The voice that conquered the world
Fate brought me together with one of the best basses in the world, RATI teacher, People's Artist of Russia Vladimir Matorin and his wife, musician Svetlana Matorina, at the International TV and Film Forum “Together”. It’s impossible not to fall in love with this married couple: Matorin’s talent and large-scale personality, his enormous sense of humor and encyclopedic knowledge coexist perfectly with Svetlana’s beauty, subtle mind and professionalism. Add to this their colossal capacity for work, uncompromising work and deep mutual tenderness - and you will get the most cursory portrait of a wonderful creative and family duo.
— Vladimir Anatolyevich, it’s hard to imagine: 25 years on stage Bolshoi Theater... You will be applauded by spectators in England, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, the USA, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Cyprus. Patriarch Alexy II honored by writing a preface to your CD “Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church" Patriarch Kirill awarded you the Order of Daniel of Moscow for charity concerts at the Novodevichy Convent. You are a holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV and III degrees. How did it happen that a boy, whose childhood and youth were spent in military towns far from the capital, reached such unimaginable musical heights?
“According to all the laws of logic, I really should have become a military man, not a singer.” Great-grandfather was a full Knight of St. George, for which he received nobility. Both of my grandfathers were awarded the Order of Lenin for their military services. Dad graduated from the Dzerzhinsky Academy and served in the air defense forces. And although my entire childhood was indeed spent in military camps, I still managed to be born in Moscow, on Tverskaya. For the first fifty years of his life, he was extremely proud of this circumstance. Because in the Bolshoi Theater there are no soloists born in Moscow. Chaliapin came from Kazan, although he studied in Tiflis, Nezhdanova from Odessa, Sobinov from Saratov. These “diamonds” were collected throughout the country.
As the number of stars on my father’s shoulder straps grew, our family moved away from the center - to Balashikha, Noginsk, Tver. But I remember well the moment when they bought a piano for my younger brother, since I myself did not study the piano. Apparently, for the same reason I married a pianist: I have always felt a sacred awe of those who know how to play an instrument.
— Well, do you remember your first contact with “live” music?
“I remember how a boy from the next door invited me over and asked his mother to play something. “Dance of the Little Swans” sounded, and then I thought with admiration for several days: “What a mother he has!”
— Did the “exploits” of your school years take place in your biography?
- What about it?! In pioneer age, for the sake of beautiful girlish eyes, he could crawl out of a window or walk along a cornice. He could stick a needle into a wire to turn off the lights throughout the school. Apparently, it was because of my violent temper that I was elected chairman of the council of the pioneer squad. But he was a modest Komsomol member. He started working at the age of 16 as an assistant to a telegraph operator, cleaning machines. Then he worked as an electrician in a military unit.
— How did you get introduced to music?
- Apparently, through my mother. She wrote lyrics to songs that were played on the radio and hummed something all the time. And I sat nearby and listened. By the way, my love for the radio also remains: I still turn on the receiver and listen to classical music with pleasure.
— Did the period of your musical development at the Gnessin Institute coincide with the period of the “golden flood” of voices?
- Yes. I am very happy man: all the teachers loved me, and I loved them. They were older. Everyone has already left. God gave me the opportunity to take each of them on their last journey.
I studied with Evgeniy Vasilievich Ivanov - this is our wonderful bass, People's Artist of Kazakhstan. He came to the Bolshoi Theater during the war. Sang leading parts. At this time there were many excellent basses - Pirogov, Mikhailov, and there were young, talented Petrov and Ognivtsev. Eisen and Vedernikov are coming.
I studied in the chamber class with Elena Bogdanovna Senkevich. This was the first female conductor in Russia. She graduated from the Odessa and St. Petersburg conservatories. Elena Bogdanovna was already old and didn’t see anything. But when I made a mistake, she said: “Baby, in the third measure there is a dot. Again please".
I had a wonderful accompanist - Vera Yakovlevna Shubina, with whom I won my first prize at a competition in 1973 in Geneva.
I was lucky: I was “nursed” by the conductor of the Bolshoi Theater Semyon Sakharov. And Maya Leopoldovna Meltzer, a student of Stanislavsky, who introduced me to the Musical Theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko and rehearsed with me the parts of Zaretsky, Gremin and Basilio from The Barber of Seville. These three performances were staged by Stanislavsky himself.
— Your wife is a musician, pianist. If it's not a secret, how did you two meet?
“Our relationship has a complex dramaturgy. We took part in lectures and concerts organized by the institute. I sang and Svetlana played. My friend looked after her. And according to the law of gentlemen, it was forbidden to even look towards the “passion of a friend.” But when things didn’t work out for them, our active friendship and creativity grew into a stormy, frantic romance. This " Honeymoon” lasts until now, I feel endlessly in love.
“But we met even earlier,” Svetlana Matorina tells me. — In the first year of work at the Institute. Gnessins, my class was replenished with vocalists whom I had to teach to play the piano. At the end of the lesson everyone asked to play and teach them vocal repertoire, which I did with great pleasure, since before that I worked as an accompanist. The guys were waiting for their turn, and then I noticed another student who was modestly sitting in the corner, waiting for a friend. Vladimir Matorin was from a different class, not mine. That evening he asked: “Can I sing too?” I set the notes and sang “The Prophet”: “We are tormented by spiritual thirst.” He sang only four phrases, and everything went cold inside me. Because I’ve never heard such a timbre before. It was a sound so rich in beauty and power that I even stopped playing: “My God, what a voice there is in the institute! This is necessary! I have had this feeling for the rest of my life. Until now, I hear this timbre - dark velvet with a metallic overtone, and I “die”. Even when I’m angry, even when I swear, as soon as he opens his mouth, that’s all... I’m ready to forgive everything. In addition, I am fascinated by the combination of Vladimir Anatolyevich’s appearance - his impressiveness and amazing charisma - I sit in the hall, and all my thoughts go somewhere. I find myself unable to tear myself away! Matorin is, of course, a block, a phenomenon in our art.”
— Vladimir Anatolyevich, you and Svetlana have been together for forty years, and your interests have remained similar all these years?
- It happened so happily. Svetlana loves music, and I love her. She teaches, and I started teaching too, appreciating my wife’s colossal patience. I realized what a titanic work it is - young people, they are entirely geniuses, and therefore you need to say it once, and say it twice, and repeat it a hundred and twenty-two times in order to achieve results from them. But we were like that too! In addition, Svetlana is a crystal clear person. And very principled when it comes to my creativity. She is my harshest critic.
— What sensations does an artist experience when he gets on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater?
“I remember my future colleagues immediately played a joke on me: “Do you know our traditions? If you make a mistake once, the conductor will stop you. The second time he won’t even make a comment. They will simply stop paying attention to you. You, of course, can finish singing, but at the same time know that for the conductor you no longer exist and, therefore, you no longer work here.”
When I went on stage, I admit, I was terribly worried: just not to make a mistake! But I got to the Bolshoi after 17 years of work at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater. And it was a colossal school. Arriving at the Bolshoi Theater, I was not a newcomer: I was immediately offered to perform several major roles - Susanin, Gremin, Rene, Godunov...
— How does a “star” feel on stage?
— I don’t know how a “star” feels, but any artist feels, first of all, the downside of the profession. I stand in front of people in a beautiful suit for 10 working hours a week, and the rest of the time I “plow” for six hours every day. Multiply 25 working days by six. This is the relationship between public and off-stage activities. And until you play the same thing 200 times, the accompanist won’t let you out.
— Do you have a favorite role?
— By and large, my stage life was happy. I really love “Boris Godunov” and have acted in productions by various directors. This is a very difficult task for a bass. Especially after the performance of Chaliapin, when there was also a tradition of not only good singing, but also acting. I love "Susanin". Susanin is psychologically easier than Godunov. Why? Susanin is sad, yearning, his soul aches for Russia. The eternal note... Then the daughter’s wedding. Then the enemies come, he leads them into the forest. There are several states: concern at the beginning, then joy at the wedding. Then sadness mixed with heroism at the end.
With “Boris Godunov” it is more difficult. Because Boris is a personality taken at two peak points in his life. This is an uncrowned man. At first, he is bursting with joy that he will now settle scores with all his ill-wishers. But, on the other hand, how clever man, he understands that he is now “caught” in his high position by those who will look for someone to blame. He has a presentiment that this will happen someday...
And the second peak - six years later - is the day when Godunov thinks about the fate of the state and family and understands that the shed blood of a child will return as a terrible punishment. This terrible dead end is difficult to play. Godunov is dying, and a person (an artist) is not given the opportunity to simulate death, so this part is difficult not only tessitura, but also psychologically: a clot of feelings and hallucinations.
