Evgeny Kolobov

(19.01.1946 — 15.06.2003)

Conductor, сreator of the Novaya Opera Theatre

 

Evgeny Kolobov was acclaimed by opera lovers and critics alike as one of the best opera conductors in contemporary Russia.Upon graduation from the song-school under the Glinka Chapel in Leningrad and the Urals State Conservatory, Evgeny Kolobov was appointed principal conductor of the Ekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre (1974–1981).

In 1981, he became a conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

In 1987, Evgeny Kolobov was appointed musical director of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre in Moscow.

He was awarded the titles “Honored Art Worker of Russia” (1979) and “People's Artist of Russia” (1983).

In 1991, Evgeny Kolobov and a number of his like-minded colleagues, supported by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, founded the Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow. The maestro's creative principle is to revive undeservedly forgotten music and to produce new, modern interpretations of well-known compositions.

Evgeny Kolobov was the first opera conductor in Russia to stage Verdi's La forza del destino, Bellini's Il pirata, Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Catalani's La Wally, Verdi's I due Foscari, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in the composer's original version and Thomas's Hamlet. He has also produced new, remarkable stagings of Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, O Mozart! Mozart… (based on the opera Mozartand Salieri by Rimsky-Korsakov and Mozart's Requiem), Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Golovin's First Love (Kolobov's debut as stage director),Verdi's La Traviata.

The maestro and his company successfully performed at musical festivals in the USA, in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Finland, Israel and Cyprus.

The maestro made several highly acclaimed recordings on the radio and TV and released 19 compact disks.

Evgeny Kolobov was honored with the prestige national prizes Triumph and Golden Mask, a special award of the Moscow Government for achievements in the arts and the Order Creator of St. Petersburg.


Says Evgeny Kolobov

about the Novaya Opera:

“Great music… With this music I strive to make a theatre of my own, to make it diverse and interesting. We do not restrict ourselves to operatic productions. Our theatre puts on symphony concerts, various literary soirees and chamber programmes”.

about conducting:

“I am convinced that the principal law-maker in an opera house is Music. Ideally, the conductor, the stage director and the set designer should work on a production together, in creative concord, from the very beginning. Another important condition is that they all should be fascinated by this opera. 

Being a conductor seems a beautiful profession, but in fact it is a tragic one: there are so many people between music and myself. I understand music one way, while somebody else does it another way. A conductor is like a translator of the composer's design”.

about life and himself:

“An artist must have two principal qualities: a good name and a talent. The existence of talent depends on God, but a good name is the responsibility of the artist”.

Productions:

Donizetti's Maria Stuarda — Conductor, Music version
Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin — Conductor, Musical version
Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila — Conductor, Musical version
O Mozart! Mozart… (Requiem) — Conductor, Musical version
Rossini (musical divertissement) — Conductor, Musical version
Catalani's La Wally — Conductor
Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana — Conductor
Thomas's Hamlet — Conductor
Verdi's La Traviata — Conductor
Verdi's Rigoletto — Conductor

Discography:

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Eugene Onegin (DVD) — Arranged and Conducted
  • Rossini (DVD) — Conductor
  • Giuseppe Verdi. Rigoletto (DVD) — Conductor
  • Giuseppe Verdi. La Forza del Destino (CD) — Conductor
  • Vincenzo Bellini Il Pirata (CD) — Conductor
  • Georges Bizet – Rodion Shchedrin. Carmen-suite (CD) — Conductor
  • Dmitry Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (CD) — Conductor
  • Taneyev's John of Damascus et al. (CD) — Conductor
  • Rossini (CD) — Conductor
  • Romances by Sergey Rachmaninov and Pyotr Tchaikovsky (CD) — Conductor
  • Andrey Petrov (CD) — Conductor
  • Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” etc. (CD) — Conductor
  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Eugene Onegin (CD) — Conductor
  • Classics through Centuries (CD) — Conductor
  • Giuseppe Verdi. Requiem (CD) — Conductor
  • Tribute to Evgeny Kolobov (CD) — Conductor

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Gosudarstvennoe byudzhetnoe uchrezhdenie kul`tury` goroda Moskvy` «Moskovskij teatr «Novaya Opera» imeni E.V.Kolobova»