Jonas Kaufmann: "I was sexually harassed"

From Der Tagesspiegel we have:

Jonas Kaufmann: „Ich wurde sexuell belästigt“

Jonas Kaufmann berichtet über sexuelle Nötigung. Am Anfang seiner Karriere wurde ihm ein Konzert angeboten - Bedingung: eine Gegenleistung. 
Jonas Kaufmann reports sexual coercion. At the beginning of his career he was offered a concert - condition: a consideration.

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann ist zu Beginn seiner Karriere sexuell belästigt worden. Auch Männer seien davor nicht gefeit, sagte der 48-Jährige der Mailänder Tageszeitung „Corriere della Sera“ mit Blick auf die MeToo-Debatte. „Ich kenne die Situation gut, als ich jung war, ist es mir auch passiert. Ich stand am Anfang meiner Karriere, als mir ein Manager ein Konzert anbot, eine fantastische Gelegenheit. 
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann was sexually harassed at the beginning of his career. "Even men are not immune to it," said the 48-year-old in the Milanese newspaper Corriere della Sera with a view to the MeToo debate. "I know the situation well, when I was young, it happened to me too. At the beginning of my career, when a manager offered me a concert, it was a fantastic opportunity.

Im Gegenzug hätte ich aber mit ihm in die Sauna gehen müssen. Das war ein sehr expliziter Tausch. Ich hatte Angst und habe Nein gesagt.“ Sexuelle Erpressung sei „grauenhaft“, so Kaufmann. „Man muss den Mut haben, sie aufzudecken.“ Der Klassikstar beklagte aber auch, dass in den USA ein Mann nicht mehr allein mit einer Frau in einem Raum sein könne, ohne dass eine Kamera laufe. „Die Gefahr, der Belästigung beschuldigt zu werden, ist zu groß.“ dpa 
"In return, I would have had to go to the sauna with him. That was a very explicit exchange. I was scared and said no."  Sexual blackmail was "horrible," according to Kaufmann. "You have to have the courage to uncover them."  But the classic star also complained that in the US, a man can no longer be alone with a woman in a room without a camera running. "The danger of being accused of harassment is too great."

The machine translated this just fine.  I adjusted the punctuation.

Why are tenors so erotic?

[I am overdue for a translation:]

Bunte, 44/2015
Interview: Claus Dreckmann
Why are tenors so erotic?

JONAS KAUFMANN talks about how it is to be an object of desire - and about his two biggest crises

For classical music fans he exerts an irresistible attraction: Jonas Kaufmann, 46. The smart appearance is paired with the star tenor with an exceptional voice. Recently he was awarded the ECHO Klassik - for the sixth time

Bunte reveals why he is sometimes gladly an "object of desire" and what makes the tenor voice so erotic. He who should doubt this can convince himself with his new CD "Nessun Dorma -The Puccini Album" ...

You sing Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss Johann, Strauss Richard, Schubert, Massenet, Mahler, Lehar ... How do you manage to meet expectations in such diverse composers at the highest level? 

If listeners find that I meet expectations in different styles and languages, then I am very pleased. I want to maintain this diversity as long as it's vocally possible for me, and I think that it is precisely this mixture of partly very different repertoire that keeps the voice flexible. Anyway, I've always found that a Wagnerian role benefits if I have previously sung Verdi or Puccini - and vice versa.

What music do you prefer: Puccini or Wagner? 

I do not want to miss either one. Both Wagner, as well as Puccini's music have a tremendous suction force, which one as listener can hardly escape. Both composers have set the sensual effect of their music, both have understood it masterfully to symphonically illustrate the inner life of their characters. Whereby Puccini’s works are certainly even "cinematic." Not for nothing are his operas often associated with film music. He painted pictures with music.

The eternal issue: How important is the appearance of a singer? 

The appearance of singers has become more important in the era of opera transmissions in the cinema and television and on DVD, it seems to me logical, and if singers therefore pay more attention to their figure, then that's just okay. But if first class singers are replaced by mediocre ones, because the former are less "telegenic", and if more emphasis is put on optical than on vocal or musical criteria, then the pain threshold is reached for me. And basically the criteria for optical credibility in the opera are so different from film. There might be a 15-year-old Butterfly or l7-year-old Salome who doubles for an experienced singer, but not live on stage.