Moskovskaya Pravda
Vladimr Matorin: “I fly when I sing!”
Vladimir Matorin is an absolutely happy person - People's Artist of Russia, crowned with all sorts of laurels, caressed by the love of both those in power and ordinary mortals, a professor at the Russian Theater Academy and at the same time, a kind of “actor actor” with a sly twinkle in his eyes and a child in his heart. But the main thing here is that he sings only what he likes. But everything is not enough for him - maybe this is the secret of success, - reflects Vladimir Matorin.
– Vladimir Anatolyevich, who else should I ask for advice on – what does it take to become a good opera singer?
– Of course, you need maximum desire, and of course maximum luck. As it was for me, but I think that I’m still a good singer. May you be lucky with your teachers when you study. For example, I was very lucky. I graduated from the Gnessin Institute in 1974, and more than a dozen teachers treated me kindly and taught me. Of course, the singer must work a lot himself, but how to work, Chaliapin said, “no one tells.” Unfortunately, in reality, you don’t know how to do this when the eternal renovation of the Bolshoi Theater is on the horizon. For twenty years I have been developing the ability to think in artistic images, and if earlier, when I sang, I saw a line from a song in front of me, now I see a picture, an image, of what should happen in the plot. In addition, the artist must constantly develop, because even after receiving a diploma, practice is needed, because neither at the Conservatory, nor at the Gnessin Institute, nor in other institutions there is practice in singing with an orchestra. But you have to get used to walking on stage and putting on makeup. Sitting in the hall, everything seems beautiful and desirable, but on stage either the beard is glued on and interferes with singing, or the costume is not comfortable and you have to adapt to all this. Not everything here is as it appears to the viewer from the audience. Rossini said, “voice, voice and voice,” and Caruso said that what is needed first is memory. You study, study, study another part, and sometimes it seems that you will never learn this material. Then you’ll manage, but now you need to learn to sing and play at the same time. Sometimes your partner is not on the right, but on the left, and a second question arises in your head: am I singing the right line, did he make a mistake or did I make a mistake? In addition, singing is not only physically difficult, and in addition to overcoming health, there is also overcoming space. The audience, the soloists, the choir are hypnotizing - some think, well, let’s see what you sing to us, others have problems at home and they bring all this into the hall. I really feel the aura of the hall and it is important that there are more friendly people in the hall. I do not intimidate those who want to sing, because opera has proven, and it is 400 years old, that it lives and thrives. And young people come and get infected. I also like singing because there is a variety of genres.
– Indeed, in addition to classics, you sing folk, sacred music, and romances. How did it work out? And what is closer to you?
– Probably everything is equally close. But I have a special relationship with sacred music. I was an atheist for a long time, and when I was a communist, it was dangerous to go to church again. And then at the age of 42 I was baptized, and the next year I was accepted into the Bolshoi. And times became different: suddenly everything changed - the millennium of the baptism of Rus' was celebrated in the Hall of Columns, and it was impossible to tear yourself away. I became so infected that I decided to release a record, the Lord granted it, and sponsors were found. The most important thing is that when you sing church music, you get up in the morning as a different person, full of strength and you understand that you can’t help but give, which is why I’ve probably been on stage for thirty years.
– When did you feel that you wanted to become an opera singer?
– Actually, I should have become a military man, because all my ancestors were military men - my great-grandfather was a full Knight of St. George, my father was overtaken by the war as a boy. And when my fate was being decided, my dad suggested enrolling in military school. But at that time my throat itched, and I went to audition for the Moscow Conservatory. They didn’t take me, but they suggested that I try out for Gnesinka, and I didn’t even know what it was. Then everything turned out well.
In fact, in my youth I wanted to imitate several people - Magomayev, Khil, Kobzon and Otsu. All of them, except Khil, worked in the opera, and I wanted to be an operetta artist. I liked that everyone there was beautifully dressed, and the ending was always happy, that they would talk a little, sing a little, and the plot became clear, even to those who who has no musical education. But when I began to comprehend opera genre, I realized that opera doesn’t get boring – the more you listen, the more you like it. For example, the first performance I saw at the Bolshoi, “The Tsar’s Bride,” I saw twelve times that year. Opera has absorbed all the best achievements - orchestra, voice, painting, etc. and of course I chose opera.
– Before joining the Bolshoi Theater, you worked for 17 years at the Stanislavsky Theater. Was it a pity to leave, and how did you greet Bolshoi?
– Indeed, I came to the Bolshoi at a fairly mature age. I was 43 years old. One comical incident is connected with this when it was planned to publish the magazine “Youth of the Bolshoi Theater,” but the editor said that because of me they had to rename the magazine “New Names of the Bolshoi Theater” (laughs). Another case: as soon as I came to the Bolshoi, I believe that out of good intentions they advised me to change my style. They said that you need to look for absolute academicism, be more respectable, puff out your cheeks, put on a serious, pompous face. I once went on stage like this, but after the performance my friends advised me not to repeat it. (laughs) But seriously, I got into the theater by a happy coincidence. They auditioned me many times at the Bolshoi, but in the range in which I am employed, which is the high-bass role, all the vacancies were filled. The great Ognivtsev and Petrov, Vedernikov and Eisen, Reshetin, Vernigora were still alive and full of strength; Nesterenko and Morozov had just arrived. And then suddenly they invited me. But I liked working at the Stanislavsky Theater - the best theater in the world. In addition, I was terribly lucky, in the first year I did three roles, in the second - seven, in three years I entered the entire repertoire and during my time I sang 33 roles in this theater. It was a pity to leave, but I left at that unhappy time when he broke in half, and this smoothed out the parting a little. At the Bolshoi, my first roles were my favorite parts from childhood, Boris Godunov and Ivan Susanin. And I am incredibly happy about this.
– You tour abroad a lot. There was never any temptation to stay, because it’s no secret that they pay more there and the conditions are more comfortable?
– I’m very Russian, so I’ve never been tempted. At first, when there was one trip a year, there was not enough admiration; there was a lot of very surprising things that were not like us both in the organization of the tour and in the behavior of people. And now, when you have to live in other countries for most of the year, it’s even hard, because no one thinks about how much effort, blood and sweat you have to spend, and all you can see are flowers and applause. In addition, there is a huge scale of Russian values and Soviet values - the special friendship of people, peoples. I have friends with whom we have been going together for 30-40 years, who would accept me no matter what, I have the grave of my ancestors, parents, children, grandchildren here. All!
– You have successful experience in performing comic roles – Don Basilio, Mendozo, King Dodon, King of Clubs, but at the same time you still have a heroic bass. Is there a contradiction here? Was it easy to work on these games?
– In fact, I am an absolute bass, because I can do everything. Another thing is that there are stereotypes. But I cannot play only one role - Don Quixote, although Kalyagin, with his, frankly speaking, unusual physique for Don Quixote, played. There is a secret here that I unraveled - comedy and tragedy have a lot in common, the line between them is very thin and one can easily turn into the other. In addition, music has a lot of nuances, which allows it to be interpreted in different ways.
– How do you prepare for each performance?
I come to a performance, for example, “Boris Godunov” already as Boris and at this time I am not distracted by extraneous things. I am sure that if you come as yourself, you will remain yourself on stage, but only in the makeup and clothes of the character.
– Once I found your fans arguing about whose image of your two crowning parties – Susanin and Godunov – you embodied most realistically. What is closer to you?
– “Ivan Susanin” is a very long opera and because of this it is difficult. But there is a very interesting dramaturgy here - the unstable situation in Russia, there is no tsar, it is too early to marry off the daughter, but everything is getting better - the tsar is chosen, the daughter has a betrothed, and suddenly enemies appear who are going to destroy the sudden calm. And Susanin understands that he must save his home, his village, and therefore the whole of Russia. There is death here, but it is somewhat gradual. In Boris Godunov everything is different. Firstly, Boris Godunov’s part was written for a baritone and the bass sounds more intense. In addition, Boris himself has scissors of contradictions - he is a king, a ruler, but he cannot show what he likes.
– You played many different Boris Godunovs, participated in a huge number of productions of this play. Which one did you like the most?
