Boston, MA
Opera singer driven from Belarus tries to rebuild life, career in Boston
By MARK PRATT
BOSTON (AP) — Ilya Silchukou was a cultural icon in his native Belarus, the lead soloist on the State Opera Bolshoi who represented his nation at official authorities features at dwelling and overseas and carried out at opera homes throughout Europe.
He lived a privileged and comfy life in his homeland.
And he gave all of it up.
Silchukou dared to talk out towards Alexander Lukashenko, who has led the previous Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three a long time.
He’s now dwelling in suburban Boston together with his spouse and three kids and teaches music to center faculty college students whereas he tries to revive his singing profession within the U.S., the place he stays comparatively unknown.
“I’m recognized in Europe, however I’ve by no means carried out within the States, and it was like a clean piece of paper for me, only a new web page,” he stated throughout a latest interview in Boston. “We needed to begin from scratch right here.”
When Lukashenko received a sixth time period in workplace in 2020 in an election regarded by his opposition and the West as fraudulent, Silchukou joined tens of hundreds of Belarusians at election protests that had been violently suppressed and resulted within the arrests of hundreds.
“It was so evident to all of us that we couldn’t hold silent any extra,” he stated.
He renounced three awards that he had acquired personally from Lukashenko.
His buddies warned him of the dangers.
“They stated, ‘What’s the downside with you? You will have all the things you want,’” he stated. “I used to be properly paid in Belarus and I had all the advantages from that. I stated, ‘Sure they pay me, however they don’t personal me.’”
His public opposition to Lukashenko obtained him fired from the opera for an “act of immorality” and he was black-listed, he stated. In response, he had yet one more act of defiance — utilizing his baritone voice in a video of the normal Belarusian hymn, “Mahutny Bozha,” which implies “Mighty God,” and has develop into a signature anthem of the opposition to Lukashenko.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t till March 2021 when the police got here after his spouse, Tanya, and accused her of defrauding the nation’s state-sponsored little one assist system and threatened her with two years in jail that he knew he needed to get out. He took it as a thinly-veiled risk to interrupt up their household.
“Plenty of children in Belarus have each mother and father in jail,” he stated.
When his kids completed faculty in Could of that 12 months, the household packed 4 suitcases with some very important paperwork and images and flew from Belarus to the nation of Georgia, then on to Seattle, the place his mother and father dwell.
The household got here to the East Coast a few 12 months in the past on the suggestion of Marina Lvova, who runs the nonprofit Belarusians in Boston, drawn by Boston’s cultural scene, proximity to Europe and vibrant Belarusian expatriate neighborhood.
Lvova and her husband first noticed Silchukou at considered one of his final public performances in Minsk and “fell in love together with his voice,” she stated.
However she was additionally impressed together with his bravery for standing as much as Lukashenko.
“Ilya is an actual patriot of Belarus,” she stated. “You can’t be profitable in a rustic that could be a jail, and sadly our nation is a jail proper now.”
Silchukou is making ends meet educating fifth by ninth graders on the non-public Star Academy faculty.
“It’s fairly unbelievable that he’s in a position to share among the experiences he’s had at among the greatest opera homes in Europe,” stated Margarita Druker, Star Academy’s co-director.
The varsity has many college students of Jap European descent whose households have related tales of fleeing oppression.
“It was very brave for somebody of his stature to stroll away from all he had into a lot uncertainty,” Druker stated.
Silchukou has returned to the stage, collaborating with pianist Pavel Nersessian, an affiliate professor at Boston College, for 2 latest concert events in Boston and New Jersey.
For each, he put collectively a retrospective of a few of his private favourite items spanning his profession from his first singing classes to his time on the nationwide opera, together with “Papageno” from “The Magic Flute” and “Cavatina Figaro” from the “The Barber of Seville.” He capped off the exhibits with what he known as the “jewel of the live performance,” a duet together with his mezzo-soprano spouse.
He not too long ago had an audition with the Boston Lyric Opera and is attempting to safe auditions with different opera homes within the U.S., and he’s in negotiations with U.S. brokers.
“I’m wanting ahead with hope,” he stated.
A type of hopes is a return to his homeland.
He stays in contact with buddies and colleagues in Belarus who’re “working in concern,” afraid of talking out towards Lukashenko.
“We hope to see them once more, and for certain we are going to sing our songs on the squares on our true independence day,” he stated.
Boston, MA
Frigid wind chill temperatures today
The wind is back. And no one is happy.
Well, at least it won’t be 10 days of it. Instead, you’ll have to settle for two, with occasional gusts to 35-40 mph. Not nearly as intense as the last go-round, but still enough to produce wind chills in the single digits and teens through Wednesday. Thursday the winds are much lighter, but even with a slight breeze, we may see wind chills near zero in the morning.