Does it bother you as star tenor always to be an "object of desire"? Or is it a cliché from the past? 

It annoys me when it's all about my appearance and has nothing to do with my voice and performance. Not only on stage but also in concerts we want singers who are appreciated and sought after primarily because of our performance. If I am a singer and performer "object of desire," then I'll take that as a compliment.

What makes the eroticism of the tenor voice?

That has already been asked by philosophers like Ernst Bloch who has described the tenor as a "singing Erotikon". Does it have to do primarily with the fact that the romantic lovers were mostly written for tenor voice?  One would have to reply that many famous tenors optically were not exactly the Latin Lover type. So it must have primarily to do with the sound, especially with the sound development in the high notes.

Are there any boundaries for modern productions? Would you get out when something totally goes against the grain? 

The limit would be reached when music and text are in no way respected and the director only seeks to provoke a scandal, to get a lot of attention from the press. Then I would try to propose something constructive. Of course, there are situations where one is so annoyed that one would rather get out. But he who gets out, cannot change anything, let alone save it. So I'm always for first seeking dialogue with the director to see if you cannot find a common path.

Can you imagine ever living without the general public, the great applause? 

Most certainly! Twice I came to the place where I had to think: How would life be without the stage? That was during my novice crisis in Saarbrücken, where I was on the stage in a small part, and the voice went completely away, and in June 2012, as an infection was so persistent that I had to take two months off. In both cases, I said to myself: If I can’t sing any longer, then I’ll have to do something else.

You won again an ECHO Klassik. Can you still be happy about such prizes? 

But yes! Such awards are recognition of my work. Who would not be happy?

[Naturally he agrees with me.]

Interview with Simone Kermes

[Dr.B:  This interview came across my path, and I found it fascinating.  I hope you enjoy it.]

Simone Kermes: "Sing in such a way that the people cry"

By Katja Engler

The soprano sings the artful, emotive arias of the Baroque.  In November she guest performs in Hamburg.  Simone Kermes is not only a charismatic entertainer, but one of the few sopranos who venture into the technically difficult baroque repertoire, into arias that were once sung by castrati, one of the most virtuosic and most expensive singers in the world.  A conversation about a lifelong passion, her own research and the beauty of a simple melody. On November 4, she sings in the Pro-Arte concert in the Laeisz hall.

Hamburger Abendblatt: The bravura arias, breakneck coloratura and giant jumps of the baroque call for an extreme singer. How do you deal with the pressure of expectation in this genre?

Simone Kermes: If you are afraid or are nervous, it does not happen. I have a lot more notes to sing, than in romantic music. That's the extreme variations and cadences, there are indeed double the number of arias. To sing Baroque arias, is really hard. Few manage it. And the farther you go, the more people want. But as soon as it comes up at a concert, when the people feel what you are doing, there is a very special energy that enables you to do things that you otherwise do not always make. If you then get back that energy, you're very, very happy.

HA:  Are you still working with the musicologist Claudio Osele, who was also the artistic consultant  and significant other to Cecilia Bartoli?

Kermes: No. We have made two CDs, but it is always the time for disagreements ... I often notice in my life when it no longer fits. After this phase, I myself have researched in libraries, read a lot, worried about my notes. But once you make something, everyone notices ... However, I cannot sing from the old notes.  And it's a hell of a job to set them up for your own voice.

HA:  What are you currently working on?

Kermes: I just recorded a new album. Music by Claudio Monteverdi and Barbara Strozzi, so sensual, so deep! Brand new material with entirely new interpretations, entirely new arrangements.  I burn just for this, and I am always working. The musical tells the story of a woman's life, from birth until death. It is pure, timeless, and the lyrics are amazing! Sometimes I find only lines, so beautiful, so touching! The composers in the time of Monteverdi were the pioneers for future generations. Then came the Baroque, then Rossini, who is only a poor copy of it.

HA:  Why do so few dare to try what you sing?

