Vasily is an opera singer. Vasily Gerello: “My theater is the whole globe

Today our guest is Phil Ginzburg, a Soviet and Russian opera singer (baritone), soloist of the Mariinsky Theater since 1990. People's Artist of the Russian Federation Vasily Gerello.

F.G. Vasily, I have no doubt that you have visited a lot of places and seen a lot of things. What places on the globe left the most vivid impressions and where would you be happy to return?

V.G. I will say without false modesty, I have traveled all over the globe, but there is no better city than St. Petersburg!

F.G. And besides Peter?

V.G. Our Mother Russia is extremely great. I want to say about the Republic of Gorny Altai, stunning Khakassia... Yes, move away from St. Petersburg - Pskov, Novgorod, the Golden Ring...

We are used to eating someone else’s “Parmesan”, but it’s better to eat our products and travel around our wonderful, beautiful country. You will get incredible pleasure and see how rich and beautiful our Russia is!

F.G. Every adult was once a child. Please tell me, is there any story from childhood that you still remember with pleasure?

V.G. You know, God gave me such happiness - I am still a child. I never came out of this state and I hope that it will last for a very long time.

Despite all my regalia, I still continue to be in childhood and feel very good (smiles).

F.G. Tell me, when did you realize what you wanted to do in life and were there people who influenced your choice?

V.G. Since childhood, I really wanted to make music. Already as a small child, I felt that I could and knew how to do it. Of course, great musicians influenced me. There was no such terrible pop music then. I was born when real singers sang even on the stage. These were amazingly beautiful voices! Not like now, a basin-toilet, a washcloth-blotter...

I listened to real professionals - Vladimir Atlantov, Elena Obraztsova. You can’t imagine how great a blessing it is to see and hear these people! And even my dream came true, then I not only met with them, but also sang.

As you can see, dreams come true not only in Gazprom (laughs).

F.G. As far as I know, you, without graduating from a music school in Ukraine, entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory on the course of Nina Serval. Please tell us more about this.

V.G. A great singer and a wonderful teacher! At that time I already had a huge opera repertoire. I played almost all the instruments and realized that I wanted to make real music, real art, and not what I call two claps and three whistles.

The conservatory usually accepts a sub-course if you don’t have a music school diploma, but I entered the main course straight away. In my third year I became a soloist at the Mariinsky Theater.

When I entered the conservatory, I sang the repertoire that is not sung even at graduation.

F.G. You are a successful person and it is known that success is talent multiplied by work, but often this is not enough. Please tell us about your formula for success.

V.G. I'm afraid of the word “successful”. We have a lot of successful and popular people, but there is no one to sing.

The first component of my formula is that you need to be vaccinated against Star Sickness from childhood. Especially in our profession. And not only in ours. Pride needs to be fought off from childhood.

In general, everything is written. We read the 10 commandments and it doesn’t matter whether we are Orthodox or not, keep this a little and everything will be fine. And success will come to you!

In fact, a person needs little, very little...

This is now the age of consumers and we are literally instilled with the idea that we need a lot. Actually this is not true.

And yet, you cannot live without faith. Whether you are a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, an Orthodox...

Another component is respect. Respect for people, respect for parents. If you have all this, then success will come to you.

Anyone who thinks that he is the most important in this world is worthless.

F.G. I saw you at hockey and that's why it's a sports question. Please tell us about your sports hobbies. About a team or athlete that interests you and that you follow.

V.G. I am an ambassador for the FIFA World Cup and the Confederation Cup. I like any sport because it really lifts your spirit. I don’t follow anyone, there are special services for that (laughs)

F.G. Can we call sports theater?

V.G. I don’t think so, sport is sport, and theater is theater. There is a wonderful song “Real men play hockey, a coward doesn’t play hockey.”

In the theater there are a lot of cowards, there are set-ups, but in sports this is not the case. Of course, there is a little in sports, but much less than in the theater.

At the theater, boys with lipstick come out. I think there is no such thing in sports (laughs).