– To be completely honest, I really like the production of the Stanislavsky Theater. Conductor-producer Evgeny Kolobov used Mussorgsky's original version. He showed a new approach, there was no Polish Act and the line of Boris and Pimen became very convex and clear, which, in my opinion, is a big plus. Another brilliant production was staged in MALEGOT by production director Stanislav Gaudasinsky, who suffered through it, carried it through himself, and this made it so. Semyon Pastukh made wonderful decorations. At the Bolshoi, “Boris Godunov” is a masterpiece - and an interesting decision by production designer Fyodor Fedorovsky and conductor Nikolai Golovanov laid the foundation for a wonderful musical basis. The fact that the play has been running for 57 years speaks for itself. And the brilliant direction, willy-nilly, brings today’s singers to the level of the titans on which it was staged.
– You lived in different time, seen by different generations of people. Do you feel the difference between “then and now” or, as they say, the times are always the same?
– It seems to me that in the days of my youth people were still more polite, more attentive to each other. Now the relationship is probably more commercial. But in any case, I am in a privileged position, I have nowhere to jostle, because, in fact, I have only a few routes in Moscow - home, theater, Kremlin, dacha.
– Do you think an artist should be reckless, or vice versa?
– There must be elements of recklessness, but the approach must be precise. On the other hand, it all depends on the music, e.g. German music requires more calculation.
– Who is the strictest judge for you?
– There is my mother, but she rarely comes to performances now. The main critic is my wife, my accompanist, with whom we are constantly together and feel and understand each other very subtly. There are friends who love me and everyone appreciates me in their own way - some from a creative point of view, some from an emotional point of view, some from a musical point of view, etc. But, to be honest, I’ve been working for so many years and of course I know everything myself.
– How do you feel about this moment– are you happy, full of new ideas, or are you still missing something?
– With age, I reconsidered my views, rethought my roles and, for example, my current Gremin is no longer the same as he was before. I would like to play a lot more, despite the fact that I have already played 88 roles. I think that the secret of a great artist is that no matter how many awards, roles, etc. there should always be few of them. I would love to take part in “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, and “Falstaff” was simply written for me. I really miss Don Basilio from The Barber of Seville, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery. But, unfortunately, good performances, which I love and in which I am significant, do not fit on the New Stage in terms of scale. However, I have lucky fate– I choose roles and sing nine to one roles that I like. I want, I sing spiritual music, I want, I go abroad and sing there. I dreamed of such a life all my youth. I am a happy married person, thank God my parents are alive. I don’t have free time, because I’m also the head of the vocal department, a professor at the Russian Theater Academy. I am writing a book to help students learn to sing or learn the ABCs of a vocalist. The phone is constantly hot. Long sleepless nights in Paris, from where I had recently returned, I thought about what my life is like now. Niagara Falls. And this is happiness! After all, the most important thing in life is endless work.
Curriculum Vitae
MATORIN Vladimir Anatolievich
People's Artist of Russia, laureate of International competitions, professor, president (chairman) of the Foundation for Supporting the Culture of Small Towns of Russia
Born on May 2, 1948 in Moscow. Father - Matorin Anatoly Ivanovich (born 1925), military man, colonel, was a unit commander; After retiring, he worked as head of the personnel department of the Tver United Literary and Art Museum. Mother - Matorina Maria Tarasovna (born in 1925), during the war years she worked as a turner at a factory, then - a housewife. They live in Tver. Wife – Svetlana Sergeevna Orlova, senior lecturer at the Russian Academy of Music (RAM).
The son of a military man, Vladimir spent his childhood in military towns, including in the Moscow region. As a boy he loved to wander through the forest and sing everything he heard on the radio, to which he mainly owed his initial musical education, except for the attachment to music instilled in the family (my mother sang in the choir). In the 1950s-1960s, opera performances were often broadcast on the radio, and Volodya knew many of their arias by heart. He sang along with his mother, helping with housework and memorizing songs and romances. This singing with two voices was always a process of “sacred rite” for him. As a teenager I wanted to imitate Muslim Magomayev, Eduard Khil... I liked beautiful male voices. He still reveres the piano. When he was growing up, there was no piano in the house - the instrument was bought later, for his younger brother. An unforgettable experience childhood, the first performance I saw at the Bolshoi Theater was Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “ The Tsar's Bride».
Matorin’s bass was inherited - from his grandfather, who “bassed” so much that it could be heard in neighboring village. However, at first Vladimir did not think about a career as a singer. From a military dynasty - his great-grandfather was a full Knight of St. George - he was preparing for military service. True, he still dreamed of becoming a historian, he even took the risk of taking the entrance exams for the Faculty of History, and he was haunted by an irresistible desire to sing. But it turned out that after finishing high school, where he participated in various circles, and above all, in drama (he especially loved to read poetry from the stage), and also often soloed in the choir, went to work as an electrician in a military unit. And in 1967, at the insistence of his mother, who intended her son to become an artist, he nevertheless decided to try his luck in vocals and was admitted first to the preparatory department, and two years later - to the 1st year of the Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute.
From then on, luck began to accompany Vladimir Matorin. His teacher was Evgeniy Vasilievich Ivanov, one of the leading bassists of the Bolshoi Theater (soloist in 1944–1958), a wonderful performer of the roles of Don Basilio in “The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini, Melnik in “The Mermaid” by A.S. Dargomyzhsky, Mephistopheles in “Faust” by C. Gounod, who had enormous power musical and stage talent. He also worked with singer and director M.L. Meltzer, student
K.S. Stanislavsky, which, of course, had the most beneficial effect on the stage training of the future master. The singer remembers with gratitude his other mentors – S.S. Sakharova, V.Ya. Shubin. In general, Matorin considers all his bass predecessors to be his teachers - from Chaliapin to Vedernikov and Nesterenko.
IN student years one of the first victories came: in 1973, Vladimir Matorin took part in International competition performing musicians in Geneva, where he received second prize and a silver medal. And four years later he was awarded the title of laureate at the VIII All-Union Vocal Competition named after M.I. Glinka (second prize and silver medal).
In 1974, a talented graduate of the Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute, having passed a competition, was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Musical Theater named after K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Here his rapid creative ascent began. Had a great influence on the formation of the artist main director Theater L.D. Mikhailov, with whom he prepared many of his roles. The singer spent unusually busy years on this stage, performing almost the entire bass repertoire over 15 seasons. Matorin did not shy away from any roles, and this brought him not only great stage experience, but also the status of an absolute bass, capable of expressing himself in different roles. Starting with the roles of Gremin, Zaretsky in the opera “Eugene Onegin” (Stanislavsky’s production) and small roles of different characters (Schiarone in “Tosca”, Householder Benois in “La Bohème” by G. Puccini), Matorin created a whole gallery of large and central images, including and in classical operettas (Zuppan in “The Gypsy Baron” by I. Kalman, Martin in “The Key on the Pavement” by J. Offenbach, etc.), which were then performed on the theater stage along with operas. In a series of outstanding works of this period, culminating with the role of Boris Godunov (in the first, author’s edition of Mussorgsky’s opera), there was the fishmonger Mendoza in “Betrothal in a Monastery”
S.S. Prokofiev, Porgy in "Porgy and Bess"
G. Gershwin, Don Basilio in “The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini, King Rene in “Iolanta”, Chub in “Cherevichki” by P.I. Tchaikovsky, Head in “May Night” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Cherevik in “Sorochinskaya Fair” by M.P. Mussorgsky and others (33 games in total). In many of them, the artist’s gift as an excellent performer of characteristic, grotesque roles was revealed. Completely polarizing, but no less impressive was Matorin’s other hero of that time - the fist Storozhev in Khrennikov’s opera “Into the Storm” - a dramatically large-scale, tragic image.
But still, Boris, it was Boris Godunov who brought true recognition to the singer. Since in his youth he first saw and heard Mussorgsky's opera at the Bolshoi Theater, the image of the Russian Tsar accompanied his creative destiny. He performed fragments of the role of Boris at the final exam at the Gnesin Institute. Somewhat later, discussing with the Leningrad director Stanislav Gaudasinsky the possibility of performing the role of Pimen in “Boris Godunov” on tour in Italy, Matorin unexpectedly asked himself: “Don’t you need Boris?” It turned out that it was needed. Good. “I’m just that good,” the singer said, surprising himself. The director became interested in who could confirm this. “Nobody, and I haven’t sung it anywhere yet, but I will,” came the confident answer. In 1989, when the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mussorgsky was celebrated, Boris Godunov performed by Vladimir Matorin in the play Musical theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko was recognized by the international musical community as the best opera part of the year.