The pattern remains active, but we’ll have to wait a few days until our next batch of precipitation. And with temperatures warming, it looks like rain by Saturday afternoon. We’ll rise into the 40s through Sunday, then feel the full weight of the polar vortex early next week.
Yes, you read that right. The spin, the hype, and definitely the cold, are back. Much of the country will plunge into the deep freeze. The question remains whether we’ll spin up a storm early next week. Jury is still out on that, but we’re certain this will be the coldest airmass of the season.
Boston, MA
Boston College falls to Notre Dame, 78 – 60
Coming off back to back conference losses, the Eagles traveled to South Bend to try to earn their second conference win. Notre Dame has had a lack luster start to the year, as they also sit at 1-4 in conference play entering tonight’s matchup. Boston College defended much better in the first half tonight than they have in the past few games. More specifically, they guarded the 3 point line, holding Notre Dame to just 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. Boston College, in turn, shot 50% (5 of 10) from behind the 3 point line, which really kept them in the game. Donald Hand, Jr., in particular, had a nice first half with 11 points on 4 of 6 from the field. The one-two punch of Tae Davis and Markus Burton combined for 20 of Notre Dame’s 36 points in the first half. Notre Dame led at the break 36 to 33.
The second half was a different story for the Eagles. The Fighting Irish dominated the last 10 minutes of the game outscoring Boston College 22 to 10. Burton and Davis combined for 46 of the Irish’s 78 points. Davis had his way with BC scoring 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting. The Eagles just had no answer for him or his counterpart in the back court Markus Burton. Burton had 20 of his own on just 5 of 15 from the field. The Eagles did a great job of defending the 3 point line against the Irish as they shot 3 of 15 from beyond the arc, but they did a poor job defending everything else. The Eagles once again had trouble with consistency on the offensive side of the ball. The top performer was Hand, he finished with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He seems to be one of the only Eagles’ who can create his own shot when the offense breaks down. Boston College fell to the Irish 78 to 60.
Overall, Boston College showed some glimpses tonight on the defensive end, especially in the first half. They did a great job of defending the three point line all night, but didn’t continue to defend after running the Irish off the line. The offense struggled again tonight despite shooting over 50% from the 3 point line.
Boston College has had a rough last two weeks, but it will only get tougher as Duke comes to town on Saturday. Cooper Flagg has seemingly hit his stride after dropping 42 on Notre Dame this weekend. After the performance from Tae Davis, BC and Earl Grant will need to scheme up some different defenses to try to slow down the Duke freshman. Duke and Boston College will tip off at 8 PM EST at Conte Forum.
Boston, MA
Boston’s Southern French Restaurant Marseille Calls It Quits
Marseille, an 18-month-old French restaurant located at 560 Harrison Avenue in the South End, has closed down. The restaurant posted a message on Instagram last week alerting diners that it would be shutting down the social media account (which is now gone), and its OpenTable page now reads that Marseille has permanently closed as of Monday, January 13. No specific reason was given for the shutter. Owned by French restaurateur Loic Le Garric, the restaurant was his ode to sunny Southern French cuisine in various forms, including grilled octopus, a rich seafood stew, trout almondine, and more. Le Garric did not immediately respond to questions about the restaurant’s closure. The restaurateur’s other French spots, including Batifol (in Kendall Square) and Petit Robert Bistro (also in the South End), plus bakery and cafe PRB Boulangerie, remain open.
Boston is getting a new Detroit-style pizzeria
Descendant Detroit Style Pizza, a Toronto-based company with two locations there, is opening up a third shop inside the Prudential Center, Boston Restaurant Talk reports. It’ll be the first U.S. location for the pizza shop, which bills itself as Canada’s first Detroit-style pizzeria, and is yet another addition to Boston’s burgeoning Detroit-style pizza scene, which includes stalwarts like the five-year-old Avenue Kitchen & Bar in Somerville and newer additions like Detroit Pizza Co. in Brighton.
A tiny Cape Cod restaurant steps into the spotlight at Raffles
Luxurious Portuguese restaurant Amar, located inside high-end Boston hotel Raffles, is hosting a one-night-only collaboration dinner with Cape Cod tasting menu spot Clean Slate Eatery this month. Amar chef George Mendes and Clean Slate Eatery chef Jason Montigel are putting together a six-course dinner with dishes such as local oysters with a lemon-horseradish granita, bay scallops with Eastham turnips, winter squash, country ham croquettes, and Satsuma citrus, and a quail roulade with quince-vanilla puree, Périgord black truffles, and maitake mushrooms. The event takes place on Wednesday, January 22. Tickets are $175 per person; reservations can be made here.
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