Introducing: Vladyslav Buialskyi

Ukranian baritone, Vladyslav Buialskyi, makes his Sarasota Opera debut as Count Walter in Verdi's Luisa Miller.

Photo:VereMusicFund(left)RodMillington(right)

Introducing: Vladyslav Buialskyi

Interviewed by Marina Harss

This season, Sarasota presents Giuseppe Verdi’s Luisa Miller, an opera based on a drama by the 18th century German poet and playwright Friedrich von Schiller. As in so many operas, Luisa Miller’s plot hinges on a love triangle gone bad. One of the characters is a malicious count, Count Walter, who killed his cousin in order to secure his title. The role will be sung by the young Ukrainian baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi, only 26, who recently finished a stint in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. During his time there he made his début on the Met stage, in Verdi’s Don Carlo, and he has since sung Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Opéra de Lille. Buialskyi was born in Berdyansk, a city on the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine. He trained in the state conservatory in Kyiv. This will be his first appearance with Sarasota Opera.

We spoke recently before a rehearsal.

How did you discover that you had a good voice?

Even when I was little when I would watch TV with my grandma I would sit in my little chair and start to sing along. Then I started singing in a chorus and learning some solo music. But I liked all kinds of music, not necessarily opera. I think I started to realize I liked opera, and that that was the right path for me, when I was about 17.

What did you do then?

When I was in my last year of high school, I had a conversation with a close family friend, a man who I think of as my uncle. His wife is a mezzo soprano at the Kyiv Opera House. And his sister was my teacher in chorus classes at school. He told me that I had talent, and that I should go to conservatory, and that he would help me. I was still 17, so when I auditioned, the conservatory said I was too young, so I went to the music college for two years, and after that I went to conservatory. After taking part in the Moniuszko Competition in Warsaw, I got the call from the Lindemann program.

How did you find out you had gotten into the Lindemann program?

I was so shocked because one day, when I was at the conservatory standing around with my friends, I got a message from Sophie Joyce, who was the director of the program at the time. She said they wanted to hear me. The idea of going to America was a bit scary for me to be honest because at the time I had only traveled outside of Ukraine three times, to Zurich, to the Moniuszko Competition in Poland, and to Azerbaijan. America is so far away, so far from my home, and I am a person who gets homesick. I really miss home, especially nowadays. But it helped that there was another Ukrainian singer there as well, Valentina Pluzhnikova. She helped me so much with day-to-day things. And also Meredith LaBouff, the assistant director. You can’t even imagine how many stupid questions I asked, and I’m grateful for their help and patience

Who are your operatic heroes?

Muslim Mahomayev, from Azerbaijan, was a huge star in Soviet times. I love him so much. Mytransition from pop to classical music started because of him. My mother encouraged me to listen to him. I loved his voice, his technique. He sang everywhere, at all the big events in the Soviet Union. He was even a guest at La Scala. And he was a baritone. Then, once I started to get into opera, I fell in love with Nicolai Ghiaurov, Cesare Siepi, Samuel Ramey. As well as a Ukrainian singer, not so famous, Boris Hmyria.

This season, you’re singing Conte di Walter in Verdi’s Luisa Miller. How do you like the role? Isn't this your first big Verdi role?

Yes. Verdi is a challenge. I'm really grateful that this role has helped me to find a stable way of healthy singing. I want to find a balanced and really natural way to portray the character. This is my first bad guy, and my second big role, after Leporello in Don Giovanni at Opéra de Lille last fall.

How has it been working with Maestro DeRenzi?

I’m really enjoying it…he knows so much, and he really knows what he wants. He’s a Verdi specialist. And I find that most of the time, the things he asks for, I had instinctually felt I wanted to do the same thing. So it makes sense.

What's next for you after Sarasota?

I have a Beethoven Ninth concert in Pittsburgh. Then I have Benvenuto Cellini in Dresden.

What was your Met début, in Don Carlo, like?

I sang one of the Flemish deputies. It’s an unbelievably huge stage, singing with unbelievably talented people, from the pianists to the orchestra and of course the conductors and singers and stage managers and crew. But it was tough, to be honest. I had a combination of different feelings. Because just four days earlier, the Russian invasion of Ukraine had started. I was up almost all night every night, watching the news.

How is your family?

My mom is in my hometown, Berdyansk, one hour from Mariupol. And my father is in another city nearby, Melitopol. That entire territory is now under Russia control. The situation is unstable. I remember my mom called me on the day of the invasion, at around five in the morning. She called me and said there were explosions. I told her, don’t worry, I’m sure they’re not really explosions. And then I heard the explosions over the phone line. It was horrible. I was so grateful to the Met because they helped and supported me and my family a lot, especially Peter Gelb, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Melissa Wegner, and many more people than I can name. I will always be incredibly grateful for that.