news
Recent and Upcoming Performances
 15 of April 2002 in museum quartier vienna, recital for the society magazine of vienna
Until April 2002, Volksoper Vienna, Westside Story by Leonard Bernstein
November / December 2001, Tel Aviv Opera House, Adele, Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss
October 2001 - April 2002, Volksoper Vienna, Westside Story by Leonard Bernstein
August 2001, Teatro Colon, Valencienne, Merry Widow by Franz Lehar (with Frederica von Stade)
muscialcocktail February-March 2002
West Side Story
with the young Argentinian singer in Vienna Gabriela Pochinki
Thomas Thalhammer
In Gabriela Pochinki's homeland, her versatile voice is called affectionately "soprano of the common man", and not surprisingly so. Austrians could lately appreciate her stage presence and radiance at the Volksoper in WEST SIDE STORY.
Together with Miriam Sharoni she took on the leading role of Maria. In this, otherwise very sterile production, she managed to impress her audience with her sensitive performance. Moreover, not only did she use her clear soprano voice with technical perfection, but she also accomplished her performance without losing sight of the interpretation. This is not always the case in the operatic field. The first, danced, encounter with Tony is not only one of the best moments of the performance but it also offered Gabriela Pochinki the opportunity to demonstrate her histrionic talents. She could keep up this intensity of feelings till the end. But her engagement with the Volksoper in Vienna is not her first contact with the musical WEST SIDE STORY. She already sang the role of Maria in 1998 at the Salzburg Theatre, and also with a Broadway company at the opera in Virginia. One would almost think that this part might become her "life-part".
But to restrict Gabriela Pochinki only to this play would not be doing her justice. Before her debut at the Volksoper she played, together with Frederica von Stade, the role of Valencienne in "The Merry Widow" at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In December she went on to Tel Aviv where she sang Adele in "The Bat" under Asher Fish.These are only some examples of her numerous parts, which belong mainly to the opera.
It is not only on the stage that one can admire Gabriela Pochinki's talent. In her CD recordings she tries to take her listeners on a journey through her music world. And one has to take it literally as a journey, because the repertoire on her CDs goes from classical arias like the wellknown "O mio babbino caro" by Puccini, through songs from "West Side Story" and "Candide", to the comic song "I want to be a Prima Donna" by V. Herbert. Even musical fans should listen very carefully because opera and musical are really not so far apart.
(CD tip: ARIAS & LITURCIAL SONGS; Malka Records 77980610400-2-0)
We can only hope to be able to see and listen more often to Gabriela Pochinki in Austria in the near future. Because there is one thing one can say: good voices there are plenty, but one that comes together with a strong expressiveness, is a rare occurrence.
Read review in Spanish
Buenos Aires Herald, July 23, 2001
A new opera/crossover star is born
By Alfredo Cernadas Quesada
The photograph of a young, attractive, black leather clad, dishevelled, grinning damsel obviously enjoying herself graces the cover of a record that looks far more appropriate for a pop, even rock item than for one with Arias & Liturgical Songs. Which is most of the scant info that this CD's packaging provides. The rest is the girl's name, Gabriela Pochinki, the list of items she sings and the name of the orchestra, the Radio Symphony of Krakow (sic). The booklet's other pages show fragments of Ms. Pochinki's head, mane, arm and torso.
Who is she? Although hardly a household name here yet, by now this gifted singer has got quite her share of attention from the local media. After all, it's not every day that a native Argentine singer reaps rave reviews singing the leading female role in West Side Story in the US. And she will soon make her local stage debut as coquettish Valencienne in the forthcoming production of Lehar's The Merry Widow in the Teatro Colon. She had already made her mark here in 1998, in a concert version of Orff's Carmina Burana, when her singing of the fiendish soprano part and unexpected costume changes delighted and startled the audience.
It all started a couple of decades ago, when little Gabriela, a member of a very musical family, decided that she would become an opera singer. So she got the best possible training and flew to New York, where she graduated from the Manhattan School of Music. If that hadn't been enough, she also investigated the whys and hows of the voice by studying voice training at the Medical School of Universidad del Salvador. A Fullbright scholarship later enabled her to attend several workshops in Europe and Israel, not to speak of master classes conducted by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Renata Scotto. She also took singing lessons with other distinguished retired performers: soprano Ruthilde Boesch, bass Federico Davia and baritone Renato Capecchi and acting with Salo Vasocchi. Not to speak of prizes in several competitions in Europe and the US. Pavarotti himself complimented her on the beauty of her instrument.
A silvery, well produced voice, impeccable musicianship, fluency in languages (Spanish, Hebrew, French, English, Italian, German), and a natural acting talent soon landed her in several, mostly soubrette roles which soon brought her engagements in opera houses in Europe, the US and Israel. She shone in Don Pasquale, The Daughter of the Regiment, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Impresario, Die Fleedermaus, Un Ballo In Maschera, The Bartered Bride, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, The Tales of Hoffmann and the Magic Flute (as Pamina).
Future engagements include West Side Story and The Old Maid and the thief in Vienna, a live recital for The Classic Club, a special programme for NHK, the Japanese network. She hopes to tackle Violetta, Elvira, Aminu and no less than Zerbinetta in the near future. But Pochinki also happens to be that rarity, a sensible opera singer, too much too soon is simply not for her.
Arias and Liturgical Songs is the first of three aria recital CDs (she has also recorded a pop album produced by Joe Jackson, Michael's father), distributed here by Musimundo. It includes Schubert's Ave Maria in Spanish, a touching rendition of Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, plus arias from The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, The Daughter of the Regiment, The Puritans, Falstaff (it's a pity she wasn't engaged by the Colon to sing Nanetta in this year's production), Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus, The Tales of Hoffmann, West Side Story, Candide (Bernstein), The Telephone (Menotti), and The Enchantress (Herbert). They are all enjoyable but she shines most in the sparkling last three items and the West Side Story excerpts, in one of which (I Feel Pretty) she cleverly characterizes all the participants.
|
|
