Every time I go on stage to sing our anthem, I feel a sense of deep pain at the suffering that my people are experiencing now, many without access to humanitarian aid. Kseniia, speaking of her performance, said: ‘It was a real pleasure to perform at the Oliver Awards 2022. My hometown Kherson was one of the first major Ukrainian cities to be occupied by Russian troops, and so many of my relatives and friends remain there today. The event, held at the Royal Albert Hall, saw performances from all five Best New Musical Nominees – including Frozen, Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical and Moulin Rouge! The Musical – and included the Ukrainian National Anthem, sung on stage by mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva, one of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Artists, as a gesture of solidarity with her home country. Yesterday, on Sunday 10 April, the Royal Opera House was delighted to accept three Oliver Awards. But a family nonetheless.ROH celebrates 3 wins, and Jette Parker Artist Kseniia Nikolaieva performs the Ukrainian National Anthem Best New Opera Production – Claus Guth’s Jenůfa Best Family Show – Wolf Witch Giant Fairy Outstanding Achievement in Opera – Peter Whelan and Irish Baroque Orchestra for Bajazet At the close of Act II, the Kostelnicka has Laca, Jenufa, and herself lock hands in a desperate gesture of solidarity. And then there is the almost unbearable intensity of Jorma Silvasti's Laca, whose passion for Jenufa I have never heard conveyed more forcefully or meaningfully. Hers is the sound of hope as surely as Silja's is the sound of torment. And she is wonderful at identifying and holding those still, visionary moments, reserving her most glacial sound for them. Her big notes, her big phrases – and, my goodness, they are big – carry her heartache and hope in equal measure. That drama is, of course, fully centred on Karita Mattila's radiant and thrilling Jenufa. A small moment with huge implications for the unfolding drama. The moment in Act II where the Kostelnicka for once defies her inner voices and locks Jenufa in a natural mother's embrace is simply overwhelming. The relationship between her and her stepdaughter, finding their love for each other in the perversity of their circumstance, is Tambosi's finest achievement here. That he makes such an exhibition of himself – and Tambosi really lays it on here – lends greater credibility to Jenufa's stepmother, the Kostelnicka, a role now owned body and soul by Anja Silja. The scene of his arrival is key because it shows him for what he is: a boorish, selfish, opportunist drunk. He sets up beautifully the character of Jenufa's betrothed Steva, played here with great energy by a rather too old Jerry Hadley (the one questionable piece of casting).
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