Tenors

Nikolay Basov

In the choir since 2019

Nikolai Basov was born on August 27, 1985 in Weimar, East Germany. He graduated with honours from the Sveshnikov College and the Popov Choral Arts Academy with a specialty in choir conducting. While studying at the Sveshnikov College, he also finished Children’s music school №18 where he studied saxophone. He spent about 3 years learning Irish dancing (ballet and step dancing). As a student, Nikolai also worked as a performer and assistant chorus master at the “Drama Art School” theatre directed by A. Vasiliev. Following his graduation from the Academy, Nikolai became a member of the Big Academic Choir.

Nikolai Basov is a regular performer at the “December Nights” and “Comeback” music festivals. As a soloist, he has performed with the “Intrada” and “Questa musica” vocal ensembles (directed by Ekaterina Antonenko and Philipp Chizhevsky, respectively) for 9 years.

For the past 6 years, Nikolai has been interested in modern avant garde and experimental music. He is one of the regular performers in the “Drillalians” opera series (composers: Kurliandsky, Syumak, Nevsky, Sysoev, Filanovsky, Rannev) which premiered at the “Stanislavsky Electric Theatre” during the 2014-2015 season.

In 2014–2018, Nikolai Basov studied vocal performance under Honoured Artist of Russia, Fyodor Mikhailovich Anikeev. In 2018, Nikolai made his solo debut along with Vladimir Yurovski at the “Another Space” festival: they presented the premiere of Boris Filanovsky’s oratorio for soloists, extended violin, accordion, choir and orchestra at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. In January 2019, Nikolai Basov performed Father’s part in the “Nutcracker in Zaryadye” ballet/opera/fairy-tale set to Tchaikovsky’s music (producers: Pavel Kaplevich and Yulia Morozova; director: Nina Tchusova; visual artist: Andrey Bartenev; conductor: Philipp Chizhevsky).

Since autumn 2019, Nikolai Basov has been a member of the musicAeterna choir.

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE WORLD OF MUSIC?

Strangely enough, my disease did. As a child, I suffered from chronic bronchitis, and the doctor suggested that my parents should take me to singing classes as a preventive measure. The Sveshnikov music college, one of the country’s best music schools, happened to be close to our home. I got accepted and gradually fell in love both with music and with studying it.

CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING ANYTHING ELSE BUT A MUSICIAN?

Why not? I’ve always been pretty good at exact sciences. I’m also quite pedantic, so I’d probably make a decent lawyer or IT specialist. The thing is, I can’t imagine working an 8-to-6 office job. I’m more inclined to create: it brings out something else in me.

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHEN YOU GO UP ON STAGE?

I enjoy the music, the performance, and the audience’s reaction. Those powerful emotions give me an energy boost in my everyday life.

HOW DO YOU RECOVER AFTER LARGE PROJECTS?

Physically, the only way to give my voice a break is to keep silent for a while. As for emotional burnout, it rarely happens to me. On the contrary, after a concert I often feel so inspired and supercharged that I could sing another one right away.

WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?

Aside from academic music and children’s songs (which I listen to with my daughters), I enjoy ethnic, New Age and neoclassical music — one that exudes quality and professionalism. I also like Irish folk tunes. When I first learned of Irish dances, I got so enchanted that I found a studio in Moscow and practiced dancing there for 3 years. Then I heard the Irish bagpipes. Their sound is milder and more melodic than that of their Scottish sibling. As a student, I had to save up for a while before I could order one from a luthier. Then I waited for a year before it was ready and finally got to spend some time learning to play it.

GIVEN A CHANCE, WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO MASTER IN YOUR LIFE?

Eastern practices sound intriguing to me. I’ve always been drawn to the East and even practiced Eastern martial arts for a while. I’m now interested in Indian culture and philosophic practices concerning the cognition of myself, my loved ones, and the world around me.

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?

I dream of travelling more and getting to see faraway lands. Exploring the world is another way of self-development.

musicAeterna choir events

October 11, 19:00

Moscow | Zaryadye Hall

Hændel. A Dedication Ceremony to George Frideric Handel

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685–1759)

Prelude

Augelletti, ruscelletti, the aria of Maria Kleopova from the oratorio La resurrezione, HWV 47 (1708)

Zadok the Priest, Coronation Anthem No. 1, HWV 258 (1727)

Disserratevi, o porte d’Averno, the aria of Angel from the oratorio La resurrezione, HWV 47 (1708)

Ah! Crudel nel pianto mio, the aria of Armida from the opera Rinaldo, HWV 78 (1711)

Overture to the opera Agrippina, HWV 6 (1709–1710)

As with Rosy Steps the Morn, the aria of Irina from the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

De torrente in via bibet, duet with chorus from the psalm Dixit Dominus, HWV 232 (1707)

Oh, Let the Merry Bells Ring Round, aria with chorus from the oratorio L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, HWV 55 (1740)

Pena tiranna, the aria of Dardano from the opera Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11 (1715)

Eternal Source of Light Divine, fragment from the cantata Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV 74 (1713)

Alla Hornpipe, No. 2 from the orchestral suite
The Water Music No. 2 in D Major, HWV 349 (1716–1717)

He Saw the Lovely Youth, chorus from the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

Piangerò la sorte mia, the aria of Cleopatra from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (1724)

Ah! Stigie larve — Vaghe pupille, the recitative and aria of Orlando from the opera Orlando, HWV 31 (1733)

O Love Divine, thou Source of Fame, chorus from the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

Sing Ye to the Lord, chorus with solo soprano from the oratorio Israel in Egypt, HWV 54 (1739)

Performers:

artists of the Anton Rubinstein Academy
Tatiana Bikmukhametova, soprano
Yulia Vakula, mezzo-soprano
Ksenia Dorodova, soprano
Diana Nosyreva, soprano
Iveta Simonyan, soprano
Sofia Tsygankova, soprano
Andrey Nemzer, countertenor, soloist and vocal coach of the Anton Rubinstein Academy
musicAeterna Choir and Orchestra
musicAeterna Dance troupe

Music Director and Conductor Teodor Currentzis
Stage Director Elizaveta Moroz
Choirmaster Vitaly Polonsky
Assistant Conductor Evgeny Vorobyov
Production Designer, Costume Designer Sergey Illarionov
Choreographer Valentina Lutsenko

Buy Ticket

October 15, 20:30

Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki Concert Hall