Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Constantine Orbelian at the Yerevan Opera House, May 12, 2015
Maestro Constantine Orbelian on winning Classical Album of the Year and his years of collaboration with Dmitri Hvorostovsky
BY SONA HAMALIAN
On March 11, Russia’s BraVo International Professional Music Awards announced the DELOS label’s recording of Verdi: Rigoletto as the 2018 Classical Album of the Year. The BraVo Awards are regarded as Russia’s Grammys. The landmark Rigoletto recording, conducted by Grammy-nominated maestro Constantine Orbelian, features the late baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role, along with an all-star supporting cast, the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, and the men of the Kaunas State Choir.
Constantine Orbelian is a globally acclaimed pianist and conductor, and an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. Since June 2016, he has helmed the National Opera and Ballet Theater of Armenia (the Yerevan Opera House) as its General Director and Artistic Director.
Orbelian’s recording of Sviridov’s Russia Cast Adrift, also featuring Dmitri Hvorostovsky, along with the State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, received a Grammy nomination last year, in the category of Best Conductor on a Solo Vocal Album.
We caught up with Orbelian in London, where he had traveled to attend the Royal Opera’s Dmitri Hvorostovsky Memorial Concert on March 18.
SONA HANALIAN: For more than 25 years, up till your appointment as General and Artistic Director of the Yerevan Opera House, you were a central figure in Russia’s musical life — as Music Director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia of Russia, and as a frequent guest conductor with other top Russian orchestras. Can you describe your feelings when your recording of Verdi’s Rigoletto won BraVo’s Classical Album of the Year Award?
CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN: My musical journey in Russia was an extraordinarily intensive. Scrolling back to October of 2000, I met with Dmitri Hvorostovsky in New York to discuss a recording contract with DELOS Productions (the recording company with which I work). We began producing our first recordings in the summer of 2001 and continued until the summer of 2016. Our recording of Verdi’s magnificent opera Rigoletto took place in Kaunas, Lithuania, where I am the Chief Conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra. Tragically, Dmitri had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in June of 2015 and after that diagnosis he told me that his dream was to record Rigoletto, which was his signature role for many years and a role that he had performed at the greatest opera houses of the world. So I was determined to fulfill his wishes on the highest possible level. Any recording with Dmitri would require a stellar supporting cast. Luckily, in July of 2016, I was able to assemble a top international cast, which included the glorious American superstar soprano Nadine Sierra, and Francesco Demuro, the excellent Italian tenor.
Sadly, given the time it takes to edit and master a full opera recording, the CD was released in the US on November 10th,  and it was received in London on the 22nd of November 2017 — the day Dmitri passed away. Therefore, even though he had heard the final edits and approved everything, he never actually saw the finished product.
I was thrilled to learn that our recording of Rigoletto was chosen as Best Classical Album of the prestigious BraVo Awards in Moscow. The recording has been receiving wonderful reviews from around the world from top music critics, but winning the award in Dmitri’s beloved home country, at the Bolshoi Theater, was extremely moving and touching. Dmitri’s parents were there to receive the award and the entire audience of the Bolshoi Theater gave them a spontaneous standing ovation. Everyone was in tears.
S.H.: Your collaboration with Dmitri Hvorostovsky stands as among the most celebrated in recent music history. With regard to the Rigoletto recording, what was your experience like working with Hvorostovsky, as well as the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra and the Kaunas State Choir?
C.O.: Working with Dmitri was a unique and extraordinary gift which fate brought to me. At the same time, the preparations for every concert or recording were always very intensive, and I had a huge responsibility to prepare each and every orchestra to Dmitri’s extremely high standards. Luckily, Dmitri’s previous experience in working with the Kaunas Orchestra and Chorus was very positive when we recorded another signature role, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, in 2013. The Kaunas Philharmonic and administration of the Orchestra are extremely cooperative and helpful during the recording period, and our stellar recording engineers and producers Vilius and Aleksandra Keras are the best in the business.
S.H.: Opera News has described Hvorostovsky’s voice as “the best kind of embrace —exceptionally warm, powerful but not smothering, drawing you in and not letting go.â€
