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Watch an excerpt from "Der Rosenkavalier."
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This exceptionally gifted, Salzburg-born mezzo-soprano has been a great favorite at the Vienna State Opera, not to mention many of the world's other major theaters, for the past decade. She is among the top-flight artists invited to participate in a concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera after its accidental destruction by Allied bombers in 1944. Her performance of the final Trio from "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss, an opera she has sung often in Vienna, is one of the high points in this concert. Interviewed during a break from rehearsals with Washington National Opera, where she will sing the title role in the North American premiere of Nicholas Maw's "Sophie's Choice," a role she created in London to enormous praise in 2002, Kirchschlager talked about the Vienna State Opera, which has been a major part of her life and career.
GREAT PERFORMANCES: American singers typically dream of making it to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, considered by many the ultimate destination. Is there a similar feeling among Austrian singers about reaching the Vienna State Opera? Was it always a goal of yours to debut on that famous stage?
Angelika Kirchschlager: When I arrived for my first year of study [at the Vienna Music Academy], I sent a postcard of the Vienna State Opera to my grandmothers and signed it, "From my future workplace." But it was just a joke. I never in my dreams thought I would sing there. It is just amazing to me, really unbelievable, that I have been singing there since 1994. The Vienna State Opera has always been one of the most important theaters in Europe, along with London, Paris, and Milano.
GP: The Vienna State Opera has some wonderful standing room areas, especially at the back of the orchestra level, which is not really so far away from the stage. Students usually line up very early to buy those bargain tickets. Did you spend a lot of time in those lines in the years when you were studying in the city?
AK: I only lined up once, and that was to get a ticket that I sold -- which is illegal. [She lets out a hearty laugh.]
GP: What was your debut in the house?
AK: My first role was Flora in [Verdi's] "La Traviata." It was a role I sang first in other places, too. After two years, I sang my first "Rosenkavalier" [as Octavian]. I've sung it there almost every year since.
GP: How have you found this experience of being such a regular on the company's artist roster?
AK: The opera house is not just a workplace for me. It is like my second home. I know everybody there, and they know me. And Vienna is my home city, so it is wonderful to sing there for a public that knows me, sees me on the street and in the coffee shops.
GP: What are the things you like best about the theater, from a singer's perspective? Are there particular characteristics about the acoustics or even just the atmosphere that make it special for you?
AK: I don't have the right perspective to answer that; I'm too close to this house. For me, I would just say it is the best acoustics, the best sound, the best everything.
GP: What was it like being in the 50th anniversary gala concert?
AK: I felt so honored to be asked to participate. It is really one of the highlights in my singing life. To be able to be a part of this history, it is just -- well, there were so many other singers who could have been asked. I really couldn't believe I was there and that I was to do the scene from "Rosenkavalier," my "heart opera," the opera closest to my heart.
GP: Your performance in that scene is exceptionally beautiful. Were you pleased with it?
AK: I am so happy I can say that it went quite well in that gala. But I just managed to keep my nerves. It wasn't easy, with all the live television cameras around and that full audience. I was praying from note to note -- you know, the spot where the melody just keeps going up and up. I said, "God, you let me get here to this wonderful occasion, everyone else is singing beautifully, and [Christian] Thielemann is conducting like a god. Surely, it can't be your wish that I should mess up now." [Kirchschlager lets out another infectious laugh.] I climbed up to that last note, and that's when I realized God had protected me. I made it. But I tell you, that evening cost me three years of my life in nerves.
GP: In much of the world, and very much in the United States, there is considerable worry about the future for opera, for classical music. People wonder if there will be audiences to support it, if the younger generations will respond to it at all. What is the view in Vienna?
AK: We are worrying, too. Thank God, we have the tourists in Vienna. The opera is always full, because it is something they want to attend when they visit the city. There are many programs for children. We have an opera-on-the-roof program, for example, and it is sung by the singers of the Vienna State Opera. [These performances, begun in 1999, are sung in a tent on the roof terrace of the opera house.] At the Musikverein [home of the Vienna Philharmonic], there are many children's projects as well. A lot is being done to open children's minds to music. I think one problem today is that audiences sometimes are too remote from the music. At my recitals, I always try to involve people in the audience, make them a part of it.
GP: What engagements at the Vienna State Opera are coming up for you?
AK: [Mozart's] "Idomeneo" in January, and [Strauss'] "Capriccio" in '08.
GP: Are there operas you have on a wish list, things you hope someday to perform in that house?
AK: You know, for Vienna, I would sing any role.
GP: Are you already making plans to perform in the 75th anniversary concert of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera?
AK: I'll probably just be sitting there in the loge and try to stand to make a grand little bow. [More laughter.]
Interview by Tim Smith for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in November 2006.
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