PAVLO
"It was a good night too for bass Pavlo Balakin...his turn as Herman was strong, and Balakin has the commanding stage presence and singing prowess for leading roles."
- Michael Amundsen, The Wagnerian
Pavlo Balakin (bass) is one of the most outstanding opera soloists of his generation in Estonia today.
Pavlo’s first music degree is from the jazz saxophone class of the Donetsk Music Academy in Ukraine (2006). Thereafter the Ukrainian born bass studied singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof Mati Palm. In addition, he has worked regularly with a number of great coaches, among them Richard Barker, Roberta Ferrari, Kristina Vavolo, Kristin Okerlund and Jeffrey Goldberg.
Between 2002-2008 Pavlo sang in the chorus of the Ukrainian National Opera and between 2008-2013 in the chorus of the Estonian National Opera. Besides, he sang many bass solo roles until being officially hired as a soloist by the Estonian National Opera in 2013.
In 2016, Pavlo Balakin made his debut in Italy – singing the title role of Attila in Verdi's "Attila" at Teatro Massimo di Palermo – and continued during the summer as Dottore Grenvil in the production of "La Traviata" at Opera di Firenze. In 2017, his main roles included the title role in Verdi's "Attila" and Hermann in Wagner's "Tannhäuser" at Teatro La Fenice; Ramfis in "Aida" and Provost marshal in Hindemith's "Cardillac" at the Estonian National Opera; as well as singing in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Estonia and Israel. In Autumn 2017 he had his debut at the Den Jyske Opera in Denmark as Dulcamara in their new production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and in February 2018 debuted in the same role at the Lviv National Opera Theatre in his homeland Ukraine.
In Summer 2018 Pavlo performed at Opera på Skäret in G. Verdi opera "Don Carlo" in the roles of Grand Inquisitor and the Monk. November 2018 Pavlo will sang in A. Dvořák "Stabat Mater", with Maestro Christoph Eschenbach & Odense Symphony Orchestra in Odense Carl Nielsen Hall, Denmark. January 2019 he made his debut as Malyuta Skuratov in "The Tsar's Bride" by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov at the Estonian National Opera.
Hear and see Pavlo live as Hermann in Wagner's "Tannhäuser" at Teatro La Fenice HERE, arias from 1.38.30, 2.09.05.
In addition to the previously mentioned, Pavlo’s repertoire includes smaller and bigger soloist roles, such as Méphistophélès (Gounod's "Faust"), Enrico ("Anna Bolena"), Daland ("The Flying Dutchman"), Ptolemy (Händel's "Julius Caesar"), Monterone ("Rigoletto"), Count Horn ("Un ballo in maschera"), Surin (Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades"), Boriss and Pimen (Mussorgsky's ''Boriss Godunov'') and Salieri (Rimsky-Korsakov's "Mozart and Salieri", concert performance).
Pavlo Balakin is also highly valued as an oratorio and chamber music soloist, having performed bass parts in J. S. Bach's "St John Passion" and "St Matthew's Passion", Beethoven's Mass in C Major, Verdi's "Requiem", Mozart's "Requiem", Mendelssohn's "Elias", Strauss' "Deutsche Motette", Rossini's "Petite messe solennelle", Mussorgsky's "Songs and Dances of Death" and "Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarotti" by Shostakovich.
Pavlo Balakin has worked with many renowned conductors, among them Daniel Oren, Riccardo Frizza, Omer Meir Wellber, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Eri Klas, Andres Mustonen, Vello Pähn, Arvo Volmer; and with numerous highly acclaimed directors, such as Dmitry Bertman, Daniel Slater, Daniele Abbado, Calixto Bieito, Georg Rootering, Pamela Recinella, Vilppu Kiljunen, Andreis Zagars and Tobias Kratzer to name a few.
In 2013, Pavlo Balakin won the Annual Estonian Theatre Award "Crystal Shoe" for his mature interpretation of Méphistophélès in Gounod's "Faust".
Pavlo has General Management with PLMF and is represented by Nordic Artist Management in the Nordic Countries.
Core repertoire
Georg Friedrich Händel
Julius Caesar
Tolomeo
Estonian National Opera
(conductor A.Mustonen, stage director G.Rootering)
Domenico Cimarosa
Il matrimonio segreto
Geronimo
Estonian National Opera
(conductor R.Joost, stage director G.Bongiovanni)
Gaetano Donizetti
L´Elisir d´amore
Dulcamara
Estonian National Opera
(conductor V.Pähn, stage director G.Malvius)
Den Jyske Opera
(conductor P.-O.Johansson, stage director H.Fehr) 11.10.2017.
