With more than twenty-five roles from Italian and Russian repertoires to her name, Ukrainian soprano Olga Mykytenko has been setting opera house stages alight from St Petersburg all the way to New York. Her high level of musicality is admirable, her technique is infallible and the expression of her characters is particularly successful. Here she is on a journey across the feminine world of great Verdian sopranos; a recital which touches on ten different works, from Verdi’s difficult years to the triumph of La Traviata. Ten different roles and so ten different women: betrayed, abandoned, vengeful, beaten, sickly, assassinated… Although none of them resemble each other in their personalities, expressions or vocal classifications, all these heroines are similar in the way their art of singing relies on Verdi’s inimitable melodic talent.
It is therefore understandable how such a recital is a veritable tour de force for a lone singer, transitioning from the fury of Lady Macbeth to the fragility of Violetta. A feat easily accomplished by Olga Mykytenko with the help of her compatriot Kirill Karabits heading up the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. © François Hudry/Qobuz
The Ukrainian soprano Olga Mykytenko has won numerous international awards, including the Grand Prix at the Maria Callas International Singing Contest in Athens. Her extraordinary musicality, solid vocal technique, easy coloraturas, and strong expression allow her to sing major roles, from Iolanta, Mimì, and Nedda to Gilda, Violetta, and Lucia. Engaged for many years as a soloist at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kiev, where she made her debut, Olga has performed in opera houses and concert halls around the world.
For this debut album for Chandos, she brings her interpretations of many of Verdi’s greatest soprano roles from the stage into the studio. Her programme also spans the majority of Verdi’s operatic output, from Ernani (Elvira) via Macbeth (Lady Macbeth) through to I vespri siciliani (Elena) and of course taking in Violetta (La Traviata), among many others, along the way. Accompanied by her compatriot Kirill Karabits and the thrillingly sympathetic Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, this recital is a vocal and musical "tour de force". © Chandos