Yuri Mazurok- Mazeppa's aria ('O Maria!') (Tchaikovsky)

Yuri Mazurok (b.1931)

The Soviet Union had a long-standing reputation as a prime sowing ground for magnificent bass voices. But it was never regarded as a major producer of world-class baritones. There were exceptions, of course: Panteleimon Nortsov, Evgeniy Belov, Pavel Lisitsian, Georg Ots, Andrei Ivanov, and Aleksei Bolshakov, among others, were all outstanding and highly acclaimed artists. In the mid-1960's, another baritone began his climb to international stardom. This was Yuri Mazurok, who first made a splash in the USSR after winning the Prague Spring International Music Competition in the early 1960's, while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. A few years later, in 1964, he made his Bolshoi Theater debut as Onegin. Eventually, Mazurok sang at most major European houses, as well as in the US. San Francisco first welcomed him in 1977, and eighteen years later he finally appeared at the MET (as Scarpia).

Like Lisitsian and Ots, Mazurok did not possess a voice of immense power. While he lacked the soft-hued, very distinctive timbres of his elder colleagues, he scored over them when it came to sheer agility and ease at the top of the range. Indeed Mazurok, with his slightly steely and rather "tenorish" instrument, had no difficulty pumping out gleaming high notes. Among today's baritones, he is closer in sound to the young Chernov rather than the somewhat duskier Hvorostovsky. Despite the relative lightness of voice, Mazurok was successful in a number of Verdi roles, including Renato, with which he made his Covent Garden debut. Here his unfailingly pleasant timbre and brilliant top is heard in Mazeppa's aria ('O Maria!'), a recording from 1971, with Mark Ermler conducting the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. For those interested in further investigating Mazurok's singing, I recommend his Escamillo in Franco Zefirelli's production of "Carmen" at the Wiener Staatsoper (alongside Obraztsova and Domingo). It has been released on DVD by the TDK label.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Yuri
• Mazurok
• Ukrainian
• baritone
• Russian
• opera
• aria
• Mazeppa
• Peter
• Ilyich
• Tchaikovsky

[Lenochka1107]

Unfortunately, Mazurik passed away couple years ago... He was a great bariton!

[khankonchak]

That's a shame; I had no idea. So many wonderful singers have left us over the past few years!

[Phaidra69]

A Big Thanks my dear for uploading this video ..Mazurok till now remains my most favourite Onegin ! i speak about the recording of Eugene Onegin , in which he interpreted the demanding role of Onegin while Visnievskaya was the Tatiana.

[klokheten]

@Lenochka1107

Mazurok is alive and well and celebrates his 80th birthday this year.

He is still among us although he has finished performing.

One of the very best singers of his generation, both in russian and italian repertoire.

[mistalala]

@Lenochka1107 i thought he was alive... wikipedia fail!

[martpast1]

@russl77 он просто не имеет хороших низов. это вообще небольшой голос--если брать для большой сцены. он просто не имеет густого тембра да ещё и поёт больше головным резонатором. он просто лучше владеет своим небольшим сравнительно голосом чем другие. но если поставить его рядом с большим драматическим баритоном из прошлого, с техникой--ему нечего делать. это как гепард и лев.

[russl77]

@martpast1

pardon hotelos by uslyshat ot nego "il ballen" ili "credo" ili chto to takoe gde nizy tozhe prisutstvujuet (po krajnej mere v notah partii) ili pust budet "si puo.." (prolog iz pagliacci) kovarstvo russkogo repertuara (onegin, iolanta, elezkij etc.) v ego jazyke (russkih vokalnyh) oni chasto otkryty. I vse taki po tembralnym kachestvam on pravda bolee na tenora pohozh???

[martpast1]

@svjatazarov он кажется тенором потому что поёт много головным резонатором. а остальные садят на грудь и нижнюю челюсть. поэтому они вблизи заглушают партнёра а для публики они не имеют дикции. что то там вокализируют и издалека их не очень слышно.

[svjatazarov]

@martpast1 да...он шикарен......

[martpast1]

@svjatazarov ну--не тенор. баритончик. лирический. но лучше поёт чем большие. дикция.

[martpast1]

@klokheten so--alive. old bastard. so--gossiping about his death was exaggerated .ha.

[Amelinda27]

@svjatazarov

Мазурок всегда был баритоном!!!! И партия эта для баритона!