Desdemona
Othello - Denis O'Neil; Desdemona - Elena Prokina
''Best of all was Elena Prokina, the Russian actress turned singer who on her debut at Covent Garden took the place by storm with a captivating portrayal of Katya Kabanova just a little under a year ago.
As Desdemona she is fragile, indoor girl whose skilfully controlled voice and convincing acting style deftly express the whole range of complicated emotions which Verdi surely intended his punters to feel.'
Alexander Waugh, Evening Standard, 16/01/95
'Elena Prokina's cool, precise and lovely Desdemona[ ] strong diction, musical shapes properly phrased and consonants out front[ ] Prokina sings gorgeously...'
Tom Sutcliffe, The Guardian, 17/01/95
As Desdemona she is fragile, indoor girl whose skilfully controlled voice and convincing acting style deftly express the whole range of complicated emotions which Verdi surely intended his punters to feel.'
Alexander Waugh, Evening Standard, 16/01/95
'Elena Prokina's cool, precise and lovely Desdemona[ ] strong diction, musical shapes properly phrased and consonants out front[ ] Prokina sings gorgeously...'
Tom Sutcliffe, The Guardian, 17/01/95
London, 1995, Royal Opera House
'Elena Prokina singing Desdemona here for the first time, seemingly plays her as a woman too bright to be able even to conceive of any rational explanation for her husband's behaviour. This made her helpless terror in a last act all the more affecting. The Willow Song, every line of which was thought, has never (for me) made greater effect. She sung with secure, silvery tone throughout, matching O'Neil's pianissimos in the first act to stirring effect...'
Rodney Milnes. The Times, 17/01/95'
The soprano is Elena Prokina, the young Russian whose star shot to fame last year in Kabanova at Covent Garden and Eugene Onegin in Glyndebourne. Those roles showed how well she could portray youth and goodness and as Desdemona, she does so again with no less poise. The quiet singing is purify itself...'
Richard Fairman, Financial Times, 18/01/95
Rodney Milnes. The Times, 17/01/95'
The soprano is Elena Prokina, the young Russian whose star shot to fame last year in Kabanova at Covent Garden and Eugene Onegin in Glyndebourne. Those roles showed how well she could portray youth and goodness and as Desdemona, she does so again with no less poise. The quiet singing is purify itself...'
Richard Fairman, Financial Times, 18/01/95
'... lifted by the simply wonderful Desdemona of Elena Prokina. I have never heard Salce and the Ave Maria sung with more beauty of tone, every note poised and perfectly pitched, every inflection true and telling. In her public humiliation by Othello in Act III, she stood shock-still, with a colour draining from her face and uncomprehending horror in her eyes. I don't know how she did it, but it was marvelous to hear and see.'
Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph, 22/01/95
'There is much, too, to admire in Prokina's doting Desdemona, especially the deep throb of remorse in Act I at the thought that she might have offended her lord[ ] The Willow song drew an exquisite performance from both soprano and conductor.'
John Higgins, The Times, 24/01/1995
Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph, 22/01/95
'There is much, too, to admire in Prokina's doting Desdemona, especially the deep throb of remorse in Act I at the thought that she might have offended her lord[ ] The Willow song drew an exquisite performance from both soprano and conductor.'
John Higgins, The Times, 24/01/1995
Othello, Opera Australia, 2003
'...Elena Prokina created an ideal foil for this in simple human qualities of her Desdemona. Her voice has natural sweetness and she sung the Willow song of act IV with lonely, veiled, moonlit colours of touching quietness. [ ] Her vocal and dramatic characterization came into its own with imposing stature and trilling power in the act III duet'
Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning herald', August 4-th 2003
A MODERN MOOR WITH EXTRA MUSCLE'
In the scenario Desdemona is little more than a chess piece, something that paradoxically makes the ravishing Elena Prokina even more moving. She doesn't even have her own space, so the bedroom scene is played out in a desolate hotel foyer.
Prokina's silvery soprano hushed the house on Sunday night. The inveterate coughers were silenced for a magical quoter hour and the entire house gripped for the length of the opera.'
Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning herald', August 4-th 2003
A MODERN MOOR WITH EXTRA MUSCLE'
In the scenario Desdemona is little more than a chess piece, something that paradoxically makes the ravishing Elena Prokina even more moving. She doesn't even have her own space, so the bedroom scene is played out in a desolate hotel foyer.
Prokina's silvery soprano hushed the house on Sunday night. The inveterate coughers were silenced for a magical quoter hour and the entire house gripped for the length of the opera.'