(…) The most illustrious participant in the XXIV Shalyapin Festival was the baritone from the German Opera on the Rhine, Boris Stetsenko. They say that today the world opera market knows only one Boris: Statsenko. Which is why no-one thinks to inquire as to whom the Italian opera agency Luigi & Boris belongs.

«To myself and famous Italian base Luigi Roni,» confirms Statsenko. «We established it in 2005. Our agency's mission is to acquaint the world's philharmonics with high-class Italian singers. We have already brought soloists of La Scala to my native Chalyabinsk. In order to see the Italian performance culture live, music lovers and opera singers from Perm and Ekaterinburg came to Chelyabinsk for the Italians' performance. You see, the tragedy of many Russian opera singers is that they sing Verdi, Puccini, and Mascani, yet do not possess the style of performance. Acquiring it from recordings is an exercise in futility; one needs to see and hear a live example. I myself noticeably changed my style of performance when while in the West I encountered such leading baritones of the world as Leo Nucci, Renato Bruson…»

«When you performed Nubucco opposite Bruson in 2003, the critics referred to you as the greatest Verdi baritone in Italy.»

«I have to say that that was just as unforgettable as the title of best singer that I received at the Shalyapin Festival in Kazan in 1991. I was singing Figaro in the Barber of Seville. Incidentally, this time the festival presented me with yet another unforgettable event. When I sang Nabucco, maestro Marko Boemi stopped directing, and gestured to the orchestra: listen to the vocalist. This was only the second such occurrence in my life. The first time the orchestra was entrusted to me was by maestro Daniel Oren in Palermo, when I sang Il Trovatore.»

«You sing on the stages of the greatest musical theaters in the world, and have something to which to compare the Shalyapin Festival performances.»

«Yes, but I can only speak for the Shalyapin performances where I was employed. I have not yet recovered from Nabucco, and find it hard to judge, but regarding Aida I can say without exaggeration that it was a world-class performance.» (…)