Kermes: Because they do not have the technique. The castrati then studied seven, eight years. Everything they needed technically. Nowadays there is hardly a good education, the students sing the wrong thing, do not know what their voice needs ... My teacher was one that showed me technically how to do it.

HA:  Some singers of earlier centuries have left writings. Do you study those sources?

Kermes. Yes. Every singer should read, for example, the Johann Friedrich Agricola, the singing school, which was written for the castrato Tosi.  Everything in there is as exactly true until today. Suddenly you understand this science and this incredible technique of the singer at the time, and I have studied this. He wrote what you may need with language, breathing, coloratura,  preparation ... Farinelli, for example, ate a sour herring before a concert ... you have to get to know your own voice so that it is natural and you can sing for a long time.

HA:  The arias that you put together dive into extremely emotional worlds. What do you love about it? What does your public  love in this time oriented to reason and efficiency?

Kermes: In baroque each beat has feelings. Not like in the Romantic period. Because it makes a click, then comes the change, and a totally different effect. Everything is in it! If you master the style, you can do anything, because everything builds on that. But it started earlier. The music of Dürer's time [1471 –  1528] was already so modern, so timeless! And the composer Barbara Strozzi must have been incredible. For the castrato the most beautiful arias were written. But Strozzi is simple, not just virtuosic. You do not always have to make a circus. I can also sing the slow, sad songs and make people cry.

HA:  What does singing so very deep inside mean to you?

Kermes: I wanted as a child for people to see me. And they saw me, because I sang. My father died early, I had a lot to do with the death in my family, who all no longer live. Through singing I was suddenly there! That's the reason: To lift oneself up with something that is beautiful and harmonious ...

HA:  Is the extreme ascending and descending of the notes not something like aspiring to heaven, like the clouds in the baroque church dome?

Kermes: I feel the same way. The quiet pieces I want to look deep inside myself. If anything comes up, it touches people in the moment where I go up.  As with Handel's aria "Lascia ch'io pianga", "Let me have the freedom to weep over my fate". I sing this often as an encore. And my own life has brought me new depth with this song. I love this piece, it's mine. This simple melody that touches so deeply and so beautifully that people go home feeling kissed by beauty.

Netrebko will marry in December

This Austrian news source says:

Netrebko says Yes in Vienna: "We are getting married in December!"  Donna Anna tells her wedding day - and where their celebration of love takes place in Vienna.
 
After wild speculation in recent months of tabloid media, opera star Anna Netrebko (43) reveals when and where her marriage with Yusif Eyvazov (38) will actually take place.

Wedding at the Belvedere Palace

In the issue that appears on Thursday the Russian edition of the magazine OK the dream couple speaks in plain text:  On December 29 Donna Anna in Vienna at the Belvedere Palace will say the yes word to her Yusif.  The preparations for the big event in the magnificent premises are already in full swing.

 "Meant to be"  The two opera singers announced their love in March 2014, and last summer Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov celebrated their engagement at the Salzburg Festspiele. 

Yusif says:"We quickly realized that we are meant for each other."

He also takes care of moving to Netrebko's son Tiago (7) from his relationship with Erwin Schrott (42). "I consider him as my child," said Eyvazov in a COURIER interview in which he also revealed: "Of course we want more kids!"

But first Anna and Yusif will seal their luck in the presence of their loved ones who will arrive from Russia and Azerbaijan on December 29 at the Belvedere Palace to celebrate a great festival of love.

[I changed the picture because this one is more fun.  He's not wearing any socks.]

Interview with Jonas Kaufmann

Kleine Zeitung, July 26, 2015  [My usual translation.  I apologize that there is no link.]

Luigi HEINRICH

He is one of the big stars of this year's Salzburg Festival. On August 4, Janas Kaufmann will premiere as Florestan in "Fidelio".

For fans in September there will be a special gift, namely the new CD "Nessun dorma - The Puccini Album" - recorded in Rome. You sang this repertoire recently at La Scala Milan. This was sort of a special appearance? 

Jonas Kaufmann: I had promised to sing "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" at La Scala. But my schedule is too full. I had to cancel. This concert was a sort of reparation.

