Altos

Elena Gurchenko

In the choir since 2019

Elena Gurchenko graduated from the Department of Music at the Pushkin Leningrad State University and the Music Department of the Faculty of Arts at Smolny Institute of the Russian Academy of Education. She has been the musicAeterna choir artist since 2019. Since 2020 she has performed as a soloist of the vocal ensemble musicAeterna4.

She was born in St. Petersburg. From the age of 6 she studied the domra, but at the age of 7 she transferred to the piano department. As a teenager, she manifested a passion for academic vocal and choral art. Having graduated from music school, she began singing in the Cantus ensemble with a wide repertoire from sacred music to jazz.

She gained tremendous experience in choral and solo performance in 2004–2014, working in the Studium Youth Choir under the direction of Irina Semenkova. From 2016 to 2019 she performed as a member of the State Chamber Choir “Petersburg Serenades”.

Since 2006, he has been practising academic solo vocals: “My teachers were the soloists of the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theatres, wonderful singers and wonderful people who shared their experience and a perfect training with me, and I am very grateful to them for the unforgettable moments of creative revelation and self-belief.”

HOW DID YOU START YOUR MUSIC LESSONS?

My parents gave me the opportunity to study domra. At the age of 6, there could be no conscious desire to play this instrument in particular, but I remember that I truly enjoyed it. I had an excellent teacher, and some success (along with permanently bandaged fingers) followed. But a little later, my mother insisted that the piano become my main instrument, and I had to say goodbye to domra.

WHAT DO YOU DO BESIDES MUSIC?

I've always had a natural aptitude for languages for as long as I can remember. Even if I didn't understand the language when I was very young, I really enjoyed pretending that I was fluent in it, constantly singing songs in English, imitating it. Travelling and touring with musical ensembles gave me the opportunity to communicate a lot with foreigners and develop my skills in French, German and English. In addition, I have a higher philological education, and I know the laws of linguistics first-hand. The accumulated knowledge helps me a lot as a musician, because we sing music in different languages, including their archaic forms.

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE MUSICAETERNA VOX ENSEMBLE IN WHICH YOU SING?

It warms my heart when the sound of our ensemble inspires composers to create music. At the same time, it is a great responsibility: to correctly interpret the author's idea and convey it to the listener. When you realize that a line was written specifically for your voice, a special connection arises inside: as if your voice was originally intrinsic to this music. Each part is a thread in the fabric that we weave together with other singers. This is how intricate patterns appear following the composer's clear plan. The interweaving of these invisible threads gives rise to an unusual magical feeling of unity and beauty, which is why we are grateful to the composers for the trust and honour of performing their works.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE FILMS?

There are many films that have left a strong impression on me. Among the most striking that I have recently seen there are the Dance of Reality by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Tangerines by Zaza Urushadze, the Dust of Time by Theodoros Angelopoulos.

WHICH CONCERT HALL DO YOU DREAM OF PERFORMING IN?

I have a dream to sing with an ensemble in a cave or a grotto, something like the Waterfall Hall in Spanish Nerja or the Hungarian Baradla cave.

musicAeterna choir events

June 1, 21:00

St. Petersburg | Hermitage Museum

The musicAeterna Orchestra and Choir. Ars Vivendi

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764)
The thunderstorm scene from Act II of the opera-ballet Platée ou Junon jalouse (1745)
Act IV, Scene 4: Entry of the muse Polyhymnia from the lyrical tragedy Abaris ou les Boreades (1763)
Tambourines I, II from the prologue to the lyrical tragedy Dardanus (1739)

Antonio Lotti (1667–1740)
Crucifixus a 8 voci from Credo in F Major (before 1717)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Concerto for Cello and Strings in C Minor, RV 401 (late 1720s)

Allegro non molto
Adagio
Allegro ma non molto

The soloist Rabbani Aldangor

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Ombra mai fu (There was never a shadow), aria of Xerxes from Act I of the opera Xerxes, HWV 40 (1738)
The soloist Andrey Nemzer, countertenor
Furie terribili! (Terrible Furies!), aria of Armida from Act I of the opera Rinaldo, HWV 7a (1711/1731)
The soloist Elizaveta Sveshnikova, soprano
Piangerò la sorte mia (I will mourn my fate), aria of Cleopatra from Act III of the opera Julius Caesar, HWV 17, (1724)
The soloist Elizaveta Sveshnikova, soprano
Venti, turbini (Winds, whirlwinds), aria of Rinaldo from Act I of the opera Rinaldo, HWV 7a (1711/1731)
The soloist Andrey Nemzer, countertenor

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Komm, Jesu, komm (Come, Jesus, come), motet for double choir in G minor, BWV 229 (before 1731–1732)
Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden (Praise the Lord, all ye nations), motet for four-voice choir, dubbing instruments and basso continuo in C major, BWV 230 (n.d.)
Erbarme dich, mein Gott (Have mercy, my God), aria of the alto No. 39 (47) from the sacred oratorio St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (1727–1729/1736)
Soloists:
Andrey Nemzer, countertenor
Vladislav Pesin, violin

George Frideric Handel
Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa (Leave the thorn, pluck the rose), aria of Pleasure from Act II of the oratorio The Triumph of Time and Disillusion, HWV 46a (1707)
Soloists:
Elizaveta Sveshnikova, soprano
Andrey Nemzer, countertenor

Jean-Philippe Rameau
Les Sauvages/Forêts paisibles (The Savages/Peaceful Forests) from Act IV of the opera-ballet The Gallant Indies, (1725/1736)

Duration: 60 minutes

Buy Ticket

June 2, 19:00