SOPRANO: "We have healthy competition"

      On the eve of the long‑awaited big anniversary SOPRANO show in Moscow celebrating the group's 15th anniversary, we found out what the secret of their success is, how Mikhail Turetsky managed to assemble and motivate the country’s best voices to sing together, how the soloists manage to balance work and personal life, and what feminine happiness means to them.

      Last year the group turned 15. Tell us how you spent the anniversary year.

      The anniversary year is a special, very intense year! We toured more than 30 cities across Russia.

      The SOPRANO team celebrated its 15th anniversary on stage. We toured with a new anniversary program and new songs. The most memorable concert was on April 5 at the BKZ Oktyabrsky in Saint Petersburg — the audience in the Northern Capital welcomed us very warmly. We are awaiting and preparing for our anniversary concert in Moscow, which will take place on October 24 at the State Kremlin Palace.

      So this concert will conclude the series of festive events? How is preparation going?

      The October 24 concert will be the culmination of our 15th anniversary. Without exaggeration, it will be the musical event of the year, a bright vocal show. Everything the audience loves about us — energy, sincerity, reinterpretation of familiar songs in a new way, and, of course, the positive mood after the concert.

      New songs will be performed at the October 24 concert — there are many of them — as well as favorite pieces we have been singing since the group was formed and that have always been with us. These include “Volga,” “Adagio,” “The Daisies Hid,” and “Rondo in Turkish Style.” We are eagerly awaiting this concert and rehearse every day.

      The anniversary concert at the Kremlin does not end the festive series; we plan to continue touring with this program.

      Fifteen years is a long time for any relationship. If you analyze it, how have you yourselves changed over that time?

      Many of our soloists have been in SOPRANO since day one. They came confident they were already complete, mature artists, but they were very wrong — there was still so much to learn. And that was possible thanks to our masters, the repertoire, and each soloist. In SOPRANO many have mastered different musical genres.

      The group gave each of us invaluable experience. We have traveled the globe; it seems you could count on the fingers of two hands the countries we haven’t yet visited. It’s also the interaction with one another and the exposure gained within the group. Working in SOPRANO has given us so much; we didn’t expect our lives to become so interesting.

      Many joined the group as very young girls, insecure about themselves and their abilities. They had to develop many qualities — stress resistance, communication skills, flexibility, the ability to be part of a team. This is priceless experience. Over the years the girls and I have formed strong friendships; we’ve been through a lot together. For us it’s a joy to be part of a team in which you are surrounded by beautiful, smart, and talented women. We can learn a lot from each other, and we also have healthy competition. When you grow in a strong environment, you develop yourself and help others develop — you rarely get that elsewhere.

      How do you avoid burnout and stay interesting to the audience?

      We don’t understand how you can burn out if you love your profession, what you do. We don’t see SOPRANO as a job. When we go to rehearsals we think we’re about to do what we love. We’ve been singing since childhood, from music school — practically every day of our lives. Probably, to avoid burnout and remain interesting to the audience you must always look for new ideas.

      As life experience teaches, after 35 looks, gorgeous outfits, and makeup no longer work if everything inside is locked up and shuttered. Even the most beautiful women in the world don’t stand out in a crowd without energy. There is one important thing: if the candy under the wrapper is stale, and inside a beautiful house there is ringing loneliness, form ceases to matter without substance.

      There are nine of you — how are roles distributed within the group?

      There is a division by genre — each of the women represents her own niche in music. We are very different — in appearance, vocally, even mentally, although we’ve already adjusted to one another.

      In SOPRANO we are not only vocalists: someone produces, someone helps stylists, someone writes and brings new songs. So these are not so much roles as additional functions we take on.

      The uniqueness of Mikhail Turetsky’s SOPRANO project is that each soloist is individual. Each is responsible for her own style and genre in music. Each of us has a distinct vocal timbre. We don’t have to divide anything: everyone has her own repertoire, character, and energetic message.

      You once said fans give you diamonds. What other gifts have you received?

      We received diamonds and smartphones gifted to each of us, cakes with our images, toys, perfumes, apples, farm‑made sausages — our audiences know how to surprise.

      On stage you present perfect images — tell us who is responsible for your style?

      Our stage images have been curated for all 15 years by Mikhail Borisovich’s wife, Liana Turetskaya. She is a person with impeccable taste and style, who understands fashion and is aware of all the trends. We have a costume designer, Irena Mazmanyan — she knows everything about each of us: what body type, in which clothes we are comfortable. So that on stage we can fully devote ourselves to the performance, open up, and give our energy, all our costumes are thought through down to the smallest detail. All the outfits that are bought or sewn for us are always perfected by Irena.

      Speaking of ordinary life… With such a touring schedule, how do you manage to combine work and personal life?

      It’s difficult to combine. Iveta Rogova has two children, Tatyana Bogdanova has a child — they always miss their mothers terribly and demand attention. And they also have another child — music! Each time you have to steal time from one or the other. Of course, nothing is more precious than children, but you can’t let the group down.

      The hardest part is touring. The longest trip was three to four weeks: first we were in America, then we flew to the Far East. It was not only an unbearable separation from children and loved ones, but also a total disruption of biorhythms — sometimes we didn’t even know who we were or where we were...

      What is feminine happiness for you?

      It’s a formula in which a woman can afford to combine different roles in life. For example, to be fulfilled professionally as an artist, in relationships, in the family, to be a wife and a mother. Of course, balancing all this is not easy, but it is possible.

      Women’s happiness is the feeling of love: when you love and are loved, when there is continuation through children. And fulfillment for a woman is a fundamental feeling of happiness.