By Olga Fyodorova
August 14, 1974. A small public garden in front of the Bolshoi in Moscow...
“What’s going on? It’s sweltering summer, the season is long over but there
is a crowd of people with bouquets of flowers in hand thronging the theater’s
main entrance…”
“Today’s Maria Maksakova’s funeral, a legendary singer she was…”
“Maria Maksakova? The name rings a bell… Guess she had a wonderful
voice, right?”
“Not exactly… She was not the very best they had there at the Bolshoi…
She was an inimitable actress though… If you saw her once on stage you
would never forget her. Her Carmen is still fresh on my mind! There was
a mischievous barefooted Gypsy girl running out on stage. Just the way
a young tobacco factory girl should look like, stuffing cigars, hanging
out with smugglers and driving young men crazy with love… The following
day she was already Marina Mnisek, the ambitious Polish adventuress out
to ascend the Russian throne… Looking at her you understood that with a
woman like her, a runaway monk could easily become a Prince. I still
remember their duet in Boris Godunov…”
Maria Maksakova was a real heartthrob, with that kind of Slavic beauty
which is so charming without being incinerating… A perfect face with chiseled
features and shining eyes. She was so gentle, warm and vulnerable,
always smiling and her laughter so contagious… Small wonder she was everybody’s
darling…
Maria was born and spent her child years in Astrakhan, an old merchant
town in southern Russia where the Volga empties into the Caspian Sea.
The family, which lived from hand to mouth, could not afford sending the
girl to a music school, but she compensated the lack of formal education
by singing in a church choir where her high, crystal-clear, voice immediately
caught on with the churchgoers. It was there that she attracted the
attention of Maximilian Maksakov, a respected vocals teacher who started
working with her patiently but very demandingly always coming up with some
funny adage to spur his talented disciple’s occasionally fading interest
making her work at full steam again.
Maria’s progress was absolutely phenomenal and she made the operatic debut
when she was still sweet sixteen – an all-time record in a business where
singers normally hit the stage at the age of 20 or even 25… Her success
was so resounding that, before very long, she was already entrusted major
operatic parts. After a five-year stint in Astrakhan, Maria headed straight
to the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Having no formal musical education, she
feared they would send her away, but the jury unanimously voted to take
her onboard…
Maria was in seventh heaven: “What’s going on? I can’t believe it!”
The next moment she was troubled again: “They will throw me out after the
very first time I sing here…”
They didn’t throw her out and neither did they after the second and
third time. Maria Maksakova spent a whole 30 years singing at the Bolshoi…
From the wealth of the leading part she sang at the Bolshoi, Maria
Maksakova loved most the part of Marfa from the opera Khovanshchina by
Modest Mussorgsky. Marfa epitomized strong spirit, independence, intelligence,
selflessness and love – human traits Maksakova always went for. A
pious nun abandoned by her loved one, Marfa is a strong personality capable
of overcoming her frustration and morally help those seeking refuge in
faith…
Maksakova came out on stage all in black but even so she was breathtakingly
beautiful and gracious, as if floating in the air… Her singing was deep,
filled with magic and changing from scene to scene. Her intonation was
amazingly flexible underscoring her wonderful ability to single out the
right words, and take her time filling the rests with profound meaning
all adding up to a powerful image…
Maria Maksakova was an ultimately Russian singer. Her timbre and
intonation were so genuinely Russian that it was only natural that she
fit so perfectly into the Russian classical format, especially when it
came to portraying strong characters that gave such ample credit to her
unique talent of a dramatic actress.
The Bolshoi’s lead singers loved partnering with Maksakova on stage
because she had that rare ability to feel her partner and latch onto his
state of mind. No matter how important her own part, Maksakova never tried
to be overbearing, like many other operatic divas often tend to do. She
always cared for the whole picture, always ready to take the back seat
to highlight her partner…
Quite interestingly, she never backed off from partnering on stage
with beginner singers, always ready to help out. If the lineup was up to
the mark, however, there was absolutely no stopping her from showcasing
her high class…
The ultimate artist who just could not live without the stage, the
curtains and the audience, Maria Maksakova was never at home in the recording
studio though…
“How come I sing so awfully bad?!” she gasped listening to a recording
she had just made. “What shall I do to get into the groove?” The musicians
kept telling her it was alright and they could now move on, but Maksakova
implored them to make another cut which she didn’t like either…
Unfortunately, she left behind just a handful of recordings all failing
to give justice to her inimitable singing… She was equally good singing
in operas and in concert, her inborn artistry helping her infuse even the
tiniest part with that very special atmosphere that was all her own… Two
or three minutes was all she needed to bring out the inner meaning of what
she sang…
Idolized by her listeners and always surrounded by courting fans,
the beautiful and friendly Maksakova rarely left theater without heaps
of flowers showered on her by admirers. There was always some relative
staying at her place and friends never missed a welcome chance to enjoy
her big-hearted hospitality…
Maksakova was a model mother too spending much time with her daughter,
Lyudmila – a highly driven and talented girl. Sent by her doting mother
to the Conservatory’s prestigious Central Music School in Moscow, she eventually
opted for a different career becoming a brilliant drama actress even though
she often sings on stage and sings pretty well indeed…
Maria Maksakova’s talent lives on in her granddaughter, Maria who
graduated from the singers’ department of the Gnessins Music Academy and
now sings at the Gelikon Opera in Moscow. So far, she looks a far
cry from her great grandmother, but living legends don’t come along every
year, do they?…
|