In the early 1980s, Matorin first performed as a guest soloist in performances at the Bolshoi Theater, where he repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, passed competitive auditions. These are the operas “Iolanta” (King René) and “ Barber of Seville"(Don Basilio). In 1984, at the invitation of E.F. Svetlanov, he participates in the premiere of the opera “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia” by Rimsky-Korsakov (Prince Yuri).
The 1990s - early 2000s - the heyday of the singer’s talent and fame. Since 1991, he has been a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, making a brilliant debut at great stage in the parts of Ivan Susanin and Boris Godunov, immediately taking the position of first bass. For an established artist, this was a new round of creativity: larger-scale productions, a different quality of the performing school. Matorin is featured in many premieres, where he performs in the main bass roles: Galitsky (“Prince Igor” by A.P. Borodin, staged
B.A. Pokrovsky, 1993), Tsar Dodon (“The Golden Cockerel” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, musical director the performance was E.F. Svetlanov, 1996), Ramfis (“Aida” by G. Verdi, 1997), King of Clubs (“The Love for Three Oranges”
S.S. Prokofiev, director P. Ustinov, 1997), Melnik (“Rusalka” by A.S. Dargomyzhsky, 2000), Dosifey (“Khovanshchina” by M.P. Mussorgsky, 2002). In 1997, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia.
One of the representatives of the brilliant galaxy of basses of the Bolshoi Theater, Vladimir Matorin has a powerful voice of a special timbre, a wide creative range, irresistible stage charm, and a great gift for impersonation, which puts his dramatic talent on a par with his vocal one. “Vladimir Matorin is a wonderful singer and, of course, an Artist with a capital A...”, Bolshoi Theater soloist, People’s Artist of Russia Galina Oleinichenko, assessed the skill of the singer-artist. – Nature generously endowed him with a wonderful voice, an article, an acting temperament... Watching Matorin is as interesting as listening. The images created by the Artist are alive, touching the soul, and therefore each of his performances is unique.”
In the gallery of the artist’s images (and there are more than 65 of them in his repertoire), endowed with original interpretations, such diverse roles as Ivan Susanin, Gremin, Konchak, Dosifey, Ivan Khovansky are equally reliable and significant... Matorin does not glorify Susanin on purpose, he is not a textbook , not a stilted character, but a simple Russian peasant who, in difficult times for Rus', dies for the Tsar and the Fatherland, defending his home, the honor of his children. He especially loves the aria “They Feel the Truth,” which he perceives as a prayer, where Susanin, in his dying hour, grieving for his son and daughter, turns to God: “Lord, strengthen me...”. According to the artist himself, he came to the image of Susanin from M.D. Mikhailov - the first vivid impression childhood, when I saw and heard the great performer of this part on an old small black and white TV. In the early 1990s, Vladimir Matorin sang Ivan Susanin in the Ipatiev Monastery in the city of Kostroma - in the very places where historical events opera - the performance was then broadcast on television (conductor A.N. Lazarev). And it was a “roll call”, a relay race of singing generations across decades. There is one significant pattern in the “land of basses,” as Russia has long been called - Russian basses at any time, as a rule, were patriots, which probably largely came from the repertoire, from the images of Russian opera classics. One of the greatest masters of the opera stage, whose talent the world worships, Vladimir Matorin is no exception in this sense: Susanin is dear to him also because he is from Kostroma, because here are the origins of the Russian character: “I am not afraid of fear, I am not afraid of death, I will lie for the Tsar, for Rus'..." During the Bolshoi Theater's tour in St. Petersburg in 1998, the audience at Ivan Susanin (conducted by M.F. Ermler) was literally raging: Matorin's success in the revived classical production by L.V. Baratova, who has seen over half a century of its existence best performers main party, exceeded all expectations.
The artist's sparkling comedic talent was fully revealed in the operas The Golden Cockerel and The Love for Three Oranges. “...What do I value most about Matorin? Versatility, originality... And also a sense of humor, wrote one of the best opera conductors Bolshoi Theater of the late twentieth century Andrei Chistyakov. – In the actor-singer’s track record, next to the tragic Susanin and Dositheus, there are acutely grotesque and comic “royal persons” – Dodon and the King of Clubs. And I can testify that the appearance of the “most august person” with her “court” on stage raises the tone of the performances, giving them mischief and freshness and causing a unanimously cheerful reaction from the audience, be it in Moscow or Austrian Graz.”
A major phenomenon of modern opera house– Boris Godunov performed by Matorin. This part, in which the singer performed on different opera scenes world, including the Lyon and Paris Operas, the Grand Theater (Geneva), the Lyric Opera (Chicago), and the Auckland and Wellington theaters ( New Zealand), National Theater Prague, Houston Grand Opera (USA) is the peak of his fame. An actor of transformation, he devotes himself entirely to the role, suffering and crying with the tears of the “criminal Tsar Boris,” appearing in all his royal grandeur and dignity. By his own admission, as a human being, the artist “bows before his hero – his intelligence, insight. Boris wanted happiness for Rus', but allowed famine and pestilence. His conscience torments him, but pride prevails.” Showing Pushkin's incompatibility between genius and villainy is the most important thing for Matorin. A singer-actor, he creates his own stage image, unlike others, unique to him. Shocked by this image of an artist on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater folk artist In Russia, Vasily Nesterenko considered it his duty to capture him in the role of Boris Godunov in a huge portrait (270x185), which became the focus of public attention at many prestigious opening days of the early 21st century.
The artist performed abroad with constant success in other parts of the opera Boris Godunov. He sang Varlaam and Pimen in many theaters around the world, and above all in London's Covent Garden (production by Andrei Tarkovsky) and the Paris National Opera. However, he prefers Leonid Baratov’s standard production, which has lived on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater for six decades, to all the director’s versions of the great opera.
National treasure, the “big bass” of the Bolshoi Theater is called Vladimir Matorin at home and abroad, where he is usually greeted as a miracle hero of Russian music. But no matter what the singer performs, always recognizable and always unique - King René in “Iolanta”, the Old Gypsy in “Aleko”, Galitsky in “Prince Igor”, as the director of the Bolshoi Theater, People’s Artist of the USSR Georgy Ansimov rightly spoke about the artist’s work, “everywhere you can see not only the owner of a beautiful voice, but also an artist who has his own view of the image, of the Theater, of life... And all this puts his work in the mainstream of truly Russian art - from the traditions of Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky, Chaliapin, Ostuzhev, Stanislavsky, Golovanov , Pirogov, Baratova...". As has always been characteristic of outstanding artistic personalities, Matorin invariably evokes sympathy and empathy for his heroes in the listener-viewer.
The artist never stops working on all his seemingly long-established roles. Especially over such complex ones as Ivan Susanin and Boris Godunov, without considering them completed. “These parts are inexhaustible,” says the singer, “and happy is the one who manages to at least come close to perfection - their performance by Fyodor Chaliapin, but no one has yet been able to achieve this ideal.”
Vladimir Matorin is the “king” of the chamber genre. The singer's solo concerts in the halls of the Moscow Conservatory, the Concert Hall named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, the Hall of Columns, the Moscow Kremlin, the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater, in a variety of audiences, including vocal lyrics of Russian and foreign composers, old romances, Russians folk songs, unusually inspire listeners. His performing talent is distinguished by natural warmth, sincerity of timbre, beautiful vocal performance, temperament, impressive imagery and expressiveness. Concerts of Matorin in a duet with his wife - the magnificent accompanist Svetlana Orlova, the Bolshoi Theater sextet or the Russian orchestra folk instruments always involve enormous personal dedication. No less than with his vocal form, which is typical of all singers, he is concerned about the state of the hall: with what feelings do people come to a concert, to the theater, how do they accept his art.
It is hardly possible to name a vocalist now whose concert activity would be so national and non-elite - he is truly a people's favorite. And who else will sing the playful song “Street, Street” by Dubuque, “The Flea” by Mussorgsky or the rollicking “Along the Piterskaya Street” in such a Matorin-like manner, with texture, richness, and will stir the soul with the drawn-out folk “Steppe and steppe all around”... Perhaps not one of his the concert is not complete without romances based on Pushkin’s poems - “The Miller” by Dargomyzhsky, “The Prophet” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “The fire of desire burns in the blood” by Glinka or “The forest is dropping its crimson attire” by Sviridov. In the chamber repertoire, as in the operatic repertoire, the artist is broad, diverse, spontaneous and unexpected. And in the highest sense it is traditional, if you remember the great basses from Chaliapin to Ivan Petrov and Ognivtsev.
