Talks with Contemporary Creatives

Named as one of the leading dramatic mezzo-sopranos of today, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner has an international standing, performing in Bayreuth Festival, Edinburgh Festival, London Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, etc. Being a member of the Frankfurt Opera since 2009 she gifted the world roles that don’t fade. Her debut in Salzburg festival was in 2010 and today she completes the triangle of R. Strauss Elektra, alongside Lithuanians Asmik Grigorian and Aušrinė Stundytė. In the interview she discusses Klytämnestra in Warlikowski’s directing, how she is dealing with quarantine, and what is most important for teaching the new generation of opera singers.

New York-based African American mezzo-contralto Bonita Hyman has performed on some of the world’s leading stages, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Dallas Opera, the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the Leipzig Opera, and with a repertoire that includes Maria    (Porgy and Bess), Erda (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Azucena (Il trovatore), Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), Bradamante (Alcina), and Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande). She first approached Richard Strauss’ Elektra and the role of the Erste Magd in 2013 with the acclaimed Patrice Chéreau production that went on to have eight revivals at La Scala, Milan (2014 and 2018), the Metropolitan Opera in New York (2016), the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki (2016), the Berlin State Opera (2016 and 2019) and the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (2016). This ninth staging is a new production by Krzysztof Warlikowski, presented in this year's 100th anniversary of the Salzburg Festival. In the interview, she compares the two stagings of Elektra, her collaboration with UNICEF this month, and dives deep into the different effects of female oppression that lay at the foundation of this opera.

French soprano Elsa Dreisig today is a beneficiary of the Liz Mohn Culture and Music Foundation at the Staatsoper Berlin’s International Opera Studio and a member of the Opéra-Théâtre de Clermont-Ferrand. In 2015 she won second prize in the Queen Sonja international music competition in Norway and since then singer can often be found performing at song recitals and concerts. Her Fiordiligi debut in Berlin was abruptly canceled due to the pandemic restrictions this spring. Eager to get back to work, Elsa Dreisig is offered to bring this role on stage in the 100th Salzburg festival this summer. W. A. Mozart‘s Cosi Fan Tutte staged by Christof Loy was an unexpected new project, uniting such singers as Marianne Crebassa, Andre Schuen, Bogdan Volkov, Lea Desandre and Johannes Martin Kränzle. In the interview soprano Elsa Dreising elaborates on the rehearsing process of Cosi Fan Tutte during the times of pandemic, her approach to Fiordiligi, and her take on opera singer‘s life today.

This year at the beginning of the Salzburg festival British conductor Ivor Bolton leads Mozarteumsorchester Salzburg performing a program of W. A. Mozart - Missa c-Moll, Adagio und Fuge für Streicher c-Moll, and Vesperae solennes de Confessore für Soli, gemischten Chor, Orchester und Orgel C-Dur. Ivor Bolton today is balancing his responsibilities as Chief Conductor of the Basel Sinfonieorchester, Artistic Director of the Teatro Real in Madrid, Chief Conductor of the Dresden Festival Orchestra and Conductor Laureat of the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg. In the UK he has been Music Director of English Touring Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and Chief Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. His many recordings, apart from those with the Mozarteumorchester, include Monteverdi’s Poppea and Handel’s Xerces and Ariodante at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Shortly interviewed on the morning of festivals opening, conductor opens up about his 21 years of history in Salzburg festival and the situation this year that shook the classical music world as a whole.

Swedish/American composer Matthew Peterson is an independent, vital voice in the new opera world. He studied at Gotland School of Music Composition, Indiana University School of Music, and St. Olaf College. As his varied education, the music of this composer too defies categorization and reaches many different genres. His dynamic socially relevant true-crime opera Voir Dire (French - to speak the truth) was in the making for many years and went through a series of rejections and rewrites due to it’s a straightforward portray of today’s justice system, unequipped to account for the human element. The opera is based on real court cases, witnessed by lyricist Jason Zencka. Therefore Voir Dire drills into the real tragedies of ordinary people, presenting a bitter critique of the situation. Themes of drug abuse, fractured families, economic precarity, and sexual violence are openly explored on stage, causing mild and diverse reactions from the public. Therefore opera is raising major societal debates of the present day. After many years, in 2020, opera once again changes its skin as an audio recording of it is being made and released publicly. On this occasion, in an interview, opera’s composer Matthew Peterson discusses public reactions to the Voir Dire and challenges as well as creative opportunities while fitting opera into an audio recording format.

This year in the jubilee of Salzburg festival an unexpected staging of W. A. Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte stars Bogdan Volkov - a Ukrainian tenor, who after studies at the Glier Kiev Institute of Music and Tchaikovsky Kiev National Academy of Music, works in Moscow Bolshoi theater.  Since 2013 he was a member of the Young Artists Program and later, since January 2016, he has been a principal soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre. Bogdan Volkov has toured with the theater to Austria,  Switzerland, France, Hong Kong Arts Festival, and Lincoln Centre Festival. In the interview, tenor elaborates on his unexpected debut in Salzburg festival, the lifestyle of an opera singer, and the spirituality he finds on stage.

Simrit Kaur's music sound merges neo-psychedelic and world beat artistry in one phenomenal musical experience. Through the career of only seven years, her top-charting albums fuse her different musical influences. Growing up between Athens, Greece, and the American South, she is grounded in sacred musical traditions - Greek Orthodox Church and Kundalini Yoga. Her richly varied compositions are soundscapes that transcend genre, musical convention, and international borders. In the interview, Simrit discusses her Greek origins, tour fashion, and voice courses "The Supreme Sound".

French pianist Helene Papadopoulos stands out complex, restless, and highly sensitive approach to music. She seeks deep insight into playing the piano, always looking for new knowledge and sources of inspiration. Her unconventional musical projects, original concert programs, detailed and scrupulous interpretations of traditional and contemporary repertoire brings healing and change for her listeners. The musician's life companion - the music of J. S. Bach - inspires her to cooperate with other contemporary composers in order to develop new musical languages based on the great baroque composer. In the interview,  pianist discusses the meaning music brings to her everyday life, helping with stress this year has brought on everybody.  

The portrait CD "Jusqu’à l’aurore" comes from Thomas Wally - contemporary Austrian composer, violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna Opera Orchestra, and lecturer in the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. A portrait recording was one of his long term professional goals - he views it almost as a business card of a composer, which allows us to take a listen and get to know him as well as his sound and compositional work. The recording celebrates a decade of T. Wally's musical creativity and a long close collaboration with the Mondrian ensemble, with whom the composer shared the trust to record his pieces. Musician elaborates on the concept of his CD, retrospective of his compositions, and a long story of making his dream come into fruition.

From the mother's side Lithuanian and from the father's side Latvian pianist Iveta Calite is known as a devoted chamber musician. She had finished her chamber music studies in Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Her performances took place in such festivals as Stockholm Piano Festival, Aurora Music Festival, “Young Latvian chamber musicians-Saulkrasti” and “Svensk musikvår”. Right after quarantine at the end of summer, she is planning a trip to Lithuania to perform an all Ravel program in Paliesius Estate. In the interview, the pianist speaks on her inner calmness of the quarantine, memories from studies, and her fascination with Ravel‘s music.