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Barbara Hannigan's Voices
Mine and the orchestra's
Interview by Helmut Failoni - La Lettura Il Corriere della Sera
The Canadian soprano conductor comes to our country: the first appointment will be on the podium of Santa Cecilia. "I propose contemporary repertoire: I love it, while so many avoid it. The performer everyone must listen to? Barbra Streisand."
"My mother always told me that already when I was, two, three years old, as soon as I heard music I would start to wiggling and to smiling. She said I was the picture of happiness for her. " from then, although more or less fifty more years have passed, singer (soprano) and conductor Barbara Hannigan's (1971) sunny attitude toward music seems unchanged. Her enthusiasm and passion blossom to floridly. And her openness to the most diverse sound universes appears unreserved. The chameleon-like Canadian musician in her 25-year career has worked to alongside masters such as Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano and composers such as György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez. He does not retreat from to anything. He is the embodiment of the joy of making music. With fire inside. One evening she can conduct Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen or become the protagonist of Alban Berg's Lulu and the next perhaps sing pieces by the medieval nun Hildegard von Bingen or interpret those that jazz musician John Zorn wrote for her.
"The Reading" caught up with her by phone to Gothenburg, Sweden, during a rehearsal break for one of the many concerts she gives as both conductor and soprano. From Sweden she will then move to Paris, Reykjavik, Zurich, Rome, Berlin, Naples and Spoleto (Perugia). Very often with different projects among others.
How does he choose such diverse and bold programs?
"In the repertoires I perform there is always my whole heart and soul. I never put something on the program that I don't believe in deeply."
Has it ever happened that a theater has said to you "this maybe better not..."?
No. My ideas about programs come from the trust and relationships I have with orchestras, audiences and organizers. They know there is always a why if I propose something, whether it is early music or contemporary."
[...]
Howdoes moving from the role of singer to to that of director, which you now hold from more than a decade ?
"I am always the same. Of course, however, when you are on the podium, the responsibility is enormous. But the most beautiful thing is that at that moment the understanding with the orchestra is born."
It happens to times that orchestral players are not immediately kind to a new conductor. That they want to test him.
He laughs. "One of my mentors gave me a piece of advice: if something negative happens, don't think it's directed to you, gloss over it. Besides, after all, real musicians recognize their peers, the authenticity between them. It only takes a few minutes."
She has from always had a very to heart for contemporary music.
"I loved the modern repertoire from from early on. And when I began to studying music, from naive, I was surprised that not everyone felt the same way. Many colleagues and colleagues really didn't want us to to have anything to do with that genre. I, on the other hand, what can I say...I feel inclined to it."
to By the way, John Zorz has written several songs for your voice. Can you tell us about them?
"Yes... We have been working together since 2015. He has composed five/six incredible things. I also find him enormously inspiring as a human being, not just musically. He has a unique care for the people who play with him. He has made me a better, stronger musician: working with him is a special part of my life. On July 7 I will return to the Spoleto Festival where I will perform his music with two different quartets, one classical and the other jazz. And on the 14th, also there, I will be with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra again, also for George Gerswin's Girl Crazy Suite."
Salvatore Sciarrino wrote for her.
In 2015 he composed The New Eurydice according to Rilke, using two poems by the great author. Then he dedicated Love & Fury (Songbook from Stradella) to me, which we premiered to Paris to December. She has a unique writing."
[...]
Where do you live now instead?
"The house is to Finistère, in Brittany."
Sea, nature...
"I need trees, forests, rivers, lakes, the sea, everything that is nature."
Doesn't it look good in the city?
"No, but when I work on it I am happy, solely, however, because I have music."
She created "Equilibrium" in 2017 and "Momentum" in 2020, two beautiful projects to support young musicians.
"They are a way of giving back to the musical world some of the kindness and help I received in the past. A duty, for me now that I can afford it."
Favorite singer now?
"Barbra Streisand. I wish all the singers ofopera could listen to her recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. She is incredible. Intelligent. Exciting. A great musician."
Read the full interview in La Lettura - Corriere della Sera