A truly Russian bass, Vladimir Matorin performs Russian folk songs with incomparable pleasure, without which he cannot imagine his creative life. In this property of the national culture of Russia, which opens up limitless opportunities for the performer, he sees, first of all, true value human relationships, the dignity and intelligence of his people, the wealth and generosity of his soul. Performing in many countries of the world, the singer observed how easily, without the need for translation, Russian song in all its simplicity and artlessness finds its way to the hearts of people, regardless of their age, nationality and beliefs.
A special page of the master’s work is the chants of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the best performers of sacred music, he often performs accompanied by the Moscow Kremlin Museum Chapel under the direction of Gennady Dmitryak with programs from the chants of the Russian Orthodox Church (Strunsky, Strokin, Chesnokov, Grechaninov, Rachmaninov). Music, the singer is convinced, essentially “competes” with religion in its cleansing, ennobling effect. He himself was baptized at the age of 42, and a year later, I am sure, by God’s providence, he became a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that anniversary evening Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II came to the Bolshoi Theater dedicated to the 50th anniversary of his birth, appreciating the performer’s appeal to the rich singing heritage - Orthodox chants - not only as evidence of his spiritual search, but also as “a noble sign of the times, marked by the search for the once rejected and almost forgotten high art, carefully preserved for centuries in the bosom of the Orthodox Church.”
At the beginning of the 21st century, Vladimir Matorin created and headed the Foundation for Supporting the Culture of Small Towns of Russia, repeatedly performing charity concerts in the Russian provinces - Zaraysk, Alexandrov, Shuya, Kineshma, Yelnya, Vologda, Vladimir, Ivanovo... This has already become a phenomenon of our cultural life. He is a laureate and regular participant in the Alexander Evenings festival, established in 1996 in the Vladimir region.
A world-famous singer, he tours extensively abroad, performing on the best opera stages in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, USA, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico and other countries. Participated in the Wexford Festival (Ireland, 1993, 1995), where he performed the role of Chub in Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki, main party in the opera “Boris Godunov” and the role of the Head in “May Night” by Rimsky-Korsakov (conductor Vladimir Yurovsky). In 1998 he took part in a concert performance of Tchaikovsky's opera The Enchantress in London. concert hall"Festival Hall" (Royal Opera, conductor Valery Gergiev). In 1999 he performed as Tsar Dodon (The Golden Cockerel by Rimsky-Korsakov) in a performance at the London Royal Opera (conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky). In 2004, he made his debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as Pimen in Boris Godunov. He performed concerts at the Russian embassies in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin, and in the French Senate. “I didn’t sing, it seems, only in Africa,” the artist clarifies the geography of his tours in his characteristic humorous manner.
However, the greatest honor for an artist is to sing at the Bolshoi Theater. Therefore, he was never tempted to stay abroad. Moreover, Vladimir Matorin is not stopped even by the possibility of breaking a prestigious contract if he is expected on his native stage, the main stage in his life. This was the case, for example, on the day of Chaliapin’s anniversary, when the play “Boris Godunov” was dedicated to the memory of the great singer.
Professor Matorin has been conducting pedagogical work: since 1991 he has been teaching at RATI ( Russian Academy theatrical arts), where he has headed the department since 1994 solo singing.
Among the singer’s recordings: “Boris Godunov” (Pimen, conductor V.I. Fedoseev, 1980; Boris Godunov, conductor E.V. Kolobov, 1991), “Francesca da Rimini” (Lanciotto Malatesta, conductor A.N. Chistyakov, 1992 ), “Aleko” (Aleko, conductor A.N. Chistyakov, 1994), “May Night” (Golova, conductor A.N. Lazarev, 1997), “Kashchei the Immortal” (Storm the Hero, conductor A.N. Chistyakov , 1998). In 1997, with the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, the artist recorded the CD “Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church” (conductor G.A. Dmitryak). In the 1990s, the Bolshoi Theater video studio made video recordings of the performances “Ivan Susanin” and “Love for Three Oranges” with the participation of the singer, and released the video film “Vladimir Matorin. Touches to the portrait." Matorin's voice is heard in the opera film "Aleko" (the role of the Old Gypsy, director V. Okuntsov).
In 2001, on the occasion of the 225th anniversary of the Bolshoi Theater, the singer was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.
V.A. Matorin is a supporter of strict discipline and self-restraint in the name of his favorite profession and quenching his endless thirst for improvement. A friendly person. In life she loves everything that is beautiful and pleases the soul. Under any circumstances, he never loses his sense of humor. He is friends with artists, knows the value of real painting.
If time permits, he enjoys listening not only to opera performances, but also, for example, recordings of the Paul Mauriat orchestra, and watching good post-war films. Sometimes he simply contemplates Moscow from the balcony of his apartment. Inclined to philosophical reflections. When things get hard, he saves himself with classical poetry: he reads Byron, Pushkin, Lermontov, Yesenin, Tvardovsky... He lives with God in his soul, in eternal struggle for mastery, for creativity in Art. In the summer he travels annually to the Volga region - he is drawn to the fields and forests, where there is space, so necessary for a Russian person.
Lives and works in Moscow.
Vladimir Matorin was born on May 2, 1948 in Moscow into a military family (father is a colonel, unit commander). Vladimir spent his childhood in military camps. According to his own recollections, as a boy he loved to wander through the forest and sing everything he heard on the radio. An unforgettable childhood experience was the first performance seen at the Bolshoi Theater - Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tsar's Bride.
Carier start
In 1974 he graduated from the Gnesin Institute (now the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music), where his teacher was Evgeniy Vasilyevich Ivanov, also a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater in 1944-1958. Among other teachers, the singer fondly remembers S. S. Sakharov, M. L. Meltzer, V. Ya. Shubina.
Vladimir Anatolyevich dedicated the years 1974-1991 to the Moscow Academic Musical Theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. In 1989, his performance of Boris Godunov was recognized by the international musical community as the best opera role of the year.
Teaching activities
Since 1991 he has been teaching at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts, from 1994 to 2005 - professor and head of the department of vocal art.
Soloist of the Bolshoi Theater
Soloist opera troupe The Bolshoi Theater has been around since 1991. He was invited by E.F. Svetlanov in 1990 to perform the role of Prince Yuri in the opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The artist's repertoire includes about 90 parts.
Sang on best scenes world, touring in England, Italy, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, USA, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Cyprus.
An important part of the artist’s work is concerts in Russian cities, appearances on radio and television, and sound recordings.
In 1993, he took part in the Wexford Festival (Ireland) in a production of P. Tchaikovsky’s opera “Cherevichki”. The same year he sang the title role in Boris Godunov at the Grand Theater of Geneva.
In 1994 he performed the role of the Head in N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “May Night” at the Cologne Philharmonic, and sang Boris Godunov at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 1995 he performed the role of the Head (“May Night”) at the Wexford Festival in Ireland (conducted by Vladimir Yurovsky).
In 1996 he sang Dosifey (“Khovanshchina”) at the Nantes Opera (France), Boris Godunov at the National Theater in Prague and Pimen (“Boris Godunov”) at the Opera
In 1973 he received the 2nd prize at the International Competition of Performing Musicians in Geneva.
In 1977 - 2nd prize at the All-Union Vocal Competition named after M. I. Glinka.
In 1997 he was awarded the title "People's Artist of the Russian Federation".
In 2001, he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.
In 2008, he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree.
In 2013 there was awarded a medal"For strengthening the military community."
In 2014, he was awarded the UN Order of Unity (“For actions for the benefit of nations”).
In 2015 he was awarded the Russian Government Prize in the field of culture.
Awarded in 2018 badge Ministry of Culture of Russia "For contribution to Russian culture."
In 2019 he was awarded the Order of Friendship.
Biography
Born in Moscow. In 1974 he graduated from the State Musical Pedagogical Institute (now the Russian Academy of Music) named after the Gnesins, class of Evgeniy Ivanov. In 1974-91. sang at the Moscow Academic Musical Theater named after K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. In 1989, his performance of Boris Godunov was recognized as the best opera role of the year.
Since 1991 he has been teaching at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts, and since 1994 he has been a professor and head of the department of solo singing.
He has been a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Opera Company since 1991.
