Recital with Maria Prinz [Piano] at “the Klassik im Burghof” festival in Klagenfurt

Whether it be the “Habanera” aria from Carmen by Georges Bizet, or the “Parto, parto” aria from La clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, during the performance of which the singer entered into an intensive dialogue with the clarinetist Markus Fellner: she sang only those arias she calls her favourite. During the concert that opened the Klassik im Burghof festival, Klagenfurt (Carinthia), Margarita Gritskova, an opera star who until 2020 was one of the Vienna State Opera troupers for many years and performed at many world-famous opera stages. The audience was not only amazed by the singer’s deep, profoundly expressive voice, high culture of using legato, admirable musical phrasing, but was also moved by the wealth of colours and shades, stretching from a delicate piano to unbelievable dramatism. Moreover, the voice of a Russian singer from Saint Petersburg, who is only 34, has an enormous range reaching remarkable heights. This voice astounded the audience by impeccable coloraturas, for example, when singing an aria “Cruda sorte” from Gioachino Rossini’s “L’italiana in Algeri”.
Apart from famous arias, ten Gaetano Donizetti’s seldom performed songs were sung, which will shortly be featured on CD, the most impressive being “La lontananza” and “Il barcaiolo“. After an entr’acte, only music pieces by Russian composers were presented, these were mostly melancholic songs, for instance, a “Lullaby” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, “Oh, My Dove” by Sergei Prokofiev, “Flying Wind” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Sergei Rachmaninov’s romance “Spring Waters”, whose emotional intensity literally overwhelmed the audience.
The singer’s performance was accompanied by Maria Prinz, a sensitive and masterly pianist, who has been her accompanist for many years.
The singer’s performance was honoured by a standing ovation, and she sang for them Cherubino’s aria from Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart as an encore!
“opera-online”14. Juni 2022 Dr.Helmut Christian Mayer