BACKSTAGE WITH…
Mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska
Your lunchtime Prom at Cadogan Hall on 6 September is entitled ‘Pauline Viardot and her Circle’. Tell us about it…
I have devised a programme which includes not also music by the singer and composer Pauline Viartdot, but also the composers who formed the soundworld of her time. So, there will be some Tchaikovsky, Clara Schumann, Fauré and Brahms; plus I’m going to include a song by her father Manuel Garcia, which she took from one of his operas and arranged herself, and also a piece by her sister, the singer Maria Malibran. There’s also an aria from Le prophète by Meyerbeer, in which she created the role of Fidès.
That sounds like a programme that has taken a lot of imagination and research…?
I’ve tried to give as full a picture as I can of who Pauline Viardot was, as seen through the lens of a classical singer such as myself – her own work, plus the work of friends who influenced her and, in turn, were also influenced by here. Also, when I have the opporunity to give a recital such as this, I want to ensure that I create a programme in which there is a variety of dramatic pacing, with different textures and different sounds.
Pauline Viardot also had a close relationship with the writer Ivan Turgenev. Does he feature in your recital’s narrative?
Yes! Viardot composed an opera called Le dernier sorcier, for which Turgenev wrote the libretto. I will be singing the aria ‘Chanson de la pluie’ from that.
Why was Viardot so influential in her time?
Firstly, it was because she was a performer of the highest calibre. Because of her virtuosity, her musicality and the way she connected with audiences, she was able to inspire people to compose for the voice in new ways. Also, her friends in her artistic circle were important, in terms of how they were able to support each other. Robert Schumann, for instance, was the person who first published her songs.
And how well do her songs fit your voice?
I feel a particular connection to them, because she was a high mezzo and so am I. If you have a voice that likes to run and has a wide range, then the repertoire feels like a friend!