My voice decides what's good for me
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/feb/14/classicalmusicandopera1
First she was forced to sing mezzo roles. Then she was
invited to be president of Lithuania.
Violeta Urmana tells Tim Ashley why she prefers life as a soprano
In the early months of 2004, the soprano Violeta Urmana was
asked to stand as a presidential candidate in her native Lithuania.
"The day they asked, I laughed so much," she says, dissolving into a
fit of giggles in her dressing room backstage at the Royal Opera House.
"It was in a period when we had some problems." The Lithuanian
government was in the process of impeaching President Rolandas Paksas following
allegations of links to organised crime. "I said, 'Are you kidding? I
don't belong to a party, either social democrat or liberal.' 'Oh, that's
better,' they said. 'But what about my singing?' 'You can sing, probably one or
two times a year.' My husband couldn't sleep at night - he thought I shouldn't
do it - but just for one day, I was thinking, 'Oh, for Lithuania, maybe I should.'"
Violeta Urmana Eboli aria " O don fatale! " LNOBT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm9u2zdeJ4w
Violeta Urmana sings Eboli aria " O don fatale! "
from Giuseppe Verdi opera " Don Carlos" IV act in Lithuanian National
Opera and Ballet Theatre