Baritone Pavel Baransky makes American debut at Carnegie Hall (05/21/06)

Baritone Pavel Baransky makes American debut at Carnegie Hall

by Helen Smindak

NEW YORK - Growing up in the historic Ukrainian city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Pavel Baransky had absolutely no thought of becoming an opera singer. Pop music was his thing, despite the fact that his parents were active in the sphere of classical music. His father, Volodymyr Alekseyevich Baransky, the director of a boys' college, where he teaches conducting and music theory, is gifted with a tenor voice; his mother, Vera Pylypivna Baranska, is a choir singer with a lyric dramatic soprano voice.

But pop music arranging - his specialty for eight years - became a thing of the past for Pavel Baransky when a family friend, baritone Mykola Dubchiy, arrived in Kamianets-Podilskyi to teach at the college, heard young Baransky sing and declared he should be singing baritone roles in opera. Mr. Baransky decided to give it a try, beginning with lessons from Mr. Dubchiy and proceeding to studies with National Artist of Ukraine Prof. Mykola Kondratiuk at the National Academy of Music in Kyiv.

Today, less than 10 years later, Mr. Baransky is making waves in international opera circles.

The 29-year-old baritone made his American debut on May 4, appearing at Carnegie Hall with the celebrated Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY) in a concert production of Italo Montemezzi's beautiful but rarely heard work "L'Amore dei Tre Re" (The Love of Three Kings).

Performing with an international cast headed by world-famous bass Samuel Ramey, Mr. Baransky achieved an impressive performance in the role of Manfredo, the son of Archibaldo, the blind king of Alturo. His height (just over 6 feet), broad-shouldered proportions and handsome features served him well in defining the noble character of his princely role.

"L'Amore dei Tre Re," set in a remote castle in Italy in the 10th century, tells the story of the love of Archibaldo, a barbarian conqueror, for his son, and of Manfredo's love for Fiora, princess of the conquered country, who was given to him in marriage. The third love is that of Avito, prince of the conquered country, for Fiora, whom he was to have married.

Eve Queler directed the OONY orchestra and chorus with precison as impassioned arias rang through the hall. Several hundred dedicated music lovers and Opera Orchestra followers acknowledged the dramatic offerings of Mr. Ramey, Mr. Baransky, Argentinian soprano Fabiana Bravo and Mexican tenor Fernando de la Mora with excitement and tumultuous applause.

The production, with its verismo-late Romantic score, a formidable bass part, a Tristan-esque duet for the lovers and a Russian-sounding a capella funeral chorus, was well received by music critic Bruce-Michael Gelbert of Theater Scene. Mr. Gelbert wrote that "Pavel Baransky as Manfredo displayed a solid baritone with an easy top range and ardent delivery, as he anticipated his reunion with Fiora." A Ramey-Baransky collaboration in Act 2, with Manfredo bemoaning the death of Fiora and Archibaldo giving an account of his killing of Fiora for her infidelity to Manfredo, was described by Mr. Gelbert as "a dynamic duet."

Critiques which appeared in The New York Times and Opera Today were less complimentary, while reviews from monthly publications (which could be favorable) were unavailable at press time. Benjamin Binder of Opera Today, who felt that Mr. de la Mora and Mr. Baransky pushed their voices beyond their limits in many places, concluded that the singers could not be blamed for overexerting themselves, since Maestro Queler "seems to have ignored the problem of balance" by not limiting the sound of her orchestra.

The Times' music critic Anne Midgette, known for her often condescending reviews, found good only in Mr. Ramey's performance. Describing Mr. Baransky's voice as "undistinguished and small for an opera that calls for large-scale singing," she added that all the singers had a hard row to hoe, since "the music was heavy and difficult, and the orchestra moved through it leadenly."

Moving up in the ranks

Mr. Baransky moved into the ranks of up-and-coming operatic baritones in the past four years as he won competitions in Germany and Kyiv and was chosen as a finalist in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in Wales and the Placido Domingo Operalia Competition.

During the 2003-2004 season, while studying in Switzerland at the Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera, he sang the role of Silvio in "Il Pagliacci" with the Welsh National Opera.

As principal baritone of the Hamburgische Staatoper in Germany for two seasons (with one still to go), he is singing a number of leading roles - Prince Yeletsky in "Pique Dame," Ford in "Falstaff," Sharpless in "Madama Butterfly," Tuzenbach in "Tri Sestri" and Belcore in "L'Elisir d'Amore," as well as the role of Silvio.

Chatting with well-wishers backstage after the concert, Mr. Baransky divulged that he would like to sing the role of the elder Germont in "La Traviata," but feels he needs more work before he tackles this role. He speaks English, Ukrainian and Russian, and would very much like to add Italian to his language proficiencies. He enjoys large cities like London, Kyiv and New York - he says "they stimulate my work."

His favorite role? He says he likes every role, because he becomes caught up in each role he tackles. To study voice and technique, he often listens to recordings by Siberian-born star baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Mr. Baransky and Mr. Hvorostovsky have the same agent, and it is possibly through the agent that Miss Queler learned of Mr. Baransky and invited him to sing in her latest production.

He has made two recordings to date, a CD with Romanian-born tenor Marian Talaba of Chernivtsi, featuring romantic arias and duets - the CD was the idea of Kyiv Symphony director Roger McMurrin - and a solo-voice CD with pianist Svitlana Ludchenko as accompanist.

This summer Mr. Baransky will make his Glyndebourne Festival debut in Prokofiev's "Betrothal in a Monastery." And in October he will return to New York City to make his Met Opera debut as Silvio in "Il Pagliacci" - hopefully receiving the complimentary reviews he deserves.

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