Amaga Gotti: “I was called Chaliapin in a skirt in Vladikavkaz”

Interview by Oleg Kusov. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

The opera singer Amaga Gotti is a guest of Vestnik Kavkaza

- Hello Amaga! I have read a lot about you, and I’ve heard that you have a unique voice which is called a dramatic soprano. Have you been called Chaliapin in a skirt?

- Yes, I have. A dramatic soprano is a unique voice. Passionate female roles in opera belong to the dramatic soprano. It is a very powerful voice, which covers halls of several thousand seats without a microphone.

- Who called you Chaliapin in a skirt?

- These were musical critics. Once I arrived in Vladikavkaz at a concert which was taking place on Freedom Square. A microphone was broken. I wasn’t lost and began to sing without a microphone. There were thousands of people. And I was nicknamed Chaliapin in a skirt.

- In 2004 you graduated from the College of Arts n.a. Valery Gergiyev in Vladikavkaz.

- It was a school at the time.

- Later you entered the National Academy of Slavic Culture in Moscow. I have always thought that one should learn opera from Italian masters. Do you plan to study in Italy?

- One can study opera art in Italy. However, I should note that Ossetians have originally colored timbres of voice. Of course I wish to visit Italy. But most of all I love Germany, German composers, German music.

Many singers prefer Italian music today. It is topical, popular, but it is very difficult to sing German music. One should know its history. If you sing Richard Wagner, you should know Scandinavian epos in detail. Otherwise a person won’t feel the music.

- At the same time, you won an international contest in Italy in 2012.

- Yes, I did.

- You were the best of 300 singers, to my mind. What music did you sing at the contest?

- The contest took place near Milan, in the town of Magenta, in the north of Italy. The jury included such masters as the head of La Scala, Bruno Casoni, and prima of La Scala, Luciana Serra, who is a tutor at the academy of La Scala. One needs a lot of money to meet such masters and receive their consultations; moreover, they have no time for workshops. So when I had such an opportunity, I decided to go. 300 people got to the final. Of course, the Ossetian cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God helped me so much. I would like to thank Father Giorgi who said that “our sister needed help to fulfil her dream.” Churchgoers collected money for the ticket. Moreover, it gave me special strength. There were strong rivals among the 300 participants. The music was very difficult. Luciana Serra said that they are rarely sung these days in Europe. I sang the aria of Giaconda by Ponchielli and the aria of Manon Lescaut by Puccini. I also sang romantic and really dramatic arias. In the end, my Giaconda was marked. Luciana Serra told me that I resembled Callas.

- Are you interested in Russian opera?

- Of course I am. However, Iolanta is not close to my heart, for instance. I like Liza from The Queen of Spades. Tchaikovsky has a very beautiful opera Enchantress. I like the role of godmother there. It has been recently staged in the Bolshoi Theatre.

- In one of your interviews you said that in Italy somebody told you to forget the Russian opera school of singing. Why should it be forgotten?

- They said not “forget”, but “to civilize” it. They told me to “breathe Italian dust.” If we remember the 18th century, there was a permanent conflict between the Italian and the Russian school. Our Russian singers have a good rich foundation and powerful voices. In Italy, singers are passing though a crisis. Probably they envy Russia having such talented singers.

- What can you say about the Caucasus opera singing? And how does culture encourage spiritual integrations in the Caucasus?

- We have a great school of conductors, singers, pianists, dancers and artists. We are all proud that the chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre is our countryman Tugan Sokhiyev; the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre is Valery Gergiyev; in Italy the ballet troupe of La Scala is headed by Makharbek Vaziyev. We have a lot of singers – Khibla Gerzmayeva, Veronica Jioyeva, Alisa Gitsba. Anna Netrebko is also from the Caucasus. When I studied at the Moscow Academy, I went to the Bolshoi Theatre to Zurab Sotkilave, he listened to me, paused and said: “This is our voice!” He is proud of the successes of his countrymen. The head of the opera troupe of the Bolshoi Theatre, Makvala Kasrashvili, is the greatest singer. There are many natives of the Caucasus, who live in peace and support each other. Culture is above politics.