PAVLO BALAKIN
"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
Ukrainian based, Pavlo Balakin (bass) is one of the most outstanding opera soloists of his generation currently living 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). 2024 saw Pavlo appear as "Don Pasquale" in the lead role of Donizetti's comic opera and as Der König in Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the Estonian National Opera. The latter part of 2024, Pavlo Balakin sang as Timur in Puccini's "Turandot" at Estonia's Tartu Opera and took the lead role as Don Magnifico in Rossini's, "La Cenerentola" at the Latvian National Opera.
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".
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.Pähm, stage director G.Malvius) Den Jyske Opera (conductor P.-O.Johansson, stage director H.Fehr) (Lviv National Opera Theatre; conductor Iryna Stasyshyn, stage director Iryna Stasyshyn) Don Pasquale (Don Pasquale)
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)
Gioachino Rossini
La cenerentola (Don Magnifico)
In Preparation
Other repertoire
Claudio Monteverdi Il ballo delle ingrate Plutone Estonian National Opera (conductor A.Mustonen, stage director G.Rootering)
Giuseppe Verdi Un ballo in maschera (Tom) (Estonian National Opera; conductor J.Alperten, stage director A.Mikk) Rigoletto (Count Monterone) (Estonian National Opera; conductor J.Alperten, stage director N.Kuningas) 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. Don Carlo (Grand Inquisitor, Monk) (Opera på Skäret; conductor Michael Balke, stage director William Relton) 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) Teatro la Fenice (conductor R.Frizza, stage director D.Abbado)
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)
Gaetano Donizetti Anna Bolena (Enrico) (Estonian National Opera; conductor A.Volmer, concert performance)
Giacomo Puccini Turandot (Timur) (Tartu Opera) Tosca (Angelotti) (Estonian National Opera; conductor J.Alperten, stage director R.Banionis)
Paul Hindemith Cardillac (Police Chief) (Estonian National Opera; conductor V.Pähn, stage director V.Kiljunen)
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)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Queen of Spades (Surin) (Estonian National Opera; conductor J.Alperten, stage director A.Mikk)
Giuseppe Verdi Nabucco Zaccaria Teatro Regio di Parma (conductor Francesco Ivan Ciampa, director Stefano Ricci)
Gioachino Rossini Il barbriere di Seviglia (Bartolo) Il viaggio a Reims (Don Profondo) L'Italiana in Algeri (Mustafa) Il Turco in Italia (Selim)
Richard Wagner Der fliegende Holländer (Daland) (Estonian National Opera; conductor V.Pähn, stage director P.Recinella)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni & Leporello) Cosi fan tutte (Guglielmo) Le nozze di Figaro (Bartolo)
Oratorios
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony no. 9
Krzysztof Penderecki
Dies illa
Sofia Gubaidulina
Über Liebe un Hass
(premiere in Trondheim, Norway; conductor A.Mustonen)
Felix Mendelssohn
Elias
J.S.Bach
St. John Passion
St. Matthew Passion
(premiere in Tel Aviv with Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, conductor A.Mustonen )
Masses
Gioachino Rossini
La Petite Messe Solennelle
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem
Sofia Gubaidulina
Über Liebe un Hass
(premiere in Trondheim, Norway; conductor A.Mustonen)
Guiseppe Verdi
Requiem
Avi Berman
Kaddish
Antonin Dvořák
Stabat Mater
(premiere in the Odense Carl Nielsen Hall, Denmarkwith 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