“I’m stuck in Italy: I can’t travel like a real artist anymore. So I have started to re-qualify for a secretarial job.” This is what Marfa, a former opera singer from Russia, says about her current employment situation. Having completed music school courses first in Russia and then in Italy, she was dreaming of becoming an international opera star before the pandemic struck. At the age of 30, she is now unable to secure work in opera houses outside Europe due to travel restrictions, and vaccine and quarantine requirements. Without the ability to travel, she says, her operatic career has been “just buried alive”.
Her story is not unique. She is one of many aspiring opera singers from the former Soviet bloc who dream of becoming well-off, well-networked, multilingual global stars. But since the pandemic, such dreams have become hard to fulfill. As Marfa explains, “It’s very important for an aspiring artist who wants to be internationally mobile and famous to be very proactive and to move easily, to plan each role and each performance in a specific country in advance.”
Many artists from the former Soviet bloc seek education or employment abroad. The iconic Russian soprano Anna Netrebko inspired others to try to find work in prestigious global theatres, or attend vocal concourses and masterclasses, across the globe. Her rise from small-town girl to diva with international fame and roles in world-leading opera houses encouraged young post-Soviet people to believe that an international opera career was a realistic possibility.