Repertoire
His repertoire at the Bolshoi Theater included the following roles:
Prince Yuri(“The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov)
King Rene(“Iolanta” by P. Tchaikovsky)
Don Basilio(“The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini)
Boris Godunov, Varlaam
(“Boris Godunov” by M. Mussorgsky)
Ivan Susanin
(“Life for the Tsar” / “Ivan Susanin” by M. Glinka)
Gremin(“Eugene Onegin” by P. Tchaikovsky)
Galitsky, Konchak
(“Prince Igor” by A. Borodin)
Old Gypsy
(“Aleko” by S. Rachmaninov)
King Dodon(“The Golden Cockerel” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Dosifey, Ivan Khovansky
(“Khovanshchina” by M. Mussorgsky)
Ramfis(“Aida” by G. Verdi)
King of Clubs(“Love for Three Oranges” by S. Prokofiev)
Miller(“Mermaid” by A. Dargomyzhsky)
Sobakin(“The Tsar’s Bride” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Mamyrov(“The Enchantress” by P. Tchaikovsky)
Priest(“Katerina Izmailova” by D. Shostakovich)
and others
In total, his repertoire includes more than sixty parties
Tour
He sang on the best stages of the world, performed on tour in England, Italy, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, USA, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Cyprus.
In 1993 he took part in Wexford Festival(Ireland) in the production of P. Tchaikovsky’s opera “Cherevichki”. The same year he sang the title role in Boris Godunov. Grand Theater of Geneva.
In 1994 he performed the role of the Head in N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “May Night” in Cologne Philharmonic, and sang Boris Godunov in Lyric Opera of Chicago.
In 1995, he performed the role of the Head (“May Night”) at the Wexford Festival in Ireland (conducted by Vladimir Yurovsky).
In 1996 he sang Dosifey (“Khovanshchina”) in Opera Nantes(France), Boris Godunov in National Theater in Prague and Pimen (“Boris Godunov”) in Opera Montpellier(France).
In 1997 he sang Boris Godunov in Houston Grand Opera(USA).
In 1998 he took part in a concert performance of the opera “The Enchantress” by P. Tchaikovsky at the London Concert Hall Festival Hall(Royal Opera, conductor Valery Gergiev), performed as Mendoza in the opera “Betrothal in a Monastery” by S. Prokofiev at the Grand Theater of Geneva and as the Storm-Bogatyr in a concert performance of the opera “Kashchei the Immortal” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the hall Festival Hall(conductor Alexander Lazarev).
In 1999 he performed as Tsar Dodon (“The Golden Cockerel”) in the play Royal Opera on the stage of the Sadler's Wells Theater in London (conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky).
In 2001 he performed the role of Mendoza in Lyon Opera(conductor Oleg Caetani).
In 2002 he performed the role of Pimen (Boris Godunov) in Paris National Opera on the stage of the Opera Bastille (musical director and conductor James Conlon, director Francesca Zambello) and the role of Boris Godunov at the Lyon Opera (conductor Ivan Fischer, director Philip Himmelman, joint production with the National Theater Mannheim).
In 2003, he sang the title role in the opera “Boris Godunov” in theaters in Auckland and Wellington (New Zealand) and in the same opera the role of Varlaam in the performance of the Royal Opera on stage London theaterCovent Garden(production by Andrei Tarkovsky, conductor Semyon Bychkov, partners include John Tomlinson, Sergei Larin, Olga Borodina, Sergei Leiferkus, Vladimir Vaneev).
In 2004 he made his debut as Pimen at the New York theater Metropolitan Opera(conductor Semyon Bychkov), sang Pimen and Varlaam (“Boris Godunov”) in the theater Liceo in Barcelona (Spain).
In 2005 he performed the role of Varlaam at the Brussels Theater La Monnaie, as well as the roles of Tikhon Shcherbaty and Coachman Balaga in the opera “War and Peace” by S. Prokofiev Paris National Opera on the stage of the Opera Bastille (conductor Vladimir Yurovsky, production director Francesca Zambello).
In 2006 he performed the role of Sparafucile (Rigoletto) in Marseille Opera.
Next year - the roles of Boris Timofeevich (Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district") at the Grand Theater of Geneva, Sparafucile at the Opera of Nantes, Varlaam at Rhine Opera in Strasbourg and Teatro Real in Madrid.
In 2008, he sang Mendoza (“Betrothal in a Monastery” by S. Prokofiev) on stage Reina Sofia Palace of Arts in Valencia, Kvartalny (“Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”) at the festival "Florentine Musical May"(conductor James Conlon, director Lev Dodin, production 1998).
In 2013 he performed the role of Varlaam (Boris Godunov) in Bavarian State Opera and on Munich Opera Festival(conducted by Kent Nagano, directed by Calixto Bieito).
He took part in a concert performance of the opera The Tsar's Bride (Sobakin) at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York and the Hong Kong Arts Festival (conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, 2014 and 2015).
In 2015, he performed the role of Ivan Khovansky (Khovanshchina) at the Basel Theater (conductor Kirill Karabits, director Vasily Barkhatov).
In the 2016/17 season - Varlaam (Boris Godunov) at the Bavarian State Opera.
In 2018 - Sobakina (“The Tsar’s Bride”) on the stage of the Shanghai Bolshoi Theater (Bolshoi Opera Company tour in China, conductor Tugan Sokhiev).
Performs sacred music. He gives a lot of concerts. In particular, he performed solo concerts in the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater, at government concerts in the Kremlin, at the Russian embassies in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin, on the stage of the Deutsche Oper (Berlin), and in the French Senate. He performed D. Shostakovich's fourteenth symphony in Montpellier (France), and sang the vocal cycle “Songs and Dances of Death” by M. Mussorgsky in Antwerp.
Discography
Among the entries:
“Sorochinskaya Fair” by M. Mussorgsky - Cherevik, conductor V. Esipov, 1983
“Aleko” by S. Rachmaninov - Old Gypsy, conductor D. Kitayenko, Recording, 1990
“Francesca da Rimini” by S. Rachmaninov - Lanciotto Malatesta, conductor A. Chistyakov, 1992
“Aleko” by S. Rachmaninov - Aleko, conductor A. Chistyakov, Le Chant Du Monde, 1994
“May Night” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov - Head, conductor A. Lazarev, Capriccio, 1997
“Kashchei the Immortal” - Storm the Hero, conductor A. Chistyakov.
“The Taming of the Shrew” by V. Shebalin - Hortensio.
MATORIN Vladimir Anatolievich
People's Artist of Russia, laureate of International competitions, professor, president (chairman) of the Foundation for Supporting the Culture of Small Towns of Russia
Born on May 2, 1948 in Moscow. Father - Matorin Anatoly Ivanovich (born 1925), military man, colonel, was a unit commander; After retiring, he worked as head of the personnel department of the Tver United Literary and Art Museum. Mother - Matorina Maria Tarasovna (born in 1925), during the war years she worked as a turner at a factory, then - a housewife. They live in Tver. Wife – Svetlana Sergeevna Orlova, senior lecturer at the Russian Academy of Music (RAM).
The son of a military man, Vladimir spent his childhood in military towns, including in the Moscow region. As a boy, he loved to wander through the forest and sing everything he heard on the radio, to which he mainly owed his initial musical education, except for the affection for music instilled in the family (his mother sang in the choir). In the 1950s-1960s, opera performances were often broadcast on the radio, and Volodya knew many of their arias by heart. He sang along with his mother, helping with housework and memorizing songs and romances. This singing with two voices was always a process of “sacred rite” for him. As a teenager I wanted to imitate Muslim Magomayev, Eduard Khil... I liked beautiful male voices. He still reveres the piano. When he was growing up, there was no piano in the house - the instrument was bought later, for his younger brother. An unforgettable childhood experience was the first performance seen at the Bolshoi Theater - Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tsar's Bride.
Matorin’s bass was inherited - from his grandfather, who “bassed” so much that it could be heard in the neighboring village. However, at first Vladimir did not think about a career as a singer. From a military dynasty - his great-grandfather was a full Knight of St. George - he was preparing for military service. True, he still dreamed of becoming a historian, he even took the risk of taking the entrance exams for the Faculty of History, and he was haunted by an irresistible desire to sing. But it turned out that after graduating from high school, where he participated in various circles, and above all, in drama (he especially loved to read poetry from the stage), and also often soloed in the choir, he went to work as an electrician in a military unit. And in 1967, at the insistence of his mother, who intended her son to become an artist, he nevertheless decided to try his luck in vocals and was admitted first to the preparatory department, and two years later - to the 1st year of the Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute.
