“It’s nice if you follow the same path, sing the same roles – everything calmly, without excessive nervousness, but… Lately I often get bored: maybe it’s related to my character, but I always want to experience and sing something new. You want to try something that is not logical,” laughs the world-famous Latvian opera singer Kristīne Opolais, who will make her debut this year… in the role of Carmen!
But the artist has plans in the near future a solo concert at the Latvian National Opera on the evening of February 3, which she will dedicate to the memory of Andrejs Žagar. “I miss him very much – as a friend, as a life teacher. (..) With Andrej’s passing, our opera has become empty and dark for me, and I’m not ashamed to say it – without Andrej, it lacks energy. So with my solo concert, I want to remember Andrej, and I hope that there will also be people in the hall who loved and respected him. This solo concert is an emotionally very important decision for me… It will be quite difficult to be on this stage, because Andrei’s energy will be missing. But I know – he will still be with us! “
Anete Ašmane-Vilsone: Is it true that ten years have already passed since your previous solo concert at the Latvian National Opera? At least that’s what the publicity materials for the concert say.
Kristine Opolais: I think this number is a bit exaggerated. (laughs) My previous solo concert at the Opera was in 2016, and it was organized by Andrejs Žagar. Because ten years probably won’t be there yet. (laughs)
Andrejs Žagar will be honored in your latest concert program. It must be special for you – when you return to the stage of the National Opera, you also remember Andreja…
Yes, definitely… This was also the most important reason why I wanted to return to the stage of the Latvian National Opera.
I have said more than once that for me everything is connected with Andrej and the opportunities he gave me… I miss him a lot – as a friend, as a life teacher. He always followed my journeys and role debuts. With Andrej’s departure, our opera has become empty and dark for me, and I am not ashamed to say it – without Andrej, it lacks energy. So with my solo concert, I want to remember Andrej, and I hope that there will be people in the hall who loved and respected him. Solo concert – it is an emotionally very important decision for me, because it is quite difficult for me to be on this stage, because I know that I will miss Andrej’s energy. But I know – he will still be with us! Therefore, I will sing not only for my beloved viewers, who miss me, just as I miss them very much – I think that everyone who loves me respected and loved Andreja as well. So I hope for a beautiful evening with a nice exchange of energy.
Or did you come up with the program of your solo concert thinking about Andreja Žagar? Excerpts from the operas of Francesco Chilea, Giuseppe Verdi, Pietro Mascagni, Giacomo Puccini, Antonín Dvořák will be heard, which were and are relevant in your creative everyday life.
First of all, I wanted to sing those arias that I really like and that appeal to me – Andrejs always trusted my intuition a lot. But there will also be arias that Andrej really wanted me to sing in the future – we talk a lot about the future, about future projects, we dreamed that we could make a cool Manon Lesko. Therefore, there will definitely be something from Puccini as well.
I will also sing one aria, which sounded in 2011 – at my first solo concert, which was organized by Andrejs at our Opera. We both really enjoyed the rarely played Fidelia aria from Puccini’s Edgar. Andrej really liked it… That’s why I really want to repeat it – I haven’t sung it since 2011. It will be a very emotional moment for me…
There will also be Adriana Lecouvreur – still my new role, yes, singers need time to sing roles, so I will gladly sing something from my new repertoire, as well as some arias that I know – I will sing them in the future. For example, some arias from Verdi. So the program will be colorful, very diverse. There will also definitely be Dvořák’s Mermaid aria. None of my concerts take place without Nara! (laughs) Andrej knew this and was present both in Munich and in New York when I sang the Mermaid in the new productions: he really liked how I created this role. And he always taught me – don’t just be sweet, sweet or weak, you always find your strengths in every character! Even if it seems like a very romantic and sweet image, there should always be a subtext in it. We talked about it a lot. Well, if everything goes well, there will also be something in the side dishes – something that all opera lovers know.
If we dwell on Andrej Žagar: what else did he teach you besides the ones already mentioned? Maybe there is another bright advice he gave that is useful in everyday life?
What Andrej taught me from the very beginning – how to behave on stage, how to act, but remain true. How to act without acting and such secrets he has revealed to me. It still helps me to fully commit to the role. Open your soul to each role. Not to imagine, but to live. To live the particular character, to live the particular life. And I think so
this is also the main thing that binds me in this art – not only singing, but exactly the wonderful feeling that all dramatic actors also experience: it is a wonderful world in which we can live – we understand people with different characters and destinies.
We can live it all in three hours or in one aria, singing a specific text and creating a specific character for a short time. It is the most beautiful and important thing that always calls me to return to the stage – nothing has changed in this respect. It is an opportunity to experience different characters.
And on this Friday, you will be able to experience quite a variety of characters together with our National Opera Orchestra and conductor Mārtinas Ozoliņa. It is commonly said that musicians who have developed their artistic careers outside their homeland find it difficult to return home and sing to their audiences. But what is it like to collaborate with musicians in the homeland?
It’s hard, yes. I don’t know what it is about, but it would be much easier for me to go and sing in London, for example. I was just in Lisbon. Elsewhere there is no excitement, but at home it is always there. I think it is related to that
people always tend to compare the particular artist with his performance that they have heard before. People don’t see you as you are now, but always compare. That’s why it’s always difficult to sing at home, because at home, along with compliments, we are told that “so-and-so has improved”. (laughs) You are not really seen as a person.
But of course this does not apply to the people who love you. People are different and that should be accepted. My job is to open all hearts. But our Opera Orchestra is my first orchestra, it will be like a homecoming for me. And as a result, where there are many emotions, there is always excitement. Mārtiņas and I haven’t made music together for a long time either. But I think everything will be fine. The first day of rehearsal might be strange, but we are all professionals and the main thing is really to make music – not to try to control the process, but to enjoy it. Enjoy the music.
The full text of the conversation will soon be available on the public media portal lsm.lv.
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