F.G. And our last question, traditional.The quintessence of happiness from Vasily Gerello.

V.G. Love life Live with God.

Vasily, thank you for finding time in your busy schedule and thank you for the mood. May your life have what you deserve and those who you need and enjoy.

(photo from the personal archive of Vasily Gerello)

The famous singer is confident that all people are good, and is happy to bring art to the masses

Everyone knows the People's Artist of Russia, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Vasily Gerello - wherever he appears, wherever he stays, be it the Grand Hotel Europe or the Arts Square, he hears from big and small: “And we know you!..”

“I love people,” says Vasily Gerello. “They are all good, they are all people.” And among my friends there are no negative ones - there are only positive ones around...”

Agree, you couldn’t find a better candidate for a New Year’s interview. Vasily Georgievich agreed to such a New Year’s gesture especially for us: he sat down under an elegant Christmas tree and sang “A Christmas tree was born in the forest.”

We have democracy in our family

— Vasily, are the Mariinsky soloists invited to children’s matinees?
- Unfortunately, I don’t have time. I have to travel a lot, fly, move from place to place, sometimes it seems to me that I am constantly at some kind of matinee, evening parties... But it is a great blessing that I have such a profession and I can move around the entire globe. Of course, I really love communicating with children - they exude such purity and positivity, although these all sorts of gadgets have “spoiled” them a little. But it’s okay - I think the best is ahead of them.

- Do you mean your son too?
- Oh, he’s already an adult - huge and smart, he’s 25, and he just flew to Dubai to see how people live there.

Andryusha worked a lot - he’s a lawyer! - and he needed an outlet. And I’m glad that he went, we have complete democracy in our family.

— And your son is probably the best singing lawyer?
- From singing, playing, dancing. That is, a normal person, a cheerful guy. But he sings for himself, for his soul - he has a voice and an ear, and, like all normal children, he practiced the piano, but then he gave it up, and I didn’t insist. And he did the right thing! Because in our profession you have to give 300% and be an obsessed person.

— Is your wife also one of those who sing, play, and dance?
— My wife, Alenka, is a wonderful person, my fellow countrywoman is from Chernivtsi, from Shevchenko Street (smiles). And I always say - there are only two capitals in the world - Tel Aviv and Chernivtsi! She is a loving wife, a first-class housewife... She works as the wife of Vasya Gerello. And the work of a people's artist is not so easy...

I believe in Santa Claus

— Since we have a New Year’s interview, maybe you can tell us about your most memorable New Year’s holiday?
— For as long as I can remember, I’ve had so many wonderful New Years! Everyone was waiting for the end of the world, but, as they say, Russian people do not believe in the end of the world - they wait for it all the time. But since we are normal people, “from a normal region” - Bukovyna, we celebrate all the holidays. I remember from childhood the approach of the New Year - both the tangerines and the Christmas tree. And now the Christmas tree in my house is lit with lights - it’s artificial, because after the natural one it takes three days to clean...

But I’m waiting for this New Year, like some kid, like a pioneer, like a schoolboy. Because there are always some illusions, fantasies, waiting for your dreams to come true. And I don't want it to fade away.

- So, maybe you believe in Santa Claus too?
- I believe! I even know where he lives, and I saw him fly to St. Petersburg by helicopter (smiles). Once, for one New Year’s concert, I dressed up as Santa Claus and, when I had to sing for an encore, I went out to the audience dressed like that. And no one understood why I was on stage - they didn’t recognize me in makeup.

Depression - from idleness

— By the way, about singing. Our photojournalist just took a photo of you on Arts Square in 20-degree frost - you were without a hat, without a scarf - with your throat open. Aren't you afraid for your “tool”?
- Not afraid. If there is a voice, then no frost is afraid of it. I was born in a village, and there was no time for special hardening. There, a person almost from the cradle already needs to work, plow - winter is not winter, forward, into a storm, to where the stars fly at night... But in the village people are not depressed - they have no time. Those who have nothing to do are depressed. Because in a person who has nothing to do, some bad, stupid thoughts arise from somewhere below. But it is necessary for good, bright thoughts to arise from above. So the village gives health, as well as church, religion, parents. For me, parents are holy people. Out of great respect, I always call them “you”.