"Fidelio" Beethoven's truth -- Jonas Kaufmann Interview

Die Presse, 26.05.2015
Wilhelm Sinkovicz

"Fidelio" Beethoven's truth

To discuss the challenge of a work such as "Fidelio" and how to do it justice, were Jonas Kaufmann (Florestan) [and Claus Guth (Director)] in discussion.

What is your experience with the role of Florestan? What makes the role difficult, uncomfortable, awkward?

Jonas Kaufmann: The role is short, but because of the great scene in the second act it is one of the most challenging roles in my Fach.  In the delicate final section many tenors have sung badly [?]. That is why I was rather cautious, when Helmut Rilling offered it to me for a series of concert performances at the Rheingau Music Festival, in the Stuttgart Liederhalle and the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. But to my great joy my voice in the thorny places did not close, but went on more and more. That is now already 13 years ago.

Beethoven is widely recognized as a composer who has written quite instrumentally for voices.

"He understood nothing about voices," is often said tersely. However, who could argue that an emotionally extreme situation can just be sung easily?  Florestan's vision of the guardian angel - "To freedom, to freedom, to the heavenly kingdom" - and the ever-higher spiraling phrases "Et vitam venturi" the choir sopranos in the "Missa solemnis" have in my opinion one thing in common: Here is the means of "despair through unsingableness" part of the concept.  Not to mention the great aria of Leonore in the original version:  This is the most difficult dramatic coloratura! The changes that Beethoven made to this aria were clearly due to theater practice.

The discrepancy between the fact that here is represented a long-standing imprisoned man who, however, has to deal with a very exhausting aria at the beginning of the second act - how does one deal with it?

It's like all extreme situations on stage: You have to be in full command of your vocal and musical means to make these situations and characters work. Florestan "Gott! ! Welch Dunkel hier "is just not realism, but opera reality: Not the physical decay should be heard here, but the state of mind of the desperate, his ecstatic vision of salvation and liberation. Likewise, the first sound of this scene, the coming out of nowhere, ever more urgent and expectant of the outcry "Gott!" of the tormented soul - requires not just a naturalistic, but a musical outcry, that requires the most technical control of the voice.  I do not know how many times I worked on this crescendo. Anyway, it took a long time until it sounded as I imagined it. Only the audience with such phrases should not think: "Wow, how he can do that!" But always feel with the depicted person.  And that is the great challenge in our profession:  slip fully into a character and yet always have control over what you do as a singer and performer. Karajan called it "controlled ecstasy".

How do you divide your tasks throughout the year - are there roles that you sing to relax the voice between the more dramatic ones?

Basically, I make sure that I create my repertoire in as versatile a way as possible: opera and song, Wagner and Verdi, Massenet and Strauss, dramatic and less dramatic. That keeps me flexible in every respect, linguistically, stylistically, musically and vocally. Even within my concerts I look for a good mix. For example, in my tour with the tenor hits by Richard Tauber and Joseph Schmidt: Instead of the whole "Puccini Lehár" of " Dein ist mein ganzes Herz " to " Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert " to smash one after the other, I have sung pieces between that require very intimate, tender and soft sounds,  such as " Schatz, ich bitt dich, komm heut’ Nacht " or " Frag nicht, warum ich gehe."  You cannot belt these out into the audience, and that's why I used a microphone for these chanson-like evergreens.  This does not necessarily mean that the quiet parts are lighter than the "Puccini Lehár". Easy Listening, yes - but not necessarily Easy Singing! But the mixture of different pieces keeps the voice supple, I am convinced.

[I have translated only the part of the interview with Jonas.]

Kristine Opolais: Die Einspringerin

This is one of my usual translations.  The title means the woman who jumps in.  The original article comes from Crescendo:

Even though Kristine Opolais is already a big star in Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera, she still jumps in spontaneously for ill or stricken colleagues. We met the Latvian soprano for an interview and saw a woman who is full of energy, but is still looking for her perfect role.

