Last Friday, October 20, an important page in the history of opera was closed – the legendary German singer Waltraude Meyer ended her career. At the age of sixty-seven, she said goodbye to the stage with the role of Clytemnestra in the tragedy of Richard Strauss Elektrawhich was performed at the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden. It was an unforgettable evening on both sides of the stage, the ovation seemed endless – Waltraude Meier deserves it for everything she has achieved in forty-seven years of her creative life. She is a serious artist who has never indulged in sentiment and was succinct in her short thank-you speech to the Berlin audience: “I’ve said everything I wanted to in music. Thank you for being by my side the whole time! I have nothing more to say in music, so – bye! Goodbye!”
The audience didn’t let Valtraudi Meyer go for long, and after a moment she added: “I want to thank Daniel Barenboim. I’m thinking about him the whole time I’m singing tonight. He’ll be in my heart forever.”
There are no coincidences
It was originally intended that Electricity a series of performances at the Berlin State Opera in October will be conducted by maestro Barenboim, but he canceled it a long time ago due to health problems. This time Elektra sounded under the direction of conductor Markus Poschner. Daniel Barenboim has been one of the most constant companions of mezzo-soprano Waltraudes Meier. Also Elektra as the singer’s farewell greeting is not a random choice. There have been no coincidences in her career.
“I have long and carefully planned when and how my farewell from the stage will take place. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the death of director Patrice Chereau (1944-2013). He is the most important director in my career. On this anniversary, we honor Patrice Chereau with his directed Electricity renewal, and I am saying goodbye to the stage with the role of Clytemnestra,” explains Waltraude Meyer. In the summer of 2015, she sang her last Isolde in Richard Wagner’s opera at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich Tristan an Isoldewhile in the spring of 2016 at the Berlin State Opera under the direction of Daniel Barenboim – his last Kundri Wagner In Parsifal. In February of this year, Waltraude Meyer performed her last Wagner opera role – Waltrauti In the twilight of the gods At the Zemper Opera House in Dresden under the direction of conductor Kristians Thielemans (she has sung the Waltraute part for the longest time – since 1978). Waltraude Meier gave her last chamber music concert in Tokyo in March. “It was important for me to end different stages of my career deliberately and always at a time when I felt that I was still singing respectably,” she emphasizes.
All life in one view
Elektra is the last work of the great film, theater and opera director Patrice Chereau. Electricity premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the summer of 2013, a few months before his death. This production was later played in Milan, Berlin, Helsinki, Barcelona and New York – the title role was sung by Evelina Herlicius, Nina Stemme and Rikarda Merbet, and Clytaimnestra was played by Waltraude Meier in all cities. This is one of the few modern shows that has become a classic, Patrice Chereau’s production is a masterpiece and Electricity reading benchmark. This was once again proven by the October revival in Berlin: German soprano Rikarda Merbeta (Elektra), Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičūte (Chrysothemida), German tenor Stefans Rīgamer (Aigist) and Estonian baritone Lauri Vazars (Orestes) took part in it alongside Waltraude Meier. This is a drama filled with internal tension, where everything stems from the relationship of the characters. In the middle of the opera there is a large scene with Clytemnestra – it is a model of what an emotionally charged musical theater work should be. It was more than the pleasure of Waltraude Meyer’s performance, it was her character’s tragic, traumatic life that unfolded in this spectacle.
The artist is convinced that one of the main tasks on stage is to listen to what the partners sing – you need to know the text not only of your character, but also of the other characters, only in that case you can achieve absolute credibility and intensity of feelings. Every word, every gesture of Valtraude Meier’s Klytaimnestra is a response and a reaction to what other characters have expressed, as well as to what the heroine herself has experienced so far. Valtraude Meier’s mastery is manifested in her unique ability to present text and music in such a way that every word and its meaning is understandable. In her career, she has played psychologically complex characters, convincingly showing their history, biography and destiny.
In every role, Waltraude Meier has observed the context of each particular opera, the circumstances of its creation and primary sources, supplementing it with her own experience and taking into account the directors’ ideas. Waltraude Meyer believes: “A singer must fully understand the story of his character. When I played Clytemnestra, I identified with her. I have always identified with all the heroines I have played. It is an embodiment, not an interpretation – I immersed myself in the text and way of thinking of my character, I feel that image in my body and I have to accept it as my truth. That has always been the only way for me to play my characters. No irony – I have to believe in my character, I have to become that character. I must not play a comment or an opinion about character.” From working with director Klaus Michael Grieber, she has memorized: “You have to take every word of your role seriously, because at this moment they are my words. I must not distance myself from my character, I must not look at her from the outside – now I am this character.”
The moment of truth
Waltraude Meyer made her stage debut in 1976 in her native Bavarian city of Würzburg as Lola in Pietro Mascagni’s opera Honor of the farmer. In the history of opera, she will remain as an iconic interpreter of Wagner’s roles – Ortrude (Lohengrin), Venus (Tanheizers), Sieglinde (Valkyrie), Valtraute (Changing table of the gods), Izolde (Tristan an Isolde) un Kundri (Parsifal). From 1983 to 2018, Waltraude Meier has sung at the Bayreuth Festival. She brilliantly transformed into Leonora Ludwig van Beethoven Fidelio and Maria Albana Berg in Vocek. The artist’s repertoire also included French and Italian opera. She has always maintained that she only sings in the languages she speaks fluently. Even before turning to singing, Waltraude Meyer studied English and Romance languages, she planned to become a teacher of English and French.
Waltraude Meier considers it the most impressive moment in her career Tristana and Izoldes premiere in Milan Teatro alla Scala in the season opener in 2007 on December 7. “The performance was staged by Patrice Chereau, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. It was such an evening, at the end of which I felt that I had become a singer precisely because of such moments. Everything was exactly as it should be. I was able to understand my character and embody the character like never before . It was a moment of truth, both stage-wise and musically. It was fantastic.”
When asked what kind of future Waltraude Meier would like to see for the opera, the singer answers: “I want opera to focus not so much on the visual aspect as on the musical aspect. I am very happy that Daniela Barenboim will be replaced as musical director of the Berlin State Opera by Kristiāns Tīlemanis, because his priority is music. I wish the directors would pay more attention to the emotions. In other words, I wish there wasn’t too much noise on the stage and too much of everything that would make the audience exclaim: “Oh wow, there’s really a lot going on!” people would tell a story on stage, so that they express emotions and so that these emotions reach the audience. For me, what is important in opera is what artists are able to express, and what is transferred from person to person through music.”
2023-10-26 17:00:28
#word #role #legendary #singer #Waltraude #Meier #ended #career
