From Russia with feeling

Viktoriya Dodoka

It is difficult to believe that this demure Russian woman is the soprano who, five years ago, took on the demanding roles of Olympia and Antonia in Canterbury Opera's The Tales of Hoffmann just a few weeks after arriving in the country.

Critic John Pattinson singled out her "brilliant, flawless coloratura" in one part and "affecting vulnerability" in the other. Michael Sinclair stated emphatically that Viktoriya Dodoka was a singer whom "opera companies in New Zealand would do well to nurture".

Dodoka gives an elegant shrug when I bring up her first New Zealand performances. Having survived eight years' study at the Moscow Conservatory, she had always known the meaning of hard work.

Apart from the demanding regime imposed on her by the singing professors, which meant preparing a complete solo recital every month, "for four days a week we had to take part in choir rehearsals, and sing from 9 in the morning until 1pm".

While Christchurch audiences would go on to enjoy the singer playing the title role in Bellini's Norma, as well as Violetta in La Traviata, Auckland has yet to experience the Dodoka phenomenon in an operatic production.

However, on Sunday we have the chance to hear her in recital, with pianist Iola Shelley, performing some of her favourite arias and songs.

The first half of the programme consists of coloratura showpieces like the Mozart Alleluia and Gounod's Juliette's Waltz Song. The second half is devoted to the songs of her countryman Sergei Rachmaninov, perfectly timed to launch her first Atoll recording.

Recitals are a special challenge, she says. "You have to express the same feelings and emotions you do on an opera stage, but stay within the boundaries of the more formal concert."

Dodoka won the 2004 Lockwood Aria Competition singing a triumphant E strano from Verdi's La Traviata, but it was the music of Rimsky-Korsakov that took her to the Sydney Opera House in 2002 for The Glory of Russia spectacular.

And, of all Russian composers, Rachmaninov is the closest to her heart.

"I feel this music in every cell of my body when I perform it," she admits.

It's all to do with the Russian soul, she says. "Some of the songs are just reflections of nature, but others bring up deep, deep emotions. Some are very close to Russian folk songs and it's that which gives them their power."

Dodoka's enthusiasm for the music of her country has now taken over. She talks fervently about the rich heritage of Russian folk music and how many Russian composers have arranged these melodies so artfully that sometimes one forgets that they are, indeed, folk songs.

"The range of emotions in them is huge," she exclaims, drawing a parallel with the Rachmaninov songs which she will perform on Sunday.

"It is part of the Russian character. We don't mind people showing emotions in all their extremes. If there is joy, it will be absolutely huge; if things are sad, it will be the saddest, with many tears."

All of which presents another challenge for the singer when she is faced with interpreting these songs.

"When I sing Rachmaninov, I feel so full of emotion," she confesses. "It can be very hard for me to keep these emotions under control and remember things like vocal technique and pronunciation.

"It is difficult, so difficult, but you have to do it. It is part of being professional."


Performance

* Who: Viktoriya Dodoka and Iola Shelley
* Where and when: Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, Sunday, 7pm
* On disc: Viktoriya Dodoka, Rachmaninov Songs (Atoll ACD 106)