On a cold Shrove Tuesday, deep within the walls of the Bavarian State Opera, we wait on Kristine Opolais in a bare, big room with a dressing table, a piano and a comfortable seating area. Suddenly she rushes in, apologizing profusely for being late, and orders three bottles of water - an annoying cold makes the Latvian soprano need this, as the voice requires plenty of fluid. When her vocal cords are lubricated enough, we can begin.

crescendo: Ms Opolais, originally you wanted to be a pop singer. What went wrong?

Kristine Opolais: Actually, it was only one of many wishes. I wanted to just stand on stage, strictly speaking, I just had to be on stage - so much energy as I had at the time. But I had actually never intended to be an opera singer. That was my mother's idea.

When were you on stage for the first time?

As a teenager. In the small country where I was born, there was a competition for girls - a bit like "Miss America". In a job, you had to show something, and I just sang. My mother, who was sitting in the audience said afterwards, I absolutely had to study classical music. For me it was a disaster, as you can imagine: Only sixteen years old and already doomed to a lifetime of singing opera! Opera singers - these are those obese women with loud voices. I just had my own ideas, which were admittedly quite far away from reality. At sixteen, one is still very dependent on the visual, because I could not understand what emotional depth that kind of music might have.

Your mother had actually decided that you would go to the conservatory?

It was her decision, yes. She even wanted to be an opera singer herself. And you know what I mean: When parents for any reason cannot satisfy this or that dream, then they transfer these unfulfilled wishes to their children.

When did you finally became a friend of the opera?

There is actually a specific reason, even though I do not remember the exact day. It was one of my first gigs as a choir member at the Latvian National Opera, Riga. When I saw all the soloists sing on stage, I knew: I wanted it too! Then I had my first solo role - and from then on I could not get enough. It was like a drug! In particular, the relationship that you build on the stage with the audience was, and gives me a special energy boost. I give people my soul, and they give me theirs - a particularly nice form of give and take. The entire foundation of my ability I got here in Riga, and not at the Conservatory ...

... That you left without a degree. Why is that?

There simply was not enough time to sing. There were so many lessons in subjects that had nothing to do with singing. I thought then and think even now that it was just a waste of time. If we would only do what we can and love, then we would be in our professions much more professional. And above all happier.We do a lot, but because we're supposed to. This creates pressure, and pressure prevents us from developing our personality. So I put the tuition fees in private lessons - now it was only singing lessons.

Since we're on the subject of teaching: 2007 you were an international opera great, as you have decided in Amsterdam to once again take lessons with Margaret Honey ... 

Margaret is an angel! I'm still her student - just last week I was with her. Not only is she a singing teacher, she's  a yoga singing teacher. It makes you free, fun-loving, and gives you the correct breathing. From time to time I just have to go to her. We singers are just not machines, and sometimes we need someone to give us energy. And she is such a person.

So you are still a student?

Oh, we stay students our whole lives, especially as a singer or actor - simply for the reason because we strive for perfection, but unfortunately are not perfect. We also have in our lives many teachers or mentors. For me that includes also conductors and singer colleagues. That includes Andrejs Zagars, the then director of the Latvian National Opera, to whom I owe an incredible amount.

What actually led you at the time to leave Riga? 

I simply had too many invitations from other opera houses, which was eventually no longer tolerated by my ensemble-life. It was certainly not an easy decision, but I wanted to develop my career.

What was your first job outside of Riga?

I just started as a soloist when I got my first job at the Berlin State Opera. It was very lucky because I did not have to hoof it for years at the smaller opera houses, even if the step from Riga to Berlin was not exactly small. Incidentally, it was Tosca, I sang - a huge role at 26 years old! Not really clever, I know. Daniel Barenboim then came to me and said that I had indeed a great voice, but I should not sing this repertoire, because it was just too hard. At this point I began to think. In Latvia, I really  sang any role, no matter how hard it was. Of course this was also valuable experience.

Is there a special opera production you would call your international breakthrough? 

There are a few roles that were such door openers. The most important was, I believe, Rusalka here at the Bavarian State Opera. After the performance, my manager said at the time: "Now I will not have to explain to anyone anymore who is Kristine Opolais." But the Manon Lescaut last year together with Jonas Kaufmann in Covent Garden, London, was a key experience. This was no longer the main role, but a title role! So much for Europe. As for America, my stand-in in La Bohème at the New York Metropolitan Opera was big break.

