Interview with Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Jonas Kaufmann

[sartrific]

Bring Bryn Terfel into the conversation! I wish I understood Russian.

[sartrific]

Bring Bryn Terfel into the conversation!

[betylu18]

frufruJ Un favor; pon subtitulos a esta entrevista, ponlos en inglés, la entrevista parece interesante pero casi nadie sabemos ruso.

[frufruJ]

@betylu18 Yo lo sé, pero es un poco difícil...

[Karen41872]

We had a really fantastic couple of months here in the San Francisco area .... Hvorostovsky put on an all Slavic performance a few weeks ago ....... and then Kaufmann made his bay area debut here last Sunday. Life is good!

[Cissy97]

The two will collaborate in the MET's 2011 production of Verdi's 'Don Carlo'.

Hurray - my two favourite operatic stars! And they are legging up with Rene Pape.

[cantanteporsiempre]

Hvorostovsky is hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooot

[ALLESSASR]

Sencillamente maravillosos, muy talentosos además de guapos, ojalá sepas español. Suerte!!!

[frufruJ]

Sí, sé :-) Gracias! Saludos a Mexico!

[JuillHope17]

JUST DO HIM ALREADY.

sorry.

[oscarnotwild]

Herr Kaufmann mentioned in the interview that he wanted to sing Pique Dame ( Queen of Spades). He can pull it off one day. Can't wait to see Mr. H and Herr K together. They did Traviata in London with Netrebko in Jan 08 and that probably was the only opera both of them sang together. I would prefer to see them in Don Carlo or Trovatore!

Thanks for posting this clip and the video interview with Mr. H and the very beautiful Mrs.H (what a lady! He's a lucky man).

[JuillHope17]

omg, a don carlo with the both of them.. and then stick erwin schrott in there somewhere. omg, people would buy those tikets so fast the paint would come off the walls!

[rity63]

Thank you so much!

[adinamrnd]

Thanks a lot! The translation gets 5 stars as well :-).

[cheekypoppet]

DH - He, look, he is also a sport boy, he looks athletic. However he doesn't go in for sports. (to JK) You don't do any sports?

JK - No.

The questioner - Thank you.

***

I translated the interpreter's words and as far as I see they differ a lot from the original.

I am sorry for any mistakes and typos :)

[frufruJ]

Don't be sorry, this is an excellent piece of work! Thank you very much, for all of us who don't speak Russian.

[cheekypoppet]

DH - We were flying with my wife for 2 hours. I was reading a book and during this time she learnt Cyrillic looking over my shoulder. So for a language-gifted people it's not difficult. For the 2 years we spoke with my wife in Italian and then moved to Russian. It took her only 2 years to start speaking Russian.

The questioner - Friends should have common interests. In your case it's probably music, singing - but is there anything else which binds you together?

[cheekypoppet]

JK - At school I learnt Greek. I mean ancient Greek. Latin, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese... Of course I need to start with Russian because there are very interesting parts for me from Russian opera classics. In particular - a beautiful aria of Herman from "Pikovaja dama" (don't know the Engl name). You know, I have a principle - I refuse to sing anything if I don't understand this language because it's necessary to interpret the text properly. So it's necessary to learn Russian.

[BernardProfitendieu]

in English "The Queen of Spades"

French "Pique Dame"

[cheekypoppet]

Thanks :) I realised it later on.

[cheekypoppet]

DH - Aren't we communicating in Russian...? Actually he is a real polyglot. He speaks practically all European languages.

[cheekypoppet]

DH - He sings at the same time in Paris and Munich, and he found time to come to Moscow. He works as Domingo. Domingo is known by his exclusive popularity and capacity for work. He works practically every day. For a singer it's unique. Especially for a tenor it's extremely unique. So what I am saying - Jonas is following Domingo.

The questioner - You aren't communicate in Russian? He doesn't know anything yet?

[cheekypoppet]

DH - By the way I forgot to ask him. What would you like to see? The Kremlin?

JK - Too much (not clear, laughing).

DH - We have all night.

JK - No, I said already before - it's a shame there is lack of time. I came for one performance and have only one free morning. Of course it's not enough for Moscow, but what to do.

[cheekypoppet]

DH - What I do. I turn around and shout the number (of the encore) to the orchestra.

The questioner - What will you show your friend in Moscow - as it's his first visit to Russia?

DH - Now we are going to the hotel, then to a restaurant and then maybe will be driving across the city - will see the traffic by the way. If the center is blocked there is no sense in driving at night, we better rest.

The questioner - Would Jonas like to see anything?

[cheekypoppet]

JK - Can you remember what other items we were rehearsing as the encores?

DH - No, I can't.

JK - Shall I tell you, name them? (laughing)

DH - Nope. An encore should be always spontaneous. If possible. Even if there is an orchestra to rehearse... usually singers rehearse a certain amount of possible encores to select from later on.

JK - I used to number the encores, but soon I refused to because it depends on the situation, and now I show the orchestra using my fingers...

[cheekypoppet]

DH - When did you marry?

JK - I married already almost 11 years ago. I have 3 kids: 10 years old, 5 and 3.

The questioner - On the rehearsal I heard a song which wasn't in the obligatory program - Neapolitan song "О sole mio". Was this the rehearsal of the encores?

DH - Yes-yes.

The questioner - OK. So what are the other encores?

[cheekypoppet]

DH - We turned our back to the auditorium, so we were singing the rehearsal more for the orchestra, for the musicians. That's why it's difficult to record such rehearsal from the back, it's not very good. Actually that's why I asked not to record.

The questioner - please represent your friend. Of course I know the background, I know where he was born, married, 3 kids and so on...

DH - Frankly speaking I don't know.

The questioner - You don't? (laughing)

[cheekypoppet]

The questioner - Were there any arias which was named by both of you straight away?

DH - First of all I proceeded from duets. Because first of all I wanted to show Jonas in the best possible way.

The questioner - I know that the rehearsal recording was prohibited.... because (silly girl, no clue why she said "because" here) it was a joy to watch the reaction of both of you. When you were singing and Jonas was practically conducting...

[cheekypoppet]

JK - We wanted to find a suitable duet, were disputing and at last came to a consensus about duets and solo arias. I think eventually it appeared to be a beautiful combination.

DH - And the last idea arose right at the rehearsal. Parts from "Otello" should be necessarily included in the program. But unfortunately it's too late.

[cheekypoppet]

DH - How did we choose the program? I undertook the selection. For instance, I suggested Jonas aria and duet from "La Forza del Destino", but he refused.

JK - In return I suggested to include in the program more items from "Don Carlos".

DH - And he convinced me. The whole first part of the concert is the fragments from "Don Carlos". And in the second part - "La Forza del Destino" by Verdi.

[cheekypoppet]

The questioner - The first question: considering the name of the project - are you friends?

DH and JK - Are we friends? We should find out! (laughing)

DH - It's not a project. It's more a spontaneous introduction of my friends. Of course we are friends and collegues. But in this case I represent the interest of the people which should get to know with a splendid opera star. And I am very glad that this is happening.

[rity63]

Can you change the sound so that we can hear the English version, or translate? These two singing together must be amazing! I am hoping for the duet from Pearl Fishers! The nice personal rapport evident here bodes well for duets. Thank you for posting!

[frufruJ]

Sorry, I can't switch the sound, I'd wish that. My Russian is very bad, I've never studied it. Can anyone translate or transliterate it?

Mожете ли вы, пожалуйста, представить транслитерации, если не переводов?