Maria Nockin: Where were you born? What was it like when you were growing up?

Galina GORCHAKOVA: I was born in Novokuznetsk, but when my parents finished musical college we moved to Novosibirsk where they found work at the opera. I grew up there, attending music school, college and the conservatory in that city.

It was an unusual life, growing up with opera singers for parents. Most people's parents can forget about their work when they come home but opera singers can never forget about their jobs, never! They think about music and their work relationships all the time and they have an unusual schedule with rehearsals in the morning and performances at night. Since the child care facilities were not open the hours my parents were working, and baby sitting was too expensive I was with them all the time.

My father graduated from the conservatory, but even that was not possible for my mother because she had me to care for. It was a very difficult position for her, especially after she and my father were divorced.

Nockin: Can you become an artist in Russia if you are not wealthy?

GORCHAKOVA: Yes, during the Soviet period there were schools where you did not have to pay. Now it's a big problem if you don't have tuition money but still, if you have some talent, you will succeed. I always got good grades when I was in the conservatory and I received some remuneration for them.

We had different problems under the Soviet Union. You could go to school but you would not have any kind of good career after you graduated . . . no money, no house. We were almost like slaves.

Nockin: How did you get from the conservatory in Novosibirsk to Sverdlovsk?

GORCHAKOVA: Conductors and directors from various theaters came to the conservatory to audition the graduates. It was like a market. I was offered a position as a leading soprano with the opera company of Sverdlovsk.

Nockin: How did you get the role of Renata in The Fiery Angel?

GORCHAKOVA: After I had been at the Sverdlovsk Opera for a while I realized that a career there was not enough for me. That company was like a dress that was very short and tight. It did not fit me. The Mariinsky in St. Petersburg was the most important theater in Russia and I asked to audition there.

After listening to me, artistic director, Valery Gergiev, said that he would invite me to sing at the Mariinsky. I sang Trovatore and Prince Igor.

Then I was asked to learn some of Renata's music from The Fiery Angel so that I could audition for conductor, Sir Edward Downes, and stage director, David Freeman, who were mounting a production of the Prokofiev opera to be seen at both Covent Garden and the Mariinsky.

Nockin: How is it now in Russia for a singer?

GORCHAKOVA: It is completely different from what it was during the Soviet period, but the singers are still not well paid, so everyone wants to go to the United States.

Unfortunately, no one wants to think about our culture and Russia is a very cultural country. We have had very great composers but now people are starting to be more interested in money than art. They want to buy houses in England, Switzerland or the United States. I'm very happy that my country is now open so that everyone can go there to visit, but we still have many problems. If you look around the countryside, just a short distance from Moscow, you will see that many people still live in poor conditions. In the 21sr century people should not have to live without enough heat and electricity in a very cold country where there is little sunshine. They become angry and depressed when they live like that for many months at a time.

Nockin: Is there a distinct Slavic style of singing?

GORCHAKOVA: There is a German school, an Italian school and a Russian school of singing. It's important to me to have the right style for the role I'm singing. I want to sing Russian opera in Russian style, That is very important to me. Of course, I sang Norma in Italian style.

Nockin: Opera is becoming increasingly 'globalized'. Do you think the various national styles are less distinct?

GORCHAKOVA: If that is true it is very sad. I don't honestly know the answer to that question. I think young singers make a great effort to sing each opera in its correct national style. If you are a singer you must study all the time. You must read. You must go to the theater. You must know the history and literature of various countries. If you're singing Italian music you must know a great deal about Italy and you must know the biographies of its composers.

Nockin: What languages do you like to sing in?

GORCHAKOVA: I started to sing in Russian and in Italian. I tried German, too, but I don't feel comfortable with it. I also tried singing in French, and that's better for me than German, but when I realized how critical the French can be of foreign singers. . . . I thought, 'Mama mia, never'!

Nockin: How did you like working with Richard Bonynge on Norma?

GORCHAKOVA: Very much! He is a conductor who really loves singers with all his heart and soul. He was wonderfully supportive. If I was concerned about something he would say, 'Don't worry, darling, you will be marvelous'. Working with him was a dream. He does not want to control so much as to produce a wonderful performance. He is a first class human being as well as a great conductor.

For me he was a dream come true. He always sent me good energy and made positive comments so that I wanted to do my absolute best for him. I cannot express it in words. I just want to thank the people who asked me to work with him.

Nockin: What other new roles are you learning?

GORCHAKOVA: I'm learning Mozart because I've never have had the chance to sing his music before. I've always been asked to sing Russian opera and sometimes Italian roles, but I did not have much choice. Now I can decide what I want to sing. Mozart is a 'treatment' for the voice. I'm learning the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.

Nockin: Do you like living in Russia or would you like to move to the West?

GORCHAKOVA: I still live in Russia but maybe at sometime I will move to Europe because I'm waiting a long time for my country to become a better place to live and nothing seems to change. I get tired of waiting but I'm Russian and I want to live in Russia.

Nockin: Do you have family there?

GORCHAKOVA: Yes, I have son who is sixteen years old. He plays piano well and I'm excited about that. He plays like an angel and he has a very good heart, too. He's becoming a very tall man, but he's still gentle and sensitive in a masculine way.

Nockin: Does he ever travel with you?

GORCHAKOVA: No, because he has to be in school most of the time. I travel with my aunt who provides a great deal of support for me.

Nockin: And your private life?

GORCHAKOVA: I divorced my husband three years ago and now I'm alone. If I start to live with someone my life gets terribly complicated so I prefer to be alone.

Nockin: What are your future plans?

GORCHAKOVA: I will be doing Lisa in Pique Dame in Munich at the Bayrische Staatsoper in October of 2003 and at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, that's the Staatsoper unter den Linden, in April 2004. I will also sing Tosca at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in March 2004. Besides that, I have a recital in Hong Kong and a concert version of Tosca in Israel with Zubin Mehta.

Nockin: Thank you and good luck!

© Maria Nockin 19 February 2003