From then on, luck began to accompany Vladimir Matorin. His teacher was Evgeniy Vasilievich Ivanov, one of the leading bassists of the Bolshoi Theater (soloist in 1944–1958), a wonderful performer of the roles of Don Basilio in “The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini, Melnik in “The Mermaid” by A.S. Dargomyzhsky, Mephistopheles in “Faust” by C. Gounod, who had enormous musical and stage talent. He also worked with singer and director M.L. Meltzer, student
K.S. Stanislavsky, which, of course, had the most beneficial effect on the stage training of the future master. The singer remembers with gratitude his other mentors – S.S. Sakharova, V.Ya. Shubin. In general, Matorin considers all his bass predecessors to be his teachers - from Chaliapin to Vedernikov and Nesterenko.
During his student years, one of his first victories came: in 1973, Vladimir Matorin took part in the International Competition of Performing Musicians in Geneva, where he received second prize and a silver medal. And four years later he was awarded the title of laureate at the VIII All-Union Vocal Competition named after M.I. Glinka (second prize and silver medal).
In 1974, a talented graduate of the Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute, having passed a competition, was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Musical Theater named after K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Here his rapid creative ascent began. The chief director of the theater L.D. had a great influence on the formation of the artist. Mikhailov, with whom he prepared many of his roles. The singer spent unusually busy years on this stage, performing almost the entire bass repertoire over 15 seasons. Matorin did not shy away from any roles, and this brought him not only great stage experience, but also the status of an absolute bass, capable of expressing himself in different roles. Starting with the roles of Gremin, Zaretsky in the opera “Eugene Onegin” (Stanislavsky’s production) and small roles of different characters (Schiarone in “Tosca”, Householder Benois in “La Bohème” by G. Puccini), Matorin created a whole gallery of large and central images, including and in classical operettas (Zuppan in “The Gypsy Baron” by I. Kalman, Martin in “The Key on the Pavement” by J. Offenbach, etc.), which were then performed on the theater stage along with operas. In a series of outstanding works of this period, culminating with the role of Boris Godunov (in the first, author’s edition of Mussorgsky’s opera), there was the fishmonger Mendoza in “Betrothal in a Monastery”
S.S. Prokofiev, Porgy in "Porgy and Bess"
G. Gershwin, Don Basilio in “The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini, King Rene in “Iolanta”, Chub in “Cherevichki” by P.I. Tchaikovsky, Head in “May Night” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Cherevik in “Sorochinskaya Fair” by M.P. Mussorgsky and others (33 games in total). In many of them, the artist’s gift as an excellent performer of characteristic, grotesque roles was revealed. Completely polarizing, but no less impressive was Matorin’s other hero of that time - the fist Storozhev in Khrennikov’s opera “Into the Storm” - a dramatically large-scale, tragic image.
But still, Boris, it was Boris Godunov who brought true recognition to the singer. Since in his youth he first saw and heard Mussorgsky's opera at the Bolshoi Theater, the image of the Russian Tsar accompanied his creative destiny. He performed fragments of the role of Boris at the final exam at the Gnesin Institute. Somewhat later, discussing with the Leningrad director Stanislav Gaudasinsky the possibility of performing the role of Pimen in “Boris Godunov” on tour in Italy, Matorin unexpectedly asked himself: “Don’t you need Boris?” It turned out that it was needed. Good. “I’m just that good,” the singer said, surprising himself. The director became interested in who could confirm this. “Nobody, and I haven’t sung it anywhere yet, but I will,” came the confident answer. In 1989, when the 150th anniversary of Mussorgsky's birth was celebrated, Boris Godunov, performed by Vladimir Matorin in a performance at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre, was recognized by the international musical community as the best operatic role of the year.
In the early 1980s, Matorin first performed as a guest soloist in performances at the Bolshoi Theater, where he repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, passed competitive auditions. These are the operas “Iolanta” (King René) and “The Barber of Seville” (Don Basilio). In 1984, at the invitation of E.F. Svetlanov, he participates in the premiere of the opera “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia” by Rimsky-Korsakov (Prince Yuri).
The 1990s - early 2000s - the heyday of the singer’s talent and fame. Since 1991, he has been a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, making a brilliant debut on the great stage in the roles of Ivan Susanin and Boris Godunov, immediately taking the position of first bass. For an established artist, this was a new round of creativity: larger-scale productions, a different quality of the performing school. Matorin is featured in many premieres, where he performs in the main bass roles: Galitsky (“Prince Igor” by A.P. Borodin, staged
B.A. Pokrovsky, 1993), Tsar Dodon (“The Golden Cockerel” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, the musical director of the performance was E.F. Svetlanov, 1996), Ramfis (“Aida” by G. Verdi, 1997), King of Clubs (“Love to three oranges"
S.S. Prokofiev, director P. Ustinov, 1997), Melnik (“Rusalka” by A.S. Dargomyzhsky, 2000), Dosifey (“Khovanshchina” by M.P. Mussorgsky, 2002). In 1997, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia.
One of the representatives of the brilliant galaxy of basses of the Bolshoi Theater, Vladimir Matorin has a powerful voice of a special timbre, a wide creative range, irresistible stage charm, and a great gift for impersonation, which puts his dramatic talent on a par with his vocal one. “Vladimir Matorin is a wonderful singer and, of course, an Artist with a capital A...”, Bolshoi Theater soloist, People’s Artist of Russia Galina Oleinichenko, assessed the skill of the singer-artist. – Nature generously endowed him with a wonderful voice, an article, an acting temperament... Watching Matorin is as interesting as listening. The images created by the Artist are alive, touching the soul, and therefore each of his performances is unique.”
In the artist’s gallery of images (and there are more than 65 of them in his repertoire), endowed with original interpretations, such diverse roles as Ivan Susanin, Gremin, Konchak, Dosifey, Ivan Khovansky are equally reliable and significant... Matorin does not glorify Susanin on purpose, he has him not a textbook, not a stilted character, but a simple Russian peasant who, in difficult times for Rus', dies for the Tsar and the Fatherland, defending his home, the honor of his children. He especially loves the aria “They Feel the Truth,” which he perceives as a prayer, where Susanin, in his dying hour, grieving for his son and daughter, turns to God: “Lord, strengthen me...”. According to the artist himself, he came to the image of Susanin from M.D. Mikhailov - the first vivid impression of childhood, when I saw and heard the great performer of this role on an old small black and white TV. In the early 1990s, Vladimir Matorin sang Ivan Susanin in the Ipatiev Monastery in the city of Kostroma - in the very places where the historical events of the opera took place - the performance was then broadcast on television (conductor A.N. Lazarev). And it was a “roll call”, a relay race of singing generations across decades. There is one significant pattern in the “land of basses,” as Russia has long been called - Russian basses at any time, as a rule, were patriots, which probably largely came from the repertoire, from the images of Russian opera classics. One of the greatest masters of the opera stage, whose talent the world worships, Vladimir Matorin is no exception in this sense: Susanin is dear to him also because he is from Kostroma, because here are the origins of the Russian character: “I am not afraid of fear, I am not afraid of death, I will lie for the Tsar, for Rus'..." During the Bolshoi Theater's tour in St. Petersburg in 1998, the audience at Ivan Susanin (conducted by M.F. Ermler) was literally raging: Matorin's success in the revived classical production by L.V. Baratova, who has seen the best performers of the main role in her half-century of existence, exceeded all expectations.
The artist's sparkling comedic talent was fully revealed in the operas The Golden Cockerel and The Love for Three Oranges. “...What do I value most about Matorin? Versatility, unique originality... And also a sense of humor, wrote one of the best opera conductors of the Bolshoi Theater at the end of the twentieth century, Andrei Chistyakov. – In the actor-singer’s track record, next to the tragic Susanin and Dositheus, there are acutely grotesque and comic “royal persons” – Dodon and the King of Clubs. And I can testify that the appearance of the “most august person” with her “court” on stage raises the tone of the performances, giving them mischief and freshness and causing a unanimously cheerful reaction from the audience, be it in Moscow or Austrian Graz.”
A major phenomenon of the modern opera theater is Boris Godunov performed by Matorin. This role, in which the singer performed on various opera stages around the world, including the Lyon and Paris Operas, the Grand Theater (Geneva), the Lyric Opera (Chicago), the theaters of Auckland and Wellington (New Zealand), and the National Theater of Prague , Houston Grand Opera (USA), is the peak of his fame. An actor of transformation, he devotes himself entirely to the role, suffering and crying with the tears of the “criminal Tsar Boris,” appearing in all his royal grandeur and dignity. By his own admission, as a human being, the artist “bows before his hero – his intelligence, insight. Boris wanted happiness for Rus', but allowed famine and pestilence. His conscience torments him, but pride prevails.” Showing Pushkin's incompatibility between genius and villainy is the most important thing for Matorin. A singer-actor, he creates his own stage image, unlike others, unique to him. Shocked by this image of the artist on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, People's Artist of Russia Vasily Nesterenko considered it his duty to capture him in the role of Boris Godunov in a huge portrait (270x185), which became the focus of public attention at many prestigious opening days of the early 21st century.