Everywhere you jump in so happily for other singers, most recently in Munich with Manon Lescaut - again with Jonas Kaufmann. Do you need the kick of spontaneity?

I have already been thinking about that. I have no idea why the good Lord always holds such surprises for me. If I'm honest: Once an opera house comes up to me with a request to step in quickly, I often think: No, not me. And then I say: Of course, you!  Better to answer quickly than to consider  twice. Well. I'm just a person who takes risks. And if the risk is successful, there's champagne!

If you are on stage - you are then highly concentrated or among the singers who are fully absorbed in their role? 

Of course it is important to always be technically and vocally up to par, my roles are now not the easiest. On the other hand, opera is also theater. When I'm on stage, I'm not thinking a lot, I act almost instinctively. That's why I don't carry out on stage every minute stage direction, but do unexpected things - which is presumably not too weird for my colleagues. I just put myself into the characters as if what happens to them, happens to me.

If you then had to endure three hours of death and hell on stage with all of your tragic roles: How do you relax after that?

I can never really relax, this is one of the few negative aspects of my job. Add to that: Everyone knows what it means to have a baby. It costs incredibly high in energy, even if it is very nice to be a mother. Otherwise, in my spare time I'm shockingly normal. I like to go shopping, eat in good restaurants, give myself time outs in spa baths. But even there, I cannot relax completely. Singing is not just a profession - it is a complete way of life.

In truth Pereira wanted to stay in Salzburg

[Translated from today's edition of the Salzburger Nachrichten.  He is writing about things I don't know anything about, thus making it hard to translate.]

By Wolfgang Gmachl 

The Baroque "impresario" who owned the Salzburg blew the march. Of course, with this conflicts were programmed.

There were no stones, there were rocks that fell from the hearts of many as the "God with us" Alexander Pereira a month ago disappeared highly motivated in the direction of Milan. Now we can have rest - almost silence. Gone are three years of a reign that brought the biggest public success to the biggest festival in the world, that had dared and won a lot.

It was the 41st Salzburg Festival in unbroken succession, I was able to experience in the summer. And the three years of directorship of Alexander Pereira mark not only for me a high point of the Festival's history.

As Pereira was unanimously nominated by a selection committee and appointed as unanimously by the Trustees, the world still seemed fine - but only for a few hours, because of the baroque "impresario" blew the march for his festival and broke new ground. [Above my grade.]  Conflicts were programmed. His critics had written in the album: Pereira wanted to stay in Salzburg and in truth we have a lot to thank him for.

1 This includes the Ouverture Spirituelle that appealed together with the Disputationes of the Herbert Batliner Institute, under the scientific direction of Erhard Busek, a whole new audience and thus the known target groups also gained a lot of sympathy for the Salzburg Festival. With the project torn out-the individual contributions came on philosophical considerations, a new dimension of the political into the game.  [He brought in this new group, perhaps as donors.]

2 Pereira in 2013, the event El Sistema - whose founder José Antonio Abreu, in the festival opening speech - enforced against opposition and financed outside the festival budget (!!). An "insubordination" for which to thank him.  [He brought in this other new group, also perhaps as donors.]

3 For the Whitsun Festival Pereira won with Cecilia Bartoli an artistic director who is almost a godsend for this small but brilliant festival.   [He brought in Cecilia Bartoli.]

4 Pereira's conviction that a festival like the one in Salzburg could only offer premieres, was initially ignored by me as wasteful. It remained unnoticed that the sale of such productions to other opera houses can import more money than reprises in-house.  Undeniably premieres are the strongest crowd puller of a festival. The gifted networker and Fundriser was just miles ahead of us.  [He insisted on only new productions which would then be sold to other companies.]

5 An important contribution to the renewal of the Festival has Pereira, media expert, with his projects "Abduction from the Seraglio" (staging and TV recording in Hangar-7) as well as the live broadcast of this year's "Don Giovanni" with backstage and background scenarios provided. He has made it possible that the possibilities of contemporary media are not yet exhausted, but the foundation for Festivals of the 21st century was laid.  [He arranged for this year's streaming on medici.tv.]

