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The story of how a young Australian surfer transformed into an opera tenor with a great future is already worth writing about. Andrew Goodwin, who plays the role of Lenskiy in ‘Evgeniy Onegin’ at the Bolshoy Theatre, found in Russia what he felt Fate had always been preparing him for.
Andrew is already yearning for Russia: “Evgeniy Onegin” is performed only a few times per season at the Bolshoy Theatre, but he has been invited over for other projects by some of his composer friends. He is performing in 17 operas at Opera House in Australia. Clearly the ‘elements’ of opera and the ocean complement one another very well. Goodwin’s first agent turned out to be one of the biggest concert promoters in the world of classical music, and Andrew is booked out until the end of 2009.
DE I: What do you think of the character of Lenskiy?
A.G.: I feel sorry for him of course. He’s very vulnerable. From his very first entrance on stage, everyone starts laughing at him. He’s under stress the whole time. A loser. Sad.
DE I: When the director Chernyakov publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with you, what was your reaction?
A.G.: There were moments when I wanted to slap him across the face, but I managed to stop myself.
DE I: Have you been in any situations where you’ve considered challenging someone to a duel?
A.G.: Nearly, but I’m very diplomatic.
DE I: Let’s forget about diplomacy for a second. Who, in your opinion, is worthy of punishment?
A.G.: Someone who steals from you.
DE I: Are there any well known singers you would like to be compared to?
A.G.: Fritz Vunderlich. Our voices have a lot in common. He sang Mozart, and that is exactly what I want to do. Sadly he died when he was 36.
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© DE I / DESILLUSIONIST ¹-1. "Andrew Goodwin. Surfing Russian Opera"
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