The artist performed abroad with constant success in other parts of the opera Boris Godunov. He sang Varlaam and Pimen in many theaters around the world, and above all in London's Covent Garden (production by Andrei Tarkovsky) and the Paris National Opera. However, he prefers Leonid Baratov’s standard production, which has lived on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater for six decades, to all the director’s versions of the great opera.
Vladimir Matorin is called a national treasure, the “big bass” of the Bolshoi Theater at home and abroad, where he is usually greeted as a miracle hero of Russian music. But no matter what the singer performs, always recognizable and always unique - King René in “Iolanta”, the Old Gypsy in “Aleko”, Galitsky in “Prince Igor”, as the director of the Bolshoi Theater, People’s Artist of the USSR Georgy Ansimov rightly spoke about the artist’s work, “everywhere you can see not only the owner of a beautiful voice, but also an artist who has his own view of the image, of the Theater, of life... And all this puts his work in the mainstream of truly Russian art - from the traditions of Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky, Chaliapin, Ostuzhev, Stanislavsky, Golovanov , Pirogov, Baratova...". As has always been characteristic of outstanding artistic personalities, Matorin invariably evokes sympathy and empathy for his heroes in the listener-viewer.
The artist never stops working on all his seemingly long-established roles. Especially over such complex ones as Ivan Susanin and Boris Godunov, without considering them completed. “These parts are inexhaustible,” says the singer, “and happy is the one who manages to at least come close to perfection - their performance by Fyodor Chaliapin, but no one has yet been able to achieve this ideal.”
Vladimir Matorin is the “king” of the chamber genre. The singer's solo concerts in the halls of the Moscow Conservatory, the Concert Hall named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, the Hall of Columns, the Moscow Kremlin, the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater, in a variety of listening audiences, including vocal lyrics of Russian and foreign composers, ancient romances, Russian folk songs, unusually inspire listeners. His performing talent is distinguished by natural warmth, sincerity of timbre, beautiful vocal performance, temperament, impressive imagery and expressiveness. Matorin's concerts in a duet with his wife - the magnificent accompanist Svetlana Orlova, the Bolshoi Theater sextet or the orchestra of Russian folk instruments are always associated with enormous personal dedication. No less than with his vocal form, which is typical of all singers, he is concerned about the state of the hall: with what feelings do people come to a concert, to the theater, how do they accept his art.
It is hardly possible to name a vocalist now whose concert activity would be so national and non-elite - he is truly a people's favorite. And who else will sing the playful song “Street, Street” by Dubuque, “The Flea” by Mussorgsky or the rollicking “Along the Piterskaya Street” in such a Matorin-like manner, with texture, richness, and will stir the soul with the drawn-out folk “Steppe and steppe all around”... Perhaps not one of his the concert is not complete without romances based on Pushkin’s poems - “The Miller” by Dargomyzhsky, “The Prophet” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “The fire of desire burns in the blood” by Glinka or “The forest is dropping its crimson attire” by Sviridov. In the chamber repertoire, as in the operatic repertoire, the artist is broad, diverse, spontaneous and unexpected. And in the highest sense it is traditional, if you remember the great basses from Chaliapin to Ivan Petrov and Ognivtsev.
A truly Russian bass, Vladimir Matorin performs Russian folk songs with incomparable pleasure, without which he cannot imagine his creative life. In this property of the national culture of Russia, which opens up endless possibilities for the performer, he sees, first of all, the true value of human relationships, the dignity and intelligence of his people, the wealth and generosity of their souls. Performing in many countries of the world, the singer observed how easily, without the need for translation, Russian song in all its simplicity and artlessness finds its way to the hearts of people, regardless of their age, nationality and beliefs.
A special page of the master’s work is the chants of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the best performers of sacred music, he often performs accompanied by the Moscow Kremlin Museum Chapel under the direction of Gennady Dmitryak with programs from the chants of the Russian Orthodox Church (Strunsky, Strokin, Chesnokov, Grechaninov, Rachmaninov). Music, the singer is convinced, essentially “competes” with religion in its cleansing, ennobling effect. He himself was baptized at the age of 42, and a year later, I am sure, by God’s providence, he became a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. And it is not surprising that the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II came to the artist’s anniversary evening at the Bolshoi Theater, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of his birth, appreciating the performer’s appeal to the rich singing heritage - Orthodox chants - not only as evidence of his spiritual quest, but also as “a noble sign of the times, marked by the search for the once rejected and almost forgotten high art, carefully preserved for centuries in the bosom of the Orthodox Church.”
At the beginning of the 21st century, Vladimir Matorin created and headed the Foundation for Supporting the Culture of Small Towns of Russia, repeatedly performing charity concerts in the Russian provinces - Zaraysk, Alexandrov, Shuya, Kineshma, Yelnya, Vologda, Vladimir, Ivanovo... This has already become a phenomenon of our cultural life. He is a laureate and regular participant in the Alexander Evenings festival, established in 1996 in the Vladimir region.
A world-famous singer, he tours extensively abroad, performing on the best opera stages in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, USA, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico and other countries. He took part in the Wexford Festival (Ireland, 1993, 1995), where he performed the role of Chub in Tchaikovsky's Cherevichki, the main role in the opera Boris Godunov and the role of Head in Rimsky-Korsakov's May Night (conducted by Vladimir Yurovsky). In 1998 he took part in a concert performance of Tchaikovsky's opera The Enchantress at the London Festival Hall (Royal Opera House, conductor Valery Gergiev). In 1999 he performed as Tsar Dodon (The Golden Cockerel by Rimsky-Korsakov) in a performance at the London Royal Opera (conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky). In 2004, he made his debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as Pimen in Boris Godunov. He performed concerts at the Russian embassies in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin, and in the French Senate. “I didn’t sing, it seems, only in Africa,” the artist clarifies the geography of his tours in his characteristic humorous manner.
However, the greatest honor for an artist is to sing at the Bolshoi Theater. Therefore, he was never tempted to stay abroad. Moreover, Vladimir Matorin is not stopped even by the possibility of breaking a prestigious contract if he is expected on his native stage, the main stage in his life. This was the case, for example, on the day of Chaliapin’s anniversary, when the play “Boris Godunov” was dedicated to the memory of the great singer.
Professor Matorin has been conducting pedagogical work: since 1991 he has been teaching at RATI (Russian Academy of Theater Arts), where since 1994 he has headed the department of solo singing.
Among the singer’s recordings: “Boris Godunov” (Pimen, conductor V.I. Fedoseev, 1980; Boris Godunov, conductor E.V. Kolobov, 1991), “Francesca da Rimini” (Lanciotto Malatesta, conductor A.N. Chistyakov, 1992 ), “Aleko” (Aleko, conductor A.N. Chistyakov, 1994), “May Night” (Golova, conductor A.N. Lazarev, 1997), “Kashchei the Immortal” (Storm the Hero, conductor A.N. Chistyakov , 1998). In 1997, with the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, the artist recorded the CD “Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church” (conductor G.A. Dmitryak). In the 1990s, the Bolshoi Theater video studio made video recordings of the performances “Ivan Susanin” and “Love for Three Oranges” with the participation of the singer, and released the video film “Vladimir Matorin. Touches to the portrait." Matorin's voice is heard in the opera film "Aleko" (the role of the Old Gypsy, director V. Okuntsov).
In 2001, on the occasion of the 225th anniversary of the Bolshoi Theater, the singer was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.
V.A. Matorin is a supporter of strict discipline and self-restraint in the name of his favorite profession and quenching his endless thirst for improvement. A friendly person. In life she loves everything that is beautiful and pleases the soul. Under any circumstances, he never loses his sense of humor. He is friends with artists, knows the value of real painting.
If time permits, he enjoys listening not only to opera performances, but also, for example, recordings of the Paul Mauriat orchestra, and watching good post-war films. Sometimes he simply contemplates Moscow from the balcony of his apartment. Inclined to philosophical reflections. When things get hard, he saves himself with classical poetry: he reads Byron, Pushkin, Lermontov, Yesenin, Tvardovsky... He lives with God in his soul, in the eternal struggle for mastery, for creativity in Art. In the summer he travels annually to the Volga region - he is drawn to the fields and forests, where there is space, so necessary for a Russian person.
Lives and works in Moscow.