Who: Mikhail Svetlov, Treasures of West and East
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, Sat Aug 18, 6.30pm
Mikhail Svetlov's electrifying Mephistopheles in NBR New Zealand Opera's Faust was a high point of the 2006 season. The Russian bass charmed and chilled; he inhabited the production and,
from his first step on stage, you knew Faust and Marguerite were in for a struggle.
On Saturday, there is a chance to savour this supreme artist in a recital of arias and songs, teamed with pianist Mikhail Tablis.
When I catch up with him, he has just finished a season of Montemezzi's L'Amore dei tre Re in London.
Critics came away gasping at what one wrote up as a "lust'n'poison gorefest" while Svetlov was hailed as mesmerising.
He releases a deep Russian rumble of a laugh when I ask him about it. "It was dramatic, intense and set at the end of Italy's fascist years. I was made to look like Mussolini."
Alas, Montemezzi is not one of the composers we will be hearing on Saturday night when Svetlov delivers his Treasures of West and East.
The first half of the concert finds Rossini's celebrated rumour-mongering aria from The Barber of Seville alongside Gremin's cri de coeur from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. "There is comic as well as lyric," Svetlov assures, mentioning Bellini, Mozart and Faust arias which are also on the bill.
"It is difficult to bring off seven different styles in 40 minutes, without an operatic setting but it's a challenge I really like."
After interval, a collection of Russian songs includes works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky.
Svetlov has been singing Mussorgsky for years, in recital and on the opera stage. His favourite role is Boris Godunov and he likes the mix of comic and character in the two songs he will offer.
"You laugh and then cry in the same phrase," he says, explaining the fervent Slavic emotions that underpin these quite startling pieces. "I like them because I have a chance to act in the song.
"Russian songs are special because you need to be involved in the text. You have to understand what you are singing and show the audience you understand. Yes, you have to be an actor to sing it."