- Have you really never been spanked?
“I’ve never known a belt in my life, and neither has my sister.” No one has ever spoken in a raised voice - only kindness-kindness-kindness... I pray for my parents - good health to them! I even took tickets for the 3rd - I want to go to them for Christmas, because this is the most important holiday for me! Communication with them is very important for me - to see them, to take their hand, and on the phone I call them every day. Honestly, I don’t like people who were born somewhere in a village, but are ashamed of it, ashamed of their culture, language, parents. On the contrary, you should be proud and thank heaven for the fact that you were born there. It is not by chance that we say: “God forbid Ivan is a master.”

— You always emphasize that you sing “live” - not to a soundtrack...
- You will never see this nightmare! Is it possible to sing “to the plywood” in opera? You need to spit in your soul and face! You can’t do this - because a person gets used to singing to “plywood”, then he suffers and is afraid to sing “live” and earns himself an inferiority complex...

- Well, if you don’t have a voice, what then?
- God save us! God always helps me - I get a second wind. I’ll stand in front of an icon, pray, and everything always works out... After all, we have such a thing as technology—those who are not trained are the ones who screw up. And those who have a school, a singing foundation - they sing. I am grateful to my teachers - the professors of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, my teacher in Chernivtsi. God and my mother gave me a voice, and with my teachers I polished it. And I’m still studying - I’m studying every day, despite the fact that I have titles - I’m singing like I was in the first grade. And I advise everyone to go to the machine and practice.

And I also advise you to believe in your profession, in your family - you need to love our people and the public to whom you devote yourself. And rejoice, because being sad is a great sin.

If they invite you, you have to sing

— Vasily, you speak in different places and in front of different people - billionaires and workers...
- ...in front of policemen and intelligence officers...

— Have you ever spoken to the top officials of our country?
- Certainly! I sang with pleasure not only in front of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, but also in front of Bill Clinton in America - I sang the classical repertoire then, and Clinton played the saxophone. Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev also came to this concert in the White House; there were media figures and American senators there... I’m a simple artist and I think that if you can do something, do it for everyone, don’t filter it: I’ll sing to it, but I won't do this.

— You are a cheerful, positive person. And if you are offered to sing the part of the Snow Maiden, will you agree?
- No, I’m a man’s man - I’m from a normal trade union.

— I would like you to wish our readers a Happy New Year. In what language will you congratulate?
- In Ukrainian. “With all my heart I congratulate you on the New Rock and the Feast of Christ! May God grant you happiness, health, so that your families are warm, so that your children don’t get sick, so that we get along... As they say, let there be buckwheat, no matter what! Holy shit!

The “star” baritone Vasily Gerello came to St. Petersburg literally for one day - to sing a solo concert in his native Mariinsky Theater and go to Helsinki. Arias from “Rigoletto”, “Don Carlos”, “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Il Trovatore” and “Aleko” were performed with Gerello’s usual vocal perfection. For endless applause, the audience received Figaro's cavatina and the Ukrainian "Black Eyebrows, Brown Eyes", which almost brought the theater down. Izvestia special correspondent Yulia KANTOR met with Vasily GERELLO.

Vasily, you come to Russia maximum twice a year - do you still feel at home here?

Certainly. Here is my family, my friends and, of course, my theater. In this sense, I am a monogamist - after all, I started in St. Petersburg. This city is everything to me, it accepted me, for which I am grateful: St. Petersburg has the ability to accept or reject. I was lucky... Russia is so powerful, vast and unbridled. And soulfulness. I miss it, it’s hard for me to imagine my life without it - I love coming back. I have a Russian passport, Russian citizenship, by the way, it was very difficult for me to get it. It seemed that all the documents were in order, even the Russian insert in the old Soviet passport, but they hounded me for a very long time. Either they asked about Ukraine, where I was born, then they demanded some additional papers, or they offered to wait six months. But I don’t have time - I travel a lot. But, thank God, by December 31, 2003, I received Russian citizenship.

