Olha MYKYTENKO: “I don’t want to make a name using celebrities. I’ll do it by myself”

Some have called National Opera soloist Olha Mykytenko Joan of Arc, because she is ready to go to the stake for her art. She works fantastically hard and extremely professionally (recipient of the prestigious title Meritorious Actress of Ukraine, winner of several international contests, including the Maria Callas Grand Prix (Athens 1997) and Most Extraordinary Voice (Barcelona 1997). Others consider her a rare bird because in the five years of her career Olha has refused to play the usual National Opera games. Still others consider her too emotional, given to fits of temper, however justifiable, a trait that does not exactly make her a team player. She will stand her ground under any circumstances regardless of the consequences and what ranking bureaucrats think if she feels she is right. And the omnipotent bureaucracy hates being criticized. Yet even her worst enemies fall silent listening to her voice, ever captivating, all-penetrating, verging on the divine.

Now, for the first time in many years, she has gone on tour of Germany with her troupe. German opera devotees will see and hear her as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. A day before her departure I met with Olha and she told me about her life at the National Opera.

The Day : You returned from a tour of Spain recently and we know that it was a spectacular success. Where did you perform ?

O. M.: I took part in a festival called Gala Lirica in Spain. Placido Domingo is its honorary president. I was invited as laureate of the Francisco ViЦas competition. I sang Violetta’s aria from Verdi’s La Traviata. The festival was broadcast live on radio and television. Interest was such that the organizing committee was contacted by a number of leading television companies. They will air the closing concert on channels beamed to practically all Europe. After that I gave two solo concerts in Santiago de Compostela and Lugo. The first part of the concert consisted of Russian and Ukrainian music, romances by PСtr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Mikhail Zherbin. Incidentally, Zherbin is a Ukrainian composer and the Spanish public responded very warmly. The second part of each concert included six Italian arias from Bellini’s La Sonnambula and Norma, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and Verdi’s Ernani and La Traviata. As you see the program was quite complex. After each concert local critics would compare me to the legendary Greek singer Maria Callas and the Internet came up with a review titled “Maria Callas is Reborn.”

The Day: It looks like the reviewers hit the nail on the head. You have the Maria Callas Grand Prix, the world’s most prestigious opera award. How did you get to vie in the Athens contest ?

O. M. : This is a three-year-old story, yet I will remember my victory as long as I live. The Callas contest predetermined many events in my career. I chose it because, unlike many other international contests, it required vocal renditions belonging to different epochs. I sang French arias and old music from Handel, Haydn, Mozart, as well as Russian and German romances. It was a professional contest, meaning that one had to have references from managers of opera houses, one’s own operatic kudos, and a lot of stage experience to compete in it. Winning it provides world acclaim. At different periods its jury has boasted the names of Illana Cotrubas, Luigi Alvar, Arthur Eisen, and Irina Arkhipova. The Callas contest does not give up its prizes easily. Its rules read that the Grand Prix is to be conferred on an outstanding soprano claiming diva status and that the contender’s voice must have characteristics similar to those of Maria Callas.

The Day: You obviously like high goals and aiming for the top. Is it true that you are planning to vie in the Callas contest again this year ?

O. M.: I made a three-year pause, venturing trips only to festivals in Austria, Italy, and Russia. I was Ukraine’s only representative at the Florence festivities commemorating the quatercentenary of opera. At present, I am preparing for two international contests. I will not give you any details, out of superstition. All I can say is the contests will take place one after the next. I am attracted by contests including not only the Italian vocal repertoire. For a long time they accused me of singing “non-Russian” music. Russian music demands a very special approach. Two months ago I proved my critics wrong. I showed that I could also sing this kind of music — I was a success, I mean my Marfa in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride.

The Day: Your term as “young specialist” with the National Opera ends this year. Do you feel that the company is making full use of your talent and potential ?

O. M.: I don’t feel that the national company really needs me. And I have told the management so more than once. Would you consider as normal a situation in which an opera singer in her prime and eager to work appears onstage only once a month? That’s why I quarreled with the National Opera’s former Manager and Artistic Director Anatoly Mokrenko. Without any false modesty I can say that a singer of my caliber needs special stage productions and not just entries in old renditions. I need it so I can reveal my creative individuality.

The Day: Talking about Mr. Mokrenko, you do have something to remember him by, a reprimand entered into your service record. And the formulation sounds strange: “in view of press and television appearances.” Were there any professional secrets you dared make public knowledge ?

O. M.: I’d rather let bygones be bygones. Anatoly Mokrenko is no longer running the National Opera. As for my press and television interviews, I spoke of the stifling atmosphere that had set in at the company. I also said I didn’t like the attitude shown me there. The style of management was authoritarian. New productions were practically banned, so we had to make do with the old repertoire. Another thing I didn’t like was that there were people smoking all over the place, the stage was dusty, and it smelled everywhere. This is no trifle to be shrugged off by a vocalist, nor is it a whim. Tidiness and clean air are necessary and elementary work conditions.

