'Wunderkind' Russian tenor will perform Feb. 28

Daniil Shtoda

On Feb. 13, 1977, the Cornell Concert Series presented Luciano Pavarotti at the dawning of his historic career. Russian tenor Daniil Shtoda was born in 1977, and all signs point to a similarly auspicious career for him. And now, 27 years later, Shtoda will be a Cornell Concert Series featured performer in Ithaca.

Shtoda, accompanied at the piano by his mentor Larissa Gergieva, director of the famed Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers in St. Petersburg, will perform Russian romances by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. in the State Theatre in downtown Ithaca.

Described as a "wunderkind," Shtoda has been compared with Nicolai Gedda, Fritz Wunderlich and other noted lyric tenors of the past. Scottish critic Michael Tumelty wrote following Shtoda's Edinburgh Festival debut: "Did anyone have Radio 3 on late yesterday and hear the voice of God? Shtoda is going to be a superstar tenor. Just you watch."

Tickets for the concert -- $14-$23 for adults and $9-$14 for students -- are on sale now at the ticket center at Clinton House, 116 N. Cayuga St. (273-4497 or 1-800-284-8422) and at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office on campus (255-3430). Tickets are also available through this Web site: http://www.ithacaevents.com. Student Rush tickets, for $5, will be on sale Feb. 26 and 27.

Shtoda grew up in a family of musicians. At the age of 4, he began studying the violin, and at 6 years old he entered the chorus institute of the Academic Cappella M.I. Glinka, where he graduated with honors. Following his studies at the Cappella, he joined the Mariinsky Academy, where he is now a soloist. He was a recipient of an honorary degree and special prize at the XI International Tchaikovsky Competition and in October 2000 won the Grand Prix in the Rimsky Korsakov Competition for Young Singers in St. Petersburg.

He made his debut as Lensky in Eugene Onegin and performed the role of Tsar Berendey in The Snow Maiden with the Kirov Opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He also has made his debut at the Royal Opera House singing Beppe in I Pagliacci, conducted by Antonio Pappano and Placido Domingo.

In concert, Shtoda has performed Verdi's Requiem with Valery Gergiev at Covent Garden and at the Canadian Opera and Mozart and Salieri with Vladimir Spivakov at the Chatelet Theatre. He has also performed the Berlioz Requiem with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Mozart Requiem at the Istanbul Festival.

His EMI Classics solo recording received numerous plaudits including the BBC Music Magazine's "Recording of the Month" and the Sunday Times "Recording of the Week."

Gergieva is the artistic director of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers and of the Summer Academy at the Mikkeli International Music Festival. Born in Beltsy, in Moldova, Gergieva is the sister of Valery Gergiev, chief conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

Gergieva has partnered singers in recitals in La Scala, Milan; Santa Caecilia, Rome; the Staatsoper, Berlin; in Hamburg, Leipzig, Dresden, Zwickau, Edinburgh, London, San Francisco and New York; and in Brazil and Australia. Additionally, Larissa Gergieva is in great demand throughout the world as a coach. She has visited San Francisco Opera on numerous occasions for Ruslan and Ljudmila, Fiery Angel and War and Peace and in the summer of 1997 coached the principals in the Salzburg Festival's production of Boris Godunov and La Scala's The Fiery Angel, Khovanshina and the Gambler, Eugene Onegin in Sapporo and Tokyo, and The Enchantress at the Royal Opera House in London.