PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
-Tercet Soave sia il vento / May the wind be gentle – from the opera Così fan tutte
-Susanna’s recitative and aria Giunse alfin il momento… Deh vieni non tardar / At last the moment has come… Oh come, do not delay – from the opera Le nozze di Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
-Isabella’s aria Cruda sorte / Cruel fate – from the opera L’italiana in Algeri / The Italian Girl in Algiers
-Don Basilio’s aria La calunnia / Slander – from the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia / The Barber of Seville

Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880)
Barcarolle Belle nuit / Beautiful night – from the opera Les contes d’Hoffmann / The Tales of Hoffmann

Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
-Azucena’s aria Stride la vampa / The flames are blazing – from the opera Il trovatore / The Troubadour
-Attila’s aria Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima / When my soul swells with feeling – from the opera Attila

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904)
Rusalka’s aria Měsíčku na nebi / Song to the Moon – from the opera Rusalka

Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
-Carmen’s Habanera
-Carmen and Toreador duet
-Toreador’s aria Votre toast / Your salute
from the opera Carmen

Jules Massenet (1842–1912)
Salome’s aria Celui dont la parole… Il est doux / He whose word… is gentle – from the opera Hérodiade

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Dalila’s aria Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix / My heart opens to your voice – from the opera Samson et Dalila / Samson and Delilah

Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
Wolfram’s song Wie Todesahnung… O, du mein Abendstern / As death’s foreboding… O, my evening star – from the opera Tannhäuser

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Zerlina and Don Giovanni duet Là ci darem la mano / There we’ll join hands – from the opera Don Giovanni

KRISTINA VÄHI has been recognized as a soloist in opera, operetta, and musicals. She graduated from the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School (under M. Jõgeva) and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in opera singing (under R. Airenne, Prof. T. Novitšenko). Vähi has furthered her studies at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and attended numerous masterclasses (E. Märtson, G. Kahry, C. Deutekom, R. Piernay, I. Kremling, J. Beckman, M. Pelo, M. Hauswalter). She won the 1st prize at the Klaudia Taevi International Competition for Young Singers (1996). From 2006–2013, Vähi was a soloist at the Estonian National Opera (RO Estonia). She has also sung in productions at the Vanemuine Theatre, EAMT Opera Studio, and Saaremaa Opera Days, and has been invited to various festivals and musicals organized by Smithbridge Productions and the Vanemuine Theatre. Since 1997 she has been a soloist with the creative ensemble Operetta Scretta. Her roles include Adina (Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore), Baroness (Lortzing’s Der Wildschütz), Ännchen (Weber’s Der Freischütz), Oscar (Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera), and in Mozart’s operas Zerlina, First Lady, and Despina (Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Così fan tutte); from Menotti’s operas Lucy, Monica, and Miss Pinkerton (The Telephone, The Medium, The Old Maid and the Thief); Rossini’s Fanny and Clorinda (The Marriage Contract, Cinderella); Nedda (Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci), Ninetta (Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges), Luise (Aints’ Rehepapp), Adele and Gagliari (Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Wiener Blut), Lisa and Stasi (Kálmán’s Countess Maritza, Silva), Damon (Handel’s Acis and Galatea), Maria (Leigh’s Man of La Mancha), Soulgirl and Carlotta (Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera), and many others. Currently, she works as a freelance opera soloist. Kristina Vähi is a scholar of the PLMF Music Foundation.

ANNALIISA PILLAK is an outstanding Estonian mezzo-soprano who began her vocal studies at the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School under Ludmilla Dombrovska-Keis and continued at the Sibelius Academy, graduating in 2006 under Annika Ollinkari. She has pursued further studies at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan (with S. Turchetta, S. Dozi, 2005) and with Renate Behle in Hamburg, and participated in many masterclasses. Pillak made her debut at the Estonian National Opera as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito (2006). Her stage roles include Cinderella (Rossini’s La Cenerentola), Second Diplomat (Tüür’s Wallenberg), Rinaldo (Handel’s Rinaldo), Nicklausse/Muse (Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann), Larina and Olga (Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin), Kristi (Tubin’s The Parson of Reigi), Woman (Lill’s Into the Fire), Witch (Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel), Dorabella (Mozart’s Così fan tutte), Cherubino (Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro), Second Lady (Mozart’s The Magic Flute), Dryad (R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos), Lisetta (Haydn’s The World on the Moon), Juula (Varres’s The Old Devil from Põrgupõhja), Public Opinion (Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld), Pierotto (Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix), Tolomeo (Handel’s Julius Caesar), and Berta (Rossini’s Let’s Play The Barber of Seville). Pillak is also a renowned lieder singer and has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras. Her sacred repertoire is extensive. In 2012, she premiered the title role in Paavo Piik’s experimental concert performance Diva, which has since been performed over 90 times at various theatre and music festivals. Annaliisa Pillak is a scholar of the PLMF Music Foundation.

