The specificity of interpreting the image of Vassili from the opera “Siberia” by Umberto Giordano
Authors: Lyan Tszitao 
Published: July 2019

Formulation of the problem. The opera “Siberia” by U. Giordano is one of the most interesting in his creative work. The composer is considered to be a bright representative of the verismo (“Mala Vita”, “Marina”, “Andrea Chenier”, “Theodora”); his later creativity is represented by comedies (in particular, “Madame Saint-Germaine”), the opera-novella (“The King»”), and the opera of the mature period called “Siberia” reflects the boundary tendencies. The main characters (Stephana, Gleby, her pimp, and Vassili, an officer who is in love with Stephana) also appear as ambiguous characters. The action is reinforced not only by the love triangle, but also by the unfolding of the tragedy of two people on the background of the tragedies of many (the scenes of the deporting of the convicts and the penal settlement) and against the background of the Easter holiday (by contrast). After the premiere the opera was performed in many theatres, that why it is interesting to consider the variants of its interpretation, in particular, in the Italian stage versions, and a look at this opera not only from the historical point of view, but also in the context of the Italian tradition and performing reception during its stage life. The purpose of the research is to present a comparative analysis of the interpretation of the image of Vassili from the opera “Siberia” by U. Giordano for the identification of its constant and mobile features, in the context of the author’s thought and the contemporary tendencies of performing art. Analysis of recent publications on the topic of the article. U. Giordano’s creative work is presented systematically in the study of M. Morini (1968), where he collected articles not only written by himself, but also by other researchers of the composer’s creative work. We have used the correspondence by the composer with his librettist L. Illika and the critical reviews (by A. Beloni, G. Cesari, A. Bruno, and R. Carugati) on the first performances of the opera in Italy and Paris. However, the analysis of the performance the opera material by U. Giordano is almost absent. The results of the study. While writing the opera, U. Giordano significantly reduced the libretto, changed the final and strengthened the volitional features of the character of Vassili. He longed for a “powerful explosion” from his hero in Act 3 (when he fallen in jealousy of Stephana), and, in general – drama, passion and emotionality. These features should be reflected in the staging. We have presented the comparative analysis of the Vassili’s image scenic embodiment in two Italian settings in Milan performed by Amedeo Zambon (1974) and Viacheslav Lesik (2014). The comparison has led to the following conclusions. A. Zambon is highly skilled in the vocal technique, has a clean, crystal timbre of the voice, in which the high frequencies prevails; his voice is perceived by the listener as light, flexible and full of optimism. The important feature of his performing is the rhythmic freedom. So, in the themes related to lyrics, feelings of love, the soloist holds the musical sounds longer than it is indicated in the composer text. In the themes associated with doom, drama, on the contrary, he reduces the duration of the notes. With equal lengths of notes, the soloist often makes a dotted line, and if a dotted line already wrote by composer, he further exacerbates, emphasizes it. In emotional episodes, the singer uses marcato accents and agogical deviations in almost every sound of the phrase, thus emphasizing the most sensitive states of the human soul. Therefore, the “theme of death” (Act 2) perceives in a special way, when the voice of the singer sounds here almost without a dynamic expression and in a rigidly rhythmic way, with an emphasis on each of notes. V. Lesik’s voice sounds more forced, has a vibrato with wide amplitude, the resounding “juicy” timbre, saturated with a wide spectrum of overtones. Compared with the performance by A. Zambon, the party of this soloist contains less the moments of overt emotional expression; he sings all of the phrases rhythmically and with a large “drag”, breadth. There are never changes in the rhythmic patterns, the soloist performs all the eighth and quaternary notes as it is provided by the composer and is indicated in the musical text. Strict observance of the instructions in the musical text is one of the characteristic features of V. Lesik’s performance. For example, he sings “the theme of love” from the First Act without the emphasizing of the three first notes, performing the half-lengths without delays, and on the rises to high notes almost does not make fermatas. The latter is, in our opinion, a rare phenomenon, since the vocal operatic tradition has developed in such a way that the soloists should be to demonstrate their skills and make a stop on the extreme notes of the range, giving the audience a chance to get the pleasure from this technical method. Conclusions. So, let us summarize. According to the traditions of verismo, the constant features of the interpretation of opera hero image are the loftiness of expression and high level of emotionality related to the great force of a voice and the virtuoso vocal technique. The distinctive (mobile) features of interpretation are, in one hand, the rhythmic freedom, free attitude to the text, vocalization of the recitatives, flexible phrase splitting (A. Zambon); in other hand, more disciplined, accurate observance of musical text with a smaller spectrum of tempo-dynamic varieties, gradations and the great importance of pauses (V. Lesik). As a result, there is the impression of greater youth and sensuality of the embodied character (A. Zambon) and his greater experience, equableness of mind, courage, in general, more vital reality of the personage (V. Lesik). The prospect of further study of the topic is associated with a steady interest in the late operas by U. Giordano, in particular – to the opera “Siberia”, due to that its performing analysis actualizes. The experience of comparing the performers with different cultures of singing, as well as the aspect of interaction the opera traditions and contemporary performing traits may be of interest. In general, owing to the performing interpretation, the meaningful senses of this most interesting opera from the creative work by U. Giordano deepen essentially.