September 20 and 23 at the Latvian National Opera Dana and Raimonds Bramaņi will make their debut