6 His commitment to the future audience is served by his own, very successful program for children and young people - in this summer alone were 8000 children in the auditorium to see Cenerentola.  This has never happened at the Festival before. Thus Pereira defined here also the requirements for a future of the Salzburg Festival.  [He attracted more children than ever before.]

7 His often emotional struggle to find an appropriate level for the festival made it ​​in any case once more clear that the Salzburg Festival delivers a net contribution significantly more in taxes than they receive in subsidies, and has ultimately led to a long overdue granting of index matching funds of € 2,500,000 for 2015.   [The festival delivers more money in taxes than it costs in subsidies.  The subsidy will increase in 2015.]

Finally, we take a lot of suggestions with us for the future: A new attempt of a European Art Forum - such as in Gerard Mortier's time in 1996 - is obvious. Salzburg has to do so by the Ouverture Spirituelle, the Herbert-Batliner Institute, Convoco and the Festival Dialogues of Friends of the Salzburg Festival has great potential. A new form of cooperation with the Easter Festival is back on the agenda.

We must be particularly pleased that Alexander Pereira will bring close the Christmas concert of La Scala the Silent Night Oberndorf an international audience together with the two TV channels RAI and Servus TV.

Wolfgang Gmachl was longtime director of the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce, People's Party Member of Parliament and representatives of numerous cultural institutions.

[I hope you can read this, such as it is.  I tried to translate it because I find it very shocking.  It's nice to know that stupid things don't just happen here.

Pereira has been for the last three years the head of the Salzburg Festival.  In this article a Salzburg resident attempts to explain the main things that Pereira contributed to the festival during his tenure.  It is now the most important of all the summer festivals.  They lured him away from Zurich who were very sorry to see him go only to push him out the door when he did what they wanted him to do.  This was followed by a similar reaction in Milan.  They want him and they don't.  The concern about his management style seems to focus on money.]

One hundred percent Diva

"To the one hundred percent Diva"
[Translated from Berner Zeitung.  I have switched all my Google Alerts to German and am getting much better results.]


By Carolina Bohren. Updated on 30.09.2014

Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has sung lost libretti from the Tsarist empire. While talking in Salzburg, the Swiss by choice woman explains how she even rode on an icebreaker.

Under the empresses: Mezzo-soprano and director Cecilia Bartoli (48) [She is called Intendantin, which is the title of the person in charge of a theater or festival. She is usually called the music director, but we all know better.]

On the floor of the Mozarteum in Salzburg there is music to be heard. A door opens, and a good-humored Cecilia Bartoli sticks out her head. The Italian appears in an elegant blue pinstripe suit, discreetly made up and with matching sunglasses.  During the interview Bartoli is full of energy, often bursting into a hearty laugh, and shows the enthusiasm with which she pursues her projects.

Ms. Bartoli, what brought you to Russia?

Cecilia Bartoli: Many Italian composers of the Baroque period were immigrants, just like me. When I saw that many of them went to Russia, I was wondering: If the historical beginnings of Russian opera are recognized to be around 1830, then what are these, these madmen, already doing there in the 18th century?

What have you found?

They were invited by the empresses to the palace where they then wrote each year an opera for her birthday. When I found these fantastic scores, it was clear that I had to do a project.

How should we imagine that: Cecilia Bartoli goes to Russia and finds important documents in the archives of the Marinsky Theatre?

It was not so easy. The archive had transferred a kind of exclusive right for restoration work on the library of Washington. [Library of Congress?] This made it impossible for a long time to sift through the material at all.

Sounds like trouble.

Yes, I had to go to St. Petersburg several times before I got access to the archive. Twice I even traveled with the icebreaker from Lübeck by water.

The icebreaker?

Yes, I do not fly very much. And honestly, that was a fantastic experience! When we moved the boat across the sea and the ice broke (gesturing wildly with her arms, to simulate the breaking up of the ice layer), so that was an adventure. I arrived in St. Petersburg as the earlier explorers had.

What has most surprised you in your work in the archive?

