NEWS ARCHIVE

Alexander Roslavets as Banquo

A bassy native of Brest, Belarus, who brilliantly entered the St Petersburg Conservatory, then becoming  a soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, has long been familiar to the audience of the Belarusian Bolshoi. At the 1st Minsk International Christmas Singing Competition in 2014 he was awarded the Special Prize. Then, on the stage of Bolshoi he rekindled ‘Italian passions’ in the concert of young performers ‘La Canzone Italiana’; he was oh so cunning, devious, arrogant, and cowardly as Don Basilio in Rossini's comic opera the Barber of Seville; he, as Prince Gremin, made Onegin cry, the husband of Tatiana Larina in Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin.

This time the singer of Young Artist Opera Programme of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia will have a new role. Frankly speaking, it is quite a difficult one. Macbeth is, perhaps, the first work of Verdi, where such a huge attention is paid to the depths of the human psyche. The composer considered this Shakespeare's tragedy one of the best works of world literature. In his music Verdi exposed the darkest sides of the human subconscious with the skill of a subtle psychologist. He believed that the music of Macbeth should ‘emphasize the poetry, not the composer’.

Without a doubt Alexander will handle the part of Banquo well. No wonder the critics praised him for his victory in 2016 (at the 5th Galina Vishnevskaya International Opera Singers Competition where Mr. Roslavets won the 2nd prize) writing, ‘Pay attention to this young singer! What beautiful voice he has, with great volume and beautiful timbre!’ We will be able to hear it for ourselves on 28 January at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus.

Conductor Maestro Victor Ploskina.