From Russia with love
Thirty-one-year-old Elena Ryepkina’s eyes appear to be closed as her fingers glide across the 88 black and white keys. Though Ryepkina claims to have stage fright each time she performs, she says she copes by tuning out her audience and pretending she is the only one in the room, with only her piano for company.
As part of Logan’s Noon Concerts at the Tabernacle series on June 20, Ryepkina accompanied one vocalist, as well as performed her own extended solo of Russian music. But this was not Ryepkina’s purpose in coming to Logan.
A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Ryepkina is one of three native Russians to lend her culture, language and expertise to the production of the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater’s (UFOMT) performance of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov.”
“Boris Godunov” is a Russian historical drama about a tsar – a usurper, steadily going insane from guilt.
Michael Ballam, founder and general director of the UFOMT, said the opera represents a “coarse period of history, and it’s still happening in the world. That cruelty still exists.”
The UFOMT will be doing the 1867 version of the opera, a version that resonates with Ryepkina’s background, a survivor of the end of the Cold War and a first-hand observer of the fall of communism.
“It was so frustrating for everybody. It was chaos,” Ryepkina said of her experience in Russia. Soon after the chaos began Ryepkina and her family went back to Ukraine, but she said she will never forget what happened. Just as Americans will never forget what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was shot, or where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, Ryepkina remembers watching all the structure in her life collapse around her.
“It was a repeat of history,” she said. “It was chaos; all of a sudden so many people came to preach.”
Beginning her piano education at the age of 4, Ryepkina said he mother was quite strict and forced her to practice four to five hours a day. Ryepkina said working with her mother was the hardest thing about the piano, since Ukrainian and Russian culture expect only the best from their citizens. But she was steadfast, and would not give up on her education. Ryepkina is now conversant in five languages, has four master’s degrees in various aspects of music, and has performed with three different opera companies.
“The more the better,” Ryepkina said, explaining that that is her motto when it comes to getting an education.
Ryepkina uses her education to assist those she accompanies. Ballam observed that when Ryepkina accompanies, she breathes with her vocalist, using her own vocal background to assist their performance.
“If I understand the art of singing, I will be able to help them,” she said.
With one of her master’s degrees in opera coaching, Ryepkina is uniquely qualified to lend a hand to the production of “Boris Godunov.” She combines her fluency in Russian, her background in Russian events and culture, as well as her education in opera to make sure “Boris Godunov” is presented the way Ballam said he intends to — raw and visceral.
“We could not have done this wonderful project without talent like Elena,” Ballam said. “She is so critical.”
The UFOMT is utilizing every bit of help they can get from people like Ryepkina, as well as the dozens of individuals it takes to put a production like “Boris Godunov” together. Ballam said this opera needs five basses, a good chorus, “and a courageous director” to succeed, and that is why many companies cannot perform the Russian opera, at least not in Russian. According to Ballam, though the play is becoming more popular in the United States, most companies perform it in English.
But, he said, “‘Boris Godunov’ has to be in Russian. It has to be. We did it that way for a century. We didn’t have the singers that were capable, but now we do.”
Though the production has their own Russian diction coach to make sure the words are pronounced correctly, Ryepkina is standing by to assist the vocalists in interpreting the difficult language accurately. The English translation of the opera will be displayed in supertitles above the stage, but both Ballam and Ryepkina agreed it is not needed.
“Music is a universal language. It doesn’t need translation,” Ballam said. “This opera is timely. We are watching regimes change, nationals crumble, revolutions take place just as in Czarist Russia. “Boris” is really about the people of Russia and the plight of despotism. I wanted to insure the creative team understood Russian culture and Russian history, hence the repetiteur is from Kiev, the diction coach is Russian as well. They all lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. They have all witnessed first-hand regime change, revolution, and tyranny.”
Music can be interpreted in many ways, but Ryepkina suggests musicians do a little research before taking on any piece, something that she does for her own music, including “Boris Godunov.”
“Look at the background of the piece. Approach music from many different perspectives,” she said.
Those interested may see Elena Ryepkina perform with the UFOMT in “Boris Godunov” beginning July 8 at the Ellen Eccles Theater in Logan, as “Boris Godunov” plays in repertory with three other major productions, including “Don Giavonni” and “South Pacific.” She will also be one of the four featured performers to inaugurate the 19th Season of UFOMT on Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30, in an event entitled “Eight Hands Two Pianos” in the Eccles Theatre.
Tickets may be purchased through the UFOMT Box Office, 1-800-262-0074 or online at www.ufoc.org.