Italy, Netherlands, St. Petersburg and Vyborg

One inescapable truth of being opera singers is
spending time apart. Most singers complain that they
are not receiving enough contracts, but Mlada has been
very fortunate. Since, singing the title role in
Wagner?s opera Die Walküre, with Placido Domingo
during the St. Petersburg White Nights Festival 2001,
Mlada has had a string of interesting contracts.
However, the more contracts Mlada sings the more time
we spend apart.
This time I headed to Chiari, Italy for my third
summer in the International Institute for Vocal Arts
and Mlada journeyed to Amsterdam for the premiere of
Rimsky-Korsakov?s opera Mlada. This time we were
lucky that Mlada had a week before The Flying Dutchman
in Vyborg and The Invisible City of Kitezh in Tikvin,
so she flew to Italy. I rented a car picked her up at
Malpensa airport and we drove straight to Lago D?Iseo,
one of my absolutely favorite resort lakes in
Lombardi.
During the week we stayed very busy. I had a huge
schedule of voice lessons, rehearsals, and language
lessons. In between I drove Mlada for one audition in
Verona and one in Milan. The Milan La Scala audition
was fantastic. After the audition the director gave
Mlada a few pages from the Hindemath opera Santa
Susanna. A few days later we received a call that
Maestro Riccardo Muti wanted to hear Mlada sing for
the principal role of Susanna. The audition is July
22nd. Wish her luck.
In the antique town of Vyborg, near the Finland
border, the Mariinsky Theatre does an opera production
every summer. The opera is staged in an old fortress,
which was originally used to keep the Swedish and
Viking invaders from the Russian lands. Now it is a
tourist attraction and an ideal outdoor place for an
opera.
Last summer Mlada sang Abagaille from Verdi?s
Nabucco. This summer, since Wagner is in vogue at the
Mariinsky, Mlada sang Senta in The Flying Dutchman
with Maestro Valery Gergiev conducting. Almost
immediately after Vyborg, Mlada went to Mikkeli,
Finland for a concert of Wagner music.
In the summer the small town of Mikkeli, Finland, one
hour north of Helsinki, holds a musical festival. The
highlight every summer is the concerts done by the
Mariinsky Theatre. Maestro Gergiev usually conducts a
symphony concert, an oratorio and excerpts from
operas. The concerts take place in an old charming
red brick church in the center of the city. This
summer the Mariinsky performed the first act of Die
Walküre, with Mlada as Sieglinde, and the third act of
Siegfried. The concert was well received. The only
dim light was that Mlada enjoyed all of this as I sat
in Italy. But, I was making huge progress myself with
my teacher Trish McCaffrey.
Spending time apart from your loved ones is the most
non-glamorous part of this usually glamorous life.

Ci vediamo doppo. Ciao tutti!!!
Mlada and Peter