Russia is home, but what is Ukraine?

This is my homeland. I definitely go there at least once a year. My parents and sister are in Western Ukraine. My "tribe". I come from there 20 kilograms fatter. Do you know what Ukrainian food is, what Ukrainian hospitality is? Nothing has changed in our country since Gogol. In general, Ukraine has a fertile climate, beautiful women and wonderful nature. Have you been to Ukraine, what do you remember?

Lermontov's "nights of Ukraine in the twinkling of the unset stars."

Exactly! stars... I have never seen such a night and evening sky anywhere, not even in Italy, not even in Naples. In Ukraine, the sky is at arm's length, but it does not press, it is simply velvety and bottomless. And you can touch the stars, huge and bright, with your hand.

At home with your wife Alena, also a native of Western Ukraine and a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, you speak Ukrainian, but with your son Andrey?

In Russian. Although Andrey knows Ukrainian. And I myself am absolutely bilingual. And it’s very nice when you have two native languages. Son Andrei is studying at the gymnasium at the Russian Museum, and plans to go to college in Russia. We haven’t chosen which one yet, we still have a few years left, but apparently it will be something humanitarian.

They say that the secret of the “Italianness” of your voice is that your ancestors are supposedly from Italy, is this true?

My great-grandfather is Italian. I was born in Bukovina, where Austria-Hungary was before the First World War and the Austrian army fought there during that war, where my great-grandfather served. And he fell in love with a Ukrainian girl. That's how it turned out that I have an Italian touch. But our voice is Ukrainian. We will not give this to Italy. (Laughs.)

You recently released a CD with Ukrainian songs and are sure to include Ukrainian songs in your concerts - nostalgia?

A need, perhaps. Ukrainian songs are loved in Russia. I have a dream: in December, when I arrive from Madrid, I will give a concert at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, consisting only of Ukrainian songs, and then another one of Neapolitan songs.

Now you are leaving for Helsinki, then to America, what next?

At the Metropolitan Opera I have La Traviata, and in the original version, the one originally created by Verdi, everything is much more complicated there, the part is written a semitone higher than in the usual version. They don’t sing it anywhere except La Scala, so now we’ll try it at the Metropolitan. Then in Budapest I have “The Queen of Spades”, then I will come to St. Petersburg for the “Stars of the White Nights” festival, then to San Sebastiano, where I have “Ball in Masquerade” at the festival, then Madrid.

What are the most interesting impressions from this season?

The most shocking thing, perhaps, is Il Trovatore at the Hamburg Opera. The action begins in the morgue. In Hamburg they considered this a phenomenal find, but for me it was a disaster. And the best part is the Masquerade Ball in Thessaloniki. An excellent orchestra from Belgrade led by Dejan Savic, a wonderful choir from the Sofia Opera and wonderful, cozy people. And, of course, the very aura of the place.

Listening to your Rigoletto at the concert and almost crying with him, I thought, when can we expect this production at the Mariinsky Theater?

Will this tear remain in the interview? So I’ve been dreaming about it for several years now. I thought it would be this year, but the Mariinsky Theater isn’t up to it yet. Just now there were “The Nose” and “Snow Maiden”. So we'll have to wait. But, apparently, in the next season there will also be an interesting “Simon Bocanegra”.

How do you relax?

How it will turn out, I’m not inventing anything on purpose. After Helsinki, I hope for a bathhouse, brooms and barbecue. In Ukraine I like to sing with friends. A glass of good wine - and I take the accordion and the songs begin. The most excellent holiday. I like to relax when there are nice people around me, this does not depend on the country or place. It's up to them.

What quality in people is unacceptable to you?

