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Najmiddin Mavlyanov was born in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), and is currently reprising his role as Radamès as part of Opera Australia. He studied singing and was a soloist at the conservatory and opera of Tashkent, which he finished in 2006. In this interview he talks about some keys to becoming a tenor opera singer, his shift from performing on different continents, and laughs at fond memories from when he was studying opera.
The differences between opera and musicals are: first that opera is without microphones and the space sometimes is very big, which means that the voice is flying in every place of the theatre from the stage to the auditorium, where a lot of people are sitting, and they need to be able to hear, listen and understand. And of course technically it’s different. In musicals usually they sing into microphones, and they can dance and do a lot of acting. Of course in operas there is a lot of acting, during the singing, but it is another style of singing.
Of course in opera and in musicals, breathing is the main thing.
First of all, it is the change in time zone. When I come to another continent, first what I need to do is change my sleeping time to rebuild it in another time zone. Usually it takes about one week, because the climate is also another. And any organism should get used to the new climate. I haven’t had any uncomfortable feelings anywhere.
For me these are only good: sleeping and some sport exercises, sport is very helpful for my voice.
I’ve been in different places and I enjoyed everywhere, because I’m making my favourite work with wonderful musicians and opera companies. I’m always happy when I sing opera.
I think the opera style everywhere is very similar, because it is the opera. Here (in Australia) I’ve found wonderful big screens for the whole stage and I like it so much. This is the first time I’m seeing these screens in an opera house.
Of course when I travel I develop my singing skills and can listen and speak different languages. I always enjoy it when my knowledge in opera is growing.
I won some competitions and later I decided to dedicate my life to learning different operas as much as possible, and of course I worked hard for many years and I continue this so I’ve had my own schedule for learning opera. That’s why I haven’t been in many opera competitions lately. That’s my choice and I am very happy that I made this decision. And one more thing is to prepare, new opera especially takes a lot of time to learn, translate and to sing every note and bar many times, and only after that to bring it to the theatre to prepare for the stage.
Competitions can be useful for beginners. And it’s a good experience for singers to find a job, to show skills, and to present themselves.
But for me it’s much more important to work on the stage with big masters of singing, for me this experience is very useful. And only daily hard work helps me to get good results. Every day for me is a competition, it is the means to make one or several steps towards the aim.
Yes, it’s what I say to myself:
“Never give up.”
We have many opportunities in our lives to present ourselves, and keep training, training, and results will come very soon. Competition is only competition. After competitions is daily hard work.
As I said, in the competition we can present ourselves, and it helped me meet competitions’ conductors, directors, casting directors, and stage directors who are usually present. In my time, when I was very young in Samarkand, I didn’t have the internet, I didn’t know what it was, and step by step, I discovered the internet, but now we have a global internet and everyone can send videos to any place on the planet. The internet is very developed now, and of course it can help people know you.
First of all I repeat the role, ensure I’m eating and sleeping well, and speak as little as possible. Before coming on stage I vocalise, do warm-up exercises, and usually a little sport, such as push-ups.
When I was young, I sang to my opera colleague: “Of My Father” he was in the role of a very old man, but he was actually a bit younger than me in life, so it was very funny, and at the rehearsals we often roared with laughter, of course it was when we started rehearsals, and on the stage when we sang I tried not to watch his eyes, and he the same of course. It was very funny. Now I am remembering and laughing.
I was reading books, repeating my role, doing sport exercises, and watching some movies.
Also by Drew Janine:
Janine has always been a part of music and performing. The first show that inspired her to go into theatre was the Velveteen Rabbit which she saw as a child, and Drew works to keep that magic alive in her work. When Drew was accepted into an internship program for audio engineering at a recording studio, she jumped at the opportunity. That was at the start of 2020, and so much has happened since then, both in her career and in the world. Since then, Drew has taken several opportunities to work at recording studios, concerts, festivals, and even large theatres while spending some time on tour. Drew's favorite by far though, has been the chance to work on Broadways and West End shows, as this was a dream come true. Drew is honoured to get to share these experiences from being inside the entertainment industry.
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