The soprano barometer of the Empordà summer rarely fails. Even Peralada, that the condensed edition of 2023 had tenors, was aware that the nights are lit by the sopranos and also brought Diana Damrau, Núria Rial or Serena Sáenz. On the other hand, if any voice deserves to be discovered – or rediscovered – it will probably be seen inaugurating the Vilabertran Schubertíada, the lied festival that starts today precisely with the young and very promising American of Russian origin Erika Baikoff (8.30 p.m. h). Or will it be scheduled in Torroella, where the charismatic Jeanine De Bique sang a few days ago and today, in tribute to Victoria of the Angels, the Italian Erika Grimaldi (8:30 p.m.), a name that shone a decade ago – inaugurated Peralada in 2014 – and which after a maternity period has been rescued on the Spanish market by Ibermúsica Artists.
Why is it that for a summer night there is nothing better than a voice full of fantasy, brilliance or poetic intimacy like that of a soprano? Even Porta Ferrada has asked Tina Gorina, the local soprano from Sant Feliu de Guíxols, to sing Puccini today in the Monastery church (8 p.m.).
“The soprano voice has the effect of being direct, heavenly and enveloping like the sound of birds – says Ibermúsica voice agent Aleix Palau-. He has the magic of being able to sing big highs on the piano or do bass with a chest voice creating almost the sound of a man’s voice. The great composers have been fascinated by this type of voice, Handel, Mozart, Verdi or Strauss dedicated their best arias to it”.
The daughter of Russians who emigrated to New York when the USSR fell, Erika Baikoff discovered singing a little late, although at the current age of 29 she has already been through two Opera Studio – in Lyon and the Met – and has revealed herself as a true pledge of his rope. As a teenager, she was convinced that she was going to be a dancer: every Christmas, without fail, she was part of the Nutcracker, and even took a class with Baryshnikov and Kolpakova. Perhaps if the first opera she heard as a child had not been as long as War and Peace she would have been seduced by the singing. However, when she left the ballet, her mother confessed that when she was pregnant she dreamed that the girl would be an opera singer. She now lives in London with her pianist husband.
“My parents studied Russian poetry, but they are no longer completely Russian,” he begins to say about the romances by Rimsky-Kórsakov, Tchaikovsky and Rakhmàninov with which he is making his debut in Catalonia today, at the Vilabertran canon. The understanding of the text and his diction will be unbeatable, since, despite being born in the United States, he had Russian as his first language.
“When we went to Russia, my great-aunt, who was a doctor at the Mariinsky, took me to the theater and I was surrounded by the best dancers and singers. It was fascinating. We also have family in Ukraine and Belarus, and it’s hard to understand the reason for the war. There is a lot of pressure in the family, my parents are now the American part of the family”, he explains.
Baikoff feels that because she was not brought up in the Russian school, there are many traditions that she does not know, “but that’s okay, because the Soviets eventually stopped paying attention to the score, the original was lost and I have studied it on my own and I have drawn my conclusions”, he explains.
A free-spirited artist, he knows that what distinguishes a student from a professional is the fact that he has explored on his own. Baryshnikov, for example, danced in such a free way… but to the rhythm of the music. In the end, the best musicians are the ones who can play with the tempi and the rules without distracting you or being incoherent.”
Contrary to the fact that her voice is labeled, the teachers were confused: was she mezzo or soprano?, coloratura or lyric? “As long as you can sing well and it’s convincing, there’s no reason to define your voice. The good thing about mine is that it is versatile, chameleon-like, it adapts. And I hope it’s unique, too.” Of course, a lot of Russian repertoire is for dramatic soprano and she knows it’s not, she doesn’t have the power. “In the poetic song, the characters are often young people trying to make their way in life, and I don’t see that there is so much drama. Sometimes it’s good to be a little simpler and more rational.”
Erika Grimaldi returns, an eminently Verdian and Puccinian voice that motherhood has temporarily removed from the scene, but which has given her more body and capacity and is ready for a heavier and darker repertoire. “The whole body has undergone a change, I feel more complete, a beautiful transformation”, he says ready for the tribute to Victòria dels Àngels today in Torroella, with the composer who was the singer’s last pianist, Albert Guinovart.
Grimaldi did not come from a musical family, but there was a piano at home and at the age of four he felt the need to study it. At the age of 21, he already had singing and piano careers and started acting at the beloved Regio di Torino theater, where he would later play dozens of roles. Michaela de Carmen was there, for example, in the successful production of Calixto Bieito, and she also collaborated with Àlex Ollé in the modern Bohème. “Yes, Carmen is not so conceptual but realistic, sometimes vulgar and sometimes gentle, but which highlights everyday reality. And the Bohème of poor extra-radius skyscrapers where instead of candles they illuminate with batteries. I remember that I was pregnant”.
On his return to the stages of the Peninsula, he chose the most beautiful arias sung by Victoria to pay tribute to her: “Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, Leoncavallo… I will sing the ones I knew and I know I can do well. This first part is the easy part. The second, with songs and lieder, has been a challenge. I wanted to insert languages: Spanish, German, French… Although the difficulty is not so much the language, but the style. It’s a repertoire to dream of, of intimate moments that move, although there are lively songs to joke about.”
What would be the secret to singing Verdi? “If you want to sing Verdi you need a good technique to do everything in the score because he is very precise and punctual, he puts everything in writing: his music is very delicate and difficult. He writes a lot of piano, which is very difficult for the voice, and goes in crescendo. And then it demands that you go from a forte to a piano suddenly… It’s complex, but you just have to study. And this is what I have done in the pandemic. Now we could say that I am reaping the benefits.”
The trigger for the career of the daughter of Sant Feliu de Guíxols was winning the Jaume Aragall award in Girona two decades ago. This made her think that she could be a professional and not just a brilliant conservatory student. From there, she entered competitions, which she won with her light soprano voice. He sang with Aragall, and with Josep Carreras, who at the time presided over the Julián Gayarre contest. And she also won a Viñas for the best Catalan singer.
“I have done important things, but I consider that I have not entered the opera wheel, I have never had a powerful representative”. However, he entered the Liceu through the door of the Petit Liceu, which for the last two decades has been the Opera Studio in the Barcelona hall. “In 2003 I called the theater to do a children’s production of the Superbarber de Sevilla, a production in charge of the Tricicle, and it has been one of the most beautiful things I have done. We were active for 15 seasons, and in theaters all over the State, in Spanish, in Catalan, for families and schools…”
Recently, he has participated in the opera-circus La torre dels somnis, which offered a taste at Christmas in Plaça Catalunya. And chance meant that last season at Ópera de Sabadell she sang not only in Don Giovanni, but also made her debut in a leading role by Puccini, in Madama Butterfly. First as a substitute and finally singing half of the functions in the cycle Ópera a Catalunya.
As a result, he was invited to talks and finally to design a recital with the arias of Puccini’s women: Manon, La bohème, Tosca, Butterfly, Turandot… “There are suffering mothers and spoiled teenagers, they have a lot of feeling and interest. It’s beautiful music.” On the piano, Stanis Angelov. And alert, Saturday in Girona also has a concert with Broadway tunes.