PAVLO BALAKIN is one of the most capable operatic basses of his generation. He graduated from Donetsk Music Academy as a jazz saxophonist and later studied opera singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Prof. M. Palm), supplementing his training with distinguished mentors such as R. Barker, R. Ferrari, K. Vavolo, K. Okerlund, and J. Goldberg. From 2002–2008, Balakin sang in the Ukrainian National Opera Chorus, joining the Estonian National Opera in 2008 as a chorister and becoming a soloist in 2013. In 2016, he made his international debut in Italy, singing the title role in Verdi’s Attila at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, later performing Dottore Grenvil in Verdi’s La Traviata at Opera di Firenze. In 2017, he reprised Attila and sang Hermann (Wagner’s Tannhäuser) at Teatro La Fenice, Ramfis (Verdi’s Aida), the Police Chief (Hindemith’s Cardillac) at the Estonian National Opera, and Dulcamara (Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore) at the Danish National Opera. In 2018, he appeared as Daland (Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman) at the Lithuanian National Opera and as Dulcamara in Lviv. His repertoire includes Commendatore (Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Latvian National Opera), Méphistophélès (Gounod’s Faust), Walter (Verdi’s Luisa Miller, Latvian National Opera), Don Pasquale (Donizetti’s Don Pasquale), Don Magnifico (Rossini’s Cinderella, Latvian National Opera), Malyuta (Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride), Angelotti (Puccini’s Tosca), Enrico (Donizetti’s Anna Bolena), Ptolemaios (Handel’s Julius Caesar), Surin (Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades), Boris and Pimen (Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov), Salieri (Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, concert performance), and many Verdi roles including Zaccaria (Nabucco), Marquis d’Orbigny (La Traviata), Count Ceprano (Rigoletto), and Count Horn (Un ballo in maschera). His concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, S. Gubaidulina’s On Love and Hatred, J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion, Verdi and Mozart Requiems, Strauss’s Deutsche Motette, and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle. Balakin has collaborated with esteemed conductors including D. Oren, R. Frizza, O. M. Wellber, F. M. Carminati, E. Klas, A. Mustonen, V. Pähn, A. Volmer, and prominent directors such as D. Bertman, D. Slater, D. Abbado, C. Bieito, G. Rootering, P. Recinella, V. Kiljunen, A. Zagars, and T. Kratzer. In 2013, Balakin received the Estonian Theatre’s “Crystal Shoe” award for his portrayal of Mephisto in Faust, and in 2021, the Estonian Theatre Music Award for the title role in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. In 2021–2022, he was a soloist at the Latvian National Opera. In 2023, he appeared as King Heinrich in Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Estonian National Opera. Pavlo Balakin is a scholar of the PLMF Music Foundation.

PIIA PAEMURRU is one of Estonia’s most esteemed accompanists, especially for opera singers such as V. Noreika, J. Ryhänen, M. Voites, M. Palm, P. Lill, A. Saal, R. Soom, P. Volmer, H. Lokuta, A. Mikk, K. Vähi, O. Kuusik, M. Listra, K. Puis, P. Jonas, D. Savinova, M. Veretenina, A. Pillak, T. Dede, K. Jürgens, S. Laagus, A. Soode, A. Karp, S. Breede, T. Nugis, R. Raalik, P. Balakin, R. Kull, R. Tamm, and many others. Her concert activity has also brought her together with distinguished instrumentalists such as P. Paemurru, M. Tampere-Bezrodny, A. Lend, A. Tammesalu, and V. Veldi. Paemurru graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory’s master’s program under Prof. Laine Mets (1999) and has been working as a vocal accompanist at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre since 1986. She has participated as a répétiteur in numerous Bavarian Opera Academy masterclasses and auditions in Germany. Paemurru has received multiple special prizes for best accompanist at vocal competitions, including five times at the Klaudia Taevi International Competition. Since 2016, she has also worked as a répétiteur at the Vanemuine Theatre. Piia Paemurru is a scholar of the PLMF Music Foundation.