The Day: Has it become any better now that you have new management ?

O. M.: It’s still too early to say. Certain things are changing, but I feel the company is not making good use of me anyway. And the same applies to my native land. How long does an opera singer retain his or her voice? Between thirty and forty years. I am in my vocal prime, yet I remain idle for months on end which I consider a grave sin. I appear in concerts where and whenever I am invited. I am preparing a new solo program. But like I said, the impression is that I am more welcome abroad than at home in Ukraine. I expect that common sense will prevail over all that backstage intrigue — and I am aware of it constantly. I need help. I am absolutely frank about this. I am tired of beating my head against the wall, which I’ve been doing for the past several years and seeing only indifferent smiles in response.

The Day: There were times when people would go to the Opera to hear Yuri Huliayev, Bella Rudenko, Kostiantyn Ohnievy, and Anatoly Solovyanenko. Now we seem to have a host of interesting performers but no stars. Is this the management’s leveling? Or perhaps without prima donnas and premier danseurs is more peaceful ?

O. M.: When Mokrenko was in charge being a star was considered unacceptable. His was a short and no-nonsense approach: “You don’t like it? You can leave.” The current manager, Petro Chupryna, hasn’t had the time to fully show what he’s made of. It’s important to remember that performers are vulnerable like children. It takes an individual approach and I think that there are really talented young singers soon to be named Ukrainian operatic stars: Mykhailo Didyk and Angela Shvachka are two good examples. They need to be promoted, having their records played on the radio and television. I know that I have my own audience, and all I need is for the management to kindly have the posters printed on time.

The Day: They say you have a difficult character and for this reason you don’t have any friends in the theater. Colleagues also say that they enjoy performing with you, but that in daily life you keep aloof. Is this so ?

O. M.: It’s true. I don’t do it on purpose but intuitively. I want to be friends with interesting people. Also, I have made quite a few bad mistakes in this sense. I have a lot of friends outside the company and I think I will find them inside the company with time. Anyway, I am on very good terms with Ivan Ponomarenko, Mariya Stefyuk, Mykhailo Didyk, and Anhela Shvachka. I am crazy about Lidiya Zabiliasta. I think she is a unique singer and so very feminine on stage. When she starts singing it is as though the Lord God were speaking through her voice.

The Day: Voice is a unique instrument and it calls for great care. How do you spend the day before you perform ?

O. M.: I stay in bed until noon, then eat red caviar on bread with hot milk. I attune myself to the vocal part and then practice for several hours. And I pray before going onstage. I believe that God helps me, although I can’t say I’m very religious. Religion is something I have deep inside.

The Day: What about your son? Are there any signs he might become an actor or singer ?

O. M.: There are, and this doesn’t exactly make me happy. An opera career is too trying. Bohdan is six, and I hope he will choose another profession. I told my mother recently that if I could go back five years I would think twice before starting on a vocal career. There have been so many disappointments.

The Day: You always speak warmly of you vocal mentor, Halyna Sukhorukova, and almost never mention Yevheniya Myroshnychenko. She also taught you, didn’t she ?

O. M.: I don’t consider her my mentor. I don’t like being pressured. For me the most important thing was to have a teacher who understood what I have in my heart. Halyna Sukhorukova turned out to be so very understanding. She was like a second mother. She saw me first as a person and then as a singer. One’s voice responds to every stressful factor. When I have a problem or think that I have mistreated someone, my voice gets worse.

The Day: Anatoly Solovyanenko left the opera and slammed the door. He suffered the rest of his life. Word also has it that you are going to quit the National Opera soon.

O. M.: Well, I am not going to slam the door, not yet, but my patience has limits. I can imagine how Anatoly Solovyanenko suffered and I am very sorry about how it all ended. Someone of his caliber could not put up with humiliation. Although we never performed together, we were friends. He was the first to support me as a young singer and asked President Kuchma to give me an apartment. Once he came to a performance and said he wanted to sing a duet with me. Alas, this was not to be.

The Day: You have roles in only five operas in Kyiv. Do you have any plans to extend your repertoire ?

O. M.: I am preparing for a new production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. It will be in French. I asked the administration to allow me to sing my part in The Barber of Seville in Italian, the language of the original. I dream of a grand opera rendition making reverberations far beyond Ukraine. Remember the much-advertised Concert of the Century starring JosО Carreras in Kyiv? It attracted devotees from America and Europe.

The Day: Speaking of the Concert of the Century. The famous Spanish tenor was broadly advertised. In reality, it was not only his solo program, but also a bewitching evening of Carreras and Mykytenko and one could argue which of the two received more encores. Did SigЦor Carreras suggested further cooperation ?