Snobbery. If success changes a person, if, having received a rank and shoulder straps, he changes his gait and timbre of his voice, the conversation is over.

With such a bright, rich life, is there anything that you are missing?

I don’t know... Maybe Ukrainian close stars and warm sun.

03/03/2009

Vasily Gerello, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, is called the golden baritone of the world opera stage. He is invited by the largest opera houses: Covent Garden, La Scala, Metropolitan Opera... According to family legend, the singer’s great-grandfather was Italian. In ancient times, when Bukovina was part of Austria-Hungary, my great-grandfather served in the Austrian army, met a Ukrainian girl and married her. However, despite all these “foreign” roots, Vasily Gerello says that his main duty is to glorify “our great Russia.”

"I refused to kill the baby"

- Does the crisis interfere with your performances yet?

I think: the main thing is that the crisis is not in your head... In the West, many theaters have actually closed now - they lived on sponsorship money. Quite a few people went bankrupt - I’m not talking about billionaires, but simply about rich people who understood art and gave money to it. And yet I believe that the crisis will pass and money will be found again...

- Do you always agree to participate in productions in the West?

Of course not. Many times I refused - especially in Germany. I don’t like it when classics are defaced. I always say: guys, take your theme, compose your own opera and do with it what you want. Just don’t indulge in perversions, leave Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Verdi alone... For example, I refused to sing in German productions of Un ballo in maschera and Il Trovatore. In Troubadour, it started in a morgue and I had to kill a baby. Of course, it was not a living baby, but a dummy, and I had to tear it apart. It was all so terrible and disgusting that I turned around and left. And now I’m happy that I didn’t participate in that crap.

In Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, French, German... It’s a pleasure to sing in Italian - I love this language. Ukrainian is also very melodious, bright, and open. It is difficult to sing in German, it is such a barking, “dog” language. Although Wagner should only be sung in German... You see, I always prefer to sing in the original language. It’s terrible, for example, to perform Verdi in Russian - everything is lost. But Tchaikovsky should only be sung in Russian...
- Are not only voice and hearing important in the art of singing? Mark Bernes had no voice at all, but he sang...
- His soul sang. There are people with exceptional, “big” voices, but they perform “Dark Night” terribly, you don’t want to listen to them - that’s how buffaloes sing. But Bernes had everything real. Of course, he was not a singer, he was a film artist, he could not sing Onegin or Rigoletto arias. But he sang songs from movies and did it beautifully. Or Vertinsky. He actually had a lisp, but he also sang! Another thing is that if you want to engage in opera, you still need a voice. Just like material. There should be not a “Cossack” voice, but a “Ferrari” voice, figuratively speaking.

-Are you ready to perform any song?

No. I can sing as much as God has given. Everything has its limit. It is very difficult, for example, to sing both Wagner and Verdi. Like it or not, these are different languages, different styles, there is a different message of sound. Anyone who sings Wagner a lot then finds it difficult to master the bel canto style: Donizetti, Bellini... I’m not sure that this is generally compatible. Each singer has his own repertoire, his own role, his own capabilities.

- And if the text is not close, can you sing?

No. There are such simple romances, but you can’t sing them. You suffer, but nothing works. It seems that everything is simple, but you can’t - with all your regalia and merits. You can’t - and you don’t have to, that means. Music needs to be treated honestly. Otherwise, it will be torture both for you and for those who pay money to listen to you...

“The Holodomor was not only in Ukraine”

- Which country do you consider your homeland?

My homeland is the Soviet Union. And also Ukraine, of course. I grew up in Bukovina - it’s a beautiful region! As we joke, there are only two capitals in the world: Tel Aviv and Chernivtsi. Here I am just from Chernivtsi. We have wonderful, kind, talented, hardworking people living in Western Ukraine... I believe that, despite all this politicking, despite all this political crisis (which is actually in our heads), it will not be possible to quarrel between Ukraine and Russia. We are all people, we are all Slavs, and we must live as brothers in peace and love. Otherwise, several bugs will appear, and they will start biting people and quarreling... You can’t do that!

