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The Daily Telegraph London says soprano Dina Kuznetsova has “looks like a dream and sings with refinement and imagination.” The Long Beach Press Telegram calls her voice “young and fresh and supple, sparkling with flashing brilliance, capable of power without harshness, with a softness that is still clearly audible.” Recently, Ms. Kuznetsova spoke to BLO’s Leah Moens about her career, her Violetta and how she prepares for roles.
How did you prepare for this role, and is this Boston Violetta different from your first Violetta at Opera Pacific?
Yes, she is different. The wonderful thing about performing is that I come into rehearsals with my musical ideas and dramatic ideas but then I am open to the concept of the director and the musical intention of the conductor. So during the rehearsal period we create something new and unique. I don’t think any artist really takes the piece and just replants it someplace else. It does help that I have sung the role so I am familiar with it vocally.
Violetta is a difficult role because each act requires a different type of soprano voice: coloratura, dramatic and lyrical. How do you approach the score when you’re studying and preparing before rehearsals begin?
I try to listen to lots of historical recordings—particularly older live performances. There is an opinion that listening to recordings is not a good idea, but I think if you listen to a lot of recordings, rather than one, it does not take away from your individuality at all. It introduces you to many different options— it has been done so many times by so many brilliant people so you can learn from each one. Because it is a diverse role, you have to measure it to your own voice. I can listen to Tebaldi and Callas who applied their voice type to the opera, but I have to find expressiveness for my own voice. I know the saying that Violetta is written for three different voices, but I’m not sure that’s true. It’s extremely challenging, but I don’t find I have to twist my voice in any way to do it. There are different means of expression for each act. Certainly you can’t sing louder than you are able, but you do try and find a way in your voice to give truth and expressiveness in the part.
Many sopranos have earned fame with this role. How does that influence your performance?
I think initially, there was a feeling that “Oh, I have to do this well,” because so many have sung it so well. Then I started studying it. And it’s different once I start singing it because when listening to it, it’s not really mine yet. It was beautiful, but not mine. I realized that if I am totally committed to the music and the acting and the story, I am doing it justice. If I have the emotional commitment to what Verdi wrote on the page and to my partners on stage, then it will work emotionally. Recordings and past singers’ fame don’t intimidate me. I have incredible admiration for them!
La traviata is part of The Diva Season here at BLO. How do you feel about the word “Diva,” and what about Violetta makes her a “Diva role?”
I think a “Diva” is a woman who is willing to be glamorous in the public eye. It can be a pop singer or an opera singer or something else. It’s Callas or Tebaldi going outside and the crowd going crazy! I don’t think it is bad or good. Some people have charisma and love being in the spotlight. Behaving like a diva could be bad, but I don’t think every instance of the word is. A “Diva role” is simply what enables you to show your range on the stage. She is someone who has a larger than life personality—an actress who has the ability to take control of the stage. You don’t have to be a diva in the negative sense of the word, but you have to not be afraid to be center stage. Violetta is the center of attention the whole time!
How old were you when you discovered you had a voice?
I was in my early twenties: probably older than most singers. I used to play piano professionally in Moscow and then came to Oberlin Conservatory to study piano. Since I was an accompanist and was always around singers, I knew I loved singing and I knew I loved opera. Ever since I was twelve I had wanted to take lessons in singing, but I was convinced I could not sing. When I started taking singing lessons with Mary Schiller at Oberlin, I really opened up and within a year, I switched from piano to voice. Once I realized I had even a remote possibility of being a professional singer, I dropped everything else. I couldn’t even think about anything else. And I knew I had to give it my all because it was the only thing that would make me happy! It felt like a huge gamble at the time, but once I started singing it was all over for the piano.
I understand you have a young child. How do you balance your work and travel schedule with your family life?
My husband is a professor, a musicologist, so he has summers off and he travels with me. When my son was small, he was easy to tote around, but it’s probably going to get harder because now he runs around and cries out to me. When he was very small, my husband would take him to the theatre: now, he’s too small to reason with but big enough to wreak havoc. We take it day by day, but so far it is wonderful.
What are the most difficult aspects of your career? The most rewarding?
When you work in the public eye, you cannot relax about the quality of what you do. Some nights are inevitably better than others, but there’s no such thing as staying at the same level. You’re either getting worse or getting better. You start practicing, you get better. You get nervous, you get worse. You calm down, you get better. I constantly have to tell myself that I am not a surgeon. If what I do is not perfection in someone’s eyes—even my own eyes—it’s OK! I am a perfectionist so that’s hard for me to do, but it’s an exciting thing, too. It is never boring!
Music and theatre are just magical, just being in the wings or performing something on stage that makes people emotionally involved. I am able to create this parallel life—it is just so exciting and rewarding and magical.
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