they promised Hr 30 of a monthly salary – big money for me at that time. So I applied immediately.”
In the choir it turned out that Orlov had a marvelous bass voice. So he started developing his vocal talent.
He graduated from the vocal department of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. Orlov is a winner of numerous Ukrainian vocal competitions, among them Lysenko 2007 vocal competition, and Solomiya Krushelnytska 2009 vocal competition.
His life changed in 2010, when a friend insisted that he enrolled in the Operalia World Opera Competition.
“I listened to his advice, even though I didn’t really want to participate,” Orlov says.
His performance as Philip II brought Orlov a second prize and a career push.
“In the evening during the (after-competition) party, three managers of foreign opera houses came up to me with job offers,” he says.
Ever since that, he’s been singing in the best European opera houses on seasonal contracts.
Orlov remains modest, attending his colleagues’ performances to learn from them and to improve his vocal technique. “I am discontent when I listen to recordings of my earlier performances,” he says.
Before returning to Western Europe, Orlov will perform in Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera “Iolanta” in Kyiv Opera House on Dec. 20. Tickets cost Hr 20-300.
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]