To study the music of Italian composers and to discover that many arias are in a serious, nostalgic, dramatic timbre.

Why is that unusual?

In Italy there was not this kind of music. When one thinks of the Neapolitan Baroque music, there are often the great coloratura arias with songs like fireworks. In the compositions of the Marinsky archive, however, beautiful, slow arias dominate. You already encounter the Russian spirit, although they were written by Italians.

Wouldn't it have been obvious in view of this Russian influence, to record the CD with a Russian orchestra instead of conductor Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti?

On the one hand what you say is true. It is also true that the musicians who have played at the court of the Tsar, were also Italians. I would like to work with Russian musicians, and there isn't just enough material for another CD, but for at least one hundred (laughs). But for Maestro Diego Fasolis and his orchestra I feel very great respect, that's why I wanted them.

What impression do you get of the Empresses Anna [1730-40], Elizabeth [1741-62] and Catherine [1762-96]?

The fact that they thought very avant-garde, and with their efforts to cultural exchange they did much for music and its new forms. 

Also Tsarina Catherine the Great has written several libretti. What do you think of her work?

Perhaps you could make an attachment in the booklet (laughs). No, poor one. She has also written a beautiful march.  I didn't feel the need to put it on the CD, but I take my hat off to her!  Nowadays there are not many politicians who would be able to do so. Let's ask Angela Merkel if she will write a march for us (get a fit of laughter).

Will we now get from you a libretto to read?

No, such a thing will not happen.

On the album "St.Petersburg" you are singing for the first time two arias in Russian. Torture, isn't it?

Let's put it this way: The language is very beautiful, but it is very difficult because there are sounds that we do not know in Italian. So I had to learn a lot by imitation. Luckily, my teacher said then that at least there is still hope for me.

With your name often appears attributes such as "Superstar" or "opera diva". Do you like this fame?

I think if you can take the glory and use it in service of special cultural projects, then it is something very beautiful. For example, the Whitsun Festival here in Salzburg, where I will present projects, invite artists, can contribute to the artistic exchange.

And the Diva?

You simply have to want to believe it or not. I often say: You're a Diva? I have no time for that (laughs). I have no time, and it is not my character. So if to be such a diva means to make beautiful projects: Yes, I'm a diva one hundred percent (takes pleasurably a chocolate chip cookie).

Keyword Salzburg Whitsun Festival: Is your dual role as an opera singer and director not problematic?

Before me the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival was a conductor. They organized the festival and the orchestras. So they used their instrument. Basically, I 'm doing the same thing, only that I sing rather than conduct. The great difficulty lies not in this dual role, but in the organization itself.

What do you mean?

I now have a responsibility that I have previously not perceived so. I am aware now of things which I used to not even have imagined that they existed.

Like what?

There are artists who need to be housed in completely white spaces so that they can relax. It's nice to be able to discover all these new things.

As director: How important is for you faithfulness to the original?

The music of a composer must be presented in its meaning [?]. From there we should get our inspiration. Of course every artist has the opportunity to develop their own interpretations of this music, but always with great respect for the score. The audience can love an artist or not. But we must always create new visions of the music of a composer. Basically singers with their voices make the colors of the music become visible. [I hope I got this right. I think this too.]

What opera role do you really want yet to embody?

(Thinks long) It is very difficult to answer this question. For one, I am of the star sign Gemini. That is, one twin wants one thing and the other something else. To find a role that corresponds to both is already difficult. (laughs). Then there is also the fact that I am a chameleon in character. Today I say to you, I would like to do Carmen, but maybe tomorrow I'd rather play an old woman.

After half an hour, Bartoli's manager interrupts the conversation. In parting the adopted Swiss woman says a choice bit of Zurich German, "Uf Widerluege" with a broad Italian accent. "Swiss German is almost as difficult as Russian," she grins. 

[Once in a while I understand a word or two of Schwiezerdeutsch.  I think it is the laughing Bartoli that I wished I could meet.

Is there any information about the singers?  So many questions.  This may turn out to be the greatest of her discoveries.

If you prebuy on iTunes, you can get 4 tracks immediately.  They are wonderful.]