Lviv National Opera Theatre (conductor Iryna Stasyshyn, stage director Iryna Stasyshyn) February 2018.
Richard Strauss
Arabella
Waldner
Estonian National Opera
(conductor V.Pähn, concert performance)
Richard Wagner
Tannhäuser
Hermann
Estonian National Opera
(conductor V.Pähn, stage director D.Slater)
Teatro la Fenice
(conductor O.Meir Wellber, stage director C.Bieito) 28.01.2017.
In Preparation
Giuseppe Verdi
Nabucco
Zaccaria
Teatro Regio di Parma (conductor Francesco Ivan Ciampa, director Stefano Ricci)
2019 August - October
Gioachino Rossini
Il barbriere di Seviglia
Bartolo
L'Italiana in Algeri
Mustafa
Il Turco in Italia
Selim
La cenerentola
Don Magnifico
Il viaggio a Reims
Don Profondo
Gaetano Donizetti
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni & Leporello
Le nozze di Figaro
Bartolo
Cosi fan tutte
Guglielmo
Oratorios
J.S.Bach "St. John Passion", "St. Matthew Passion"
(premiere in Tel Aviv with Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, conductor A.Mustonen )
L.van Beethoven "Symphony no. 9"
F.Mendelssohn "Elias"
S.Gubaidulina ''Über Liebe un Hass"
(premiere in Trondheim, Norway; conductor A.Mustonen)
K.Penderecki "Dies illa"
Other repertoire
Claudio Monteverdi
Il ballo delle ingrate
Plutone
Estonian National Opera
(conductor A.Mustonen, stage director G.Rootering)
Gaetano Donizetti
Anna Bolena
Enrico
Estonian National Opera
(conductor A.Volmer, concert performance)
Giuseppe Verdi
Un ballo in maschera
Tom
Estonian National Opera
(conductor J.Alperten, stage director A.Mikk)
La Traviata
Dottore
Estonian National Opera
(conductor E.Klas, stage director N.Kuningas)
Opera di Firenze (conductor F.Carminati, stage director A.Corno) 16.07.2016.
Rigoletto
Monterone
Estonian National Opera
(conductor J.Alperten, stage director N.Kuningas)
Don Carlo
Grand Inquisitor
Monk
Opera på Skäret (conductor Michael Balke, stage director William Relton) Summer 2018.
Aida
Ramfis
Estonian National Opera (conductor V.Pähn, stage director T.Kratzer)
Attila
Attila
Teatro Massimo di Palermo (conductor D.Oren, stage director D.Abbado) 20.02.2016.
Teatro la Fenice (conductor R.Frizza, stage director D.Abbado) 09.12.2016.
Giacomo Puccini
Tosca
Angelotti
Estonian National Opera
(conductor J.Alperten, stage director R.Banionis)
Charles Gounod
Romeo and Juliet
Capulet
Estonian National Opera
(conductor V.Pähn, concert performance)
Faust
Mefistofele
Moscow Helikon Opera
(conductor V.Pähn, stage director D.Bertman) 16.10.2016.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The queen of spades
Surin
Estonian National Opera
(conductor J.Alperten, stage director A.Mikk)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Mozart and Salieri
Salieri
Concert performance
The Tsar's Bride
Malyuta Skuratov
Estonian National Opera (Conductors J.Alperten/K.Mänd,
stage director Y. Alexandrov) January 2019
Paul Hindemith
Cardillac
Police Chief
Estonian National Opera (conductor V.Pähn, stage director V.Kiljunen)
Richard Wagner
Der fliegende Holländer
Daland
Estonian National Opera
(conductor V.Pähn, stage director P.Recinella)
Masses
G.Rossini "La Petite Messe Solennelle"
G.Verdi "Requiem"
W.A.Mozart "Requiem"
S.Gubaidulina ''Über Liebe un Hass"
(premiere in Trondheim, Norway; conductor A.Mustonen)
A.Berman "Kaddish"
A. Dvořák "Stabat Mater"
(premiere in the Odense Carl Nielsen Hall, Denmark
with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Christoph Eschenbach).
Recital Programs
D. Shostakovich - Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti
G. Sviridov - A selection of romances
P. I. Tchaikovsky - A selection of romances
M. Mussorgsky - Songs and Dances of Death
S. Rachmaninov - A selection of romances