- Immigrants from the western part of Ukraine have now gained power in the country...

I think we cannot spoil that harmony, that beautiful mood of soul in which Ukraine lived together with Russia. I often travel to Ukraine. Even in Western Ukraine, people speak mostly Russian. Ukrainian language is only in villages. And no one there will offend you, no one will say: oh, you such and such a Russian! On the contrary, they will pour a glass, cut some salsa, and take away everything that is at home... Nationalists? These are a couple of bastards, and you can’t say that all people are like that. All the people are for Russia. Now, unfortunately, Yushchenko has taken up the topic of the Holodomor - supposedly there was a famine only in Ukraine. Nonsense! How many died in Russia then? How many in Kazakhstan? People were suffering everywhere! And there is no need to say that at that time the Russians were in power and oppressed everyone. There were few Russians there either.

- You could work as an agitator...

Could. I always campaign for Russia, for our great Russia. I believe that she will rise. No one has ever killed Russia and no one will! This is verified information!

- Have the difficulties of the last twenty years shaken your faith?

Not at all. You see, faith never dies. She is in the soul. And the soul, as we Orthodox people know, is immortal.

- Have you ever sung in a church choir?

No Unfortunately. But I love going to church. I live on Vasilievsky, so I go to church at the Smolensk cemetery. When I return from distant travels, I’ll go there first. My confessor is Father Victor of Moscow, rector of the church. His anniversary is coming soon, and I will gladly come to congratulate this wonderful man: I will sing classics and romances in the refectory church.

“I hope the crisis will put an end to the glamor”

St. Petersburg composer Sergei Slonimsky says that modern music is becoming as simple as mooing. Do you agree?

This is a real problem! Wonderful performers sang on the Soviet stage - Yuri Gulyaev, Muslim Magomaev, Joseph Kobzon, Anna German, Sofia Rotaru (by the way, she is my countrywoman). The lyrics, the music - everything was on the level. And now? This disgusting pop music is heard from all the irons! Bad taste, nonsense, glamor, “pusimushi”... They tell us: if you don’t want it, don’t watch it. What if I want to watch and listen to something different, but all channels are showing the same thing? I hope the crisis will put an end to pop and glamour. But the present will remain.

- What else scares you in modern life?

A lot of callousness, a lot of lies. It should not be! It's not right for one person to make billions. The rich must share, because there are so many poor, sick, suffering people left! It is imperative to help pensioners and children.

- What makes you happy?

I have a wonderful family, wonderful friends, a wonderful place of work - the Mariinsky Theater. Life is Beautiful! If you open the refrigerator and see three potatoes, an onion, and black bread, it’s not all that bad.

- An opera singer of your level probably earns a lot of money?

- Not big. Deripaska and Abramovich have big ones, but I’m from a different area. Although I’m not complaining - I have enough for pants. I'll tell you this: money is not the main thing. No one has yet invented a case to take at least something to the next world.

- What is it like to be a celebrity?

The main thing is to be human. The words “star”, “celebrity” are all nonsense, dirt. I washed myself - and there was nothing. This is what I think: those who think they are celebrities need to wash themselves more often. Friendship, respect, love - there is nothing better in the world! Everything else is vanity of vanities! Once success has come to someone, and he no longer notices his friends, he walks around as if he had swallowed a crowbar... Stupid! Today you have a name, and tomorrow you have forgotten it. It’s like in a romance: “Everything passes, and there is no return to it, life rushes into the distance, moments go faster...”.

- How do you spend your free time?

I like to cook, relax in nature, I like fishing, going to the bathhouse... I can watch football, I can run and drive a car. I'm actually a bit of a hooligan in life. I don’t follow a diet, I go without a hat, I drink iced drinks. Nothing is alien to me, I love life... The main thing, I think, is not to harm anyone .

Interviewed
Dmitry Orekhov