Vladimir Galouzine

Born 11 June 1956 in Rubtsovsk, Galouzine studied voice in nearby Novosibirsk, where he also made his debut in 1980 at the operetta theater. He was to sing operetta for the next eight years. In 1988, he came to the Novosibirsk Opera for one year, then to the St. Petersburg Chamber Opera for another year, and from 1990, he was a member of the Mariinskij, where he would stay until 2012, while singing as a guest at literally every important opera theater in the whole world, an incredibly successful career. Why and when the French transliteration of his name was established is unbeknownst to me (standard transliteration would be Galuzin).

I heard him twice at the Vienna State Opera, with mixed results: I left Pikovaja dama at the intermission, because of his shaky, insecure and completely unsatisfying performance (cf. his above Di quella pira). In sharp contrast, he was excellent in Tosca. Pretty surprising, as his voice would seem, in theory, much better suited to German than to Cavaradossi...

I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recordings and picture.