On 29 May, the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg will host a gala concert marking the 40th anniversary of the artistic career of the distinguished Georgian singer. I had the opportunity to speak with him shortly before this event.
Paata, you were born in Tbilisi, studied in Milan and Odessa, yet you describe yourself as a representative of the Russian bass school. Why?
Last August, the Lausanne-based publishing house Noir sur Blanc brought out the French translation of Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes, winner of Russia’s Big Book Award.
In my view, Guzel Yakhina’s debut novel has been one of the most remarkable events in Russian literary life in recent years. And not merely because of the official recognition it has received. What matters most is that I do not know a single person who has remained indifferent to it.
In all the photographs, Elisaveta Ilyinichna Leonskaya, whom the French-language press refers to only as a grande dame, is dressed in black, without a smile. I too imagined her as strict, unapproachable, withdrawn. Yet upon meeting her in person, this image dissolved within minutes. The main feature of Leonskaya’s face is her eyes. Large, blue, radiant, drawing one in. Next comes the smile, which hardly ever leaves her face.
One of the guests at the “Zaubersee” music festival, recently held in Lucerne, was, somewhat unexpectedly, the outstanding Russian animator whose Tale of Tales was признана the greatest animated film of all time. His work was the focus of a special programme, “An Evening with Norstein”. I had the rare opportunity to speak with the Master in a relatively calm setting.
Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.
In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.
After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.
Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.
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