O. M.: Frankly, I was offended by 1+1 TV. I thought they would play the whole concert (the video aired had only Carreras’s solos and duets with Mykytenko —T. P.). After all, I am a Ukrainian woman and I think that Ukrainian performers should be promoted in their home country above all. I am certain that my solos matched those of Carreras in every way. It’s just that we have a genetic tendency to worship foreign idols. At the concert I tried to help the Spanish singer. We all know that he has health problems after leukemia. It is physically difficult for him to sing solos. Anyway, I think the audience enjoyed both the Spanish tenor and Ukrainian soprano. And I did enjoy being in contact with SigЦor Carreras. He is a top professional, quite sociable, and has a great sense of humor. When discussing soccer he starts talking quickly and gesticulating, as though he were conducting an orchestra. When his favorite team, Madrid Real, is on the pitch he cancels tours and drives to the stadium or stays home to watch on television. And he is very courteous. After a good aria he blew me kisses. He tried to encourage me in every way. In the finale we sang a duet from The Merry Widow. JosО suggested we dance in the musical pause. I declined, being afraid he wouldn’t be able to hold me. You see, I put on a new pair of shoes for the concert with very high heels, so I felt reasonably safe standing only. During every pause I prayed I wouldn’t slip and fall. We had a very good time after the concert. Carreras was interested in my operatic career and offered help. But I don’t want to make a name using celebrities. I’ll do it by myself.

The Day: Three tenors — Domingo, Pavarotti, and Carreras — combined efforts and are touring the world. It’s a business project bringing fantastic dividends. Why can’t several sopranos share their laurels and perform together ?

O. M.: I wouldn’t mind a tenor trio, but I wouldn’t want to appear with two other sopranos. Perhaps it would be a very interesting project, but I don’t want to repeat anyone’s ideas. I am interesting enough onstage by myself. Why should I have competitors next to me? Well, maybe when I am sixty, like Pavarotti or Carreras, and when I want to make quick money I will also come up with an unusual project. Say, a soprano quartet or even a choir. Or I might walk out on stage with a pack of dogs and start howling with them. In a word, I would want to do something absolutely unexpected and original.

The Day: Will your husband produce you ?

O. M.: We are divorced and I am my own producer, but there are people trying to help me. I need someone to take care of all the paperwork, somehow improve my relationship with the National Opera, and make arrangements for my concerts. I don’t have the time to do everything myself. Every morning I have to do paperwork for at least two hours. Add here five hours of daily singing. I want to keep myself in good vocal shape, and I always come to the opera fully prepared and ready to perform.

The Day: They say that after the performance, after taking off the makeup and changing, you forget all about the stage .

O. M.: Early in my operatic career I would relive every performance for a month afterward, telling myself how bad I had been, and how I could have done so much better. I would stay up for several nights. Gradually, I learned to pull myself together, and now it takes me three days to get back in shape.

The Day: You know that you are a striking woman. Have you ever been offered a commercial ?

O. M.: Thanks for the compliment, but I don’t consider myself strikingly attractive, and I’ve never thought of doing a commercial. I dream of doing a part in an historical film. I like costumes and I think I am an expert there, in a way. I work with good designers: Liudmyla Halatsyna and Kateryna Korniychuk. For me working on my stage image, makeup, and costume is always a strenuous yet captivating process. I think an actress should look harmonious onstage.

The Day: Do you ever sew for yourself ?

O. M.: I’m embarrassed to say so, but I do sew, and I enjoy it.

The Day: Why should you be embarrassed ?

O. M.: Well, sewing and being a prima. Somehow the two things do not seem to go together. Actually, there is a stereotype of a diva. She is supposed to sit on her white well-tended hands and do nothing but think of great art. And here I am, an opera singer and self- styled seamstress. It removes the enigma from one’s image (laughing heartily).

The Day: You don’t come from a theatrical family. Did your parents object to your operatic career ?

O. M.: My mother dreamed of becoming an actress but her parents died when she was 15. She was never taught music, but she loved to sing, and I inherited it. She is an economist by training, but she has a beautiful voice. Even at the maternity hospital she told the nurses her daughter would be a professional singer. In my teens I saw myself on the operatic stage. By the way, my younger sister Oksana will also be a singer. She is in her third year at the Conservatory, in a class conducted by Yevheniya Myroshnychenko. Unlike me, she found a common language with her professor. And I like her voice. It’s a central soprano. Mine is lighter and higher than hers, although experts are still undecided on the classification of my voice. “Maria Callas Reborn” reads that another dramatic coloratura soprano has at long last appeared in the world after the great singer’s passing, and that Olha Mykytenko has it. In Ukraine they don’t even understand what it means. What is dramatic coloratura soprano? A woman journalist from Kyiv wrote, “Mykytenko has colorat. Soprano. ” There you have it!

The Day: Every singer’s most cherished dream is singing a lot. What about this singer’s dreams as a woman ?

O. M.: I want to be happy and have three more children. For that I would be prepared to make a break in my stage career. I am a hundred percent woman. Being actress and singer comes next. I do hope I will meet the right man and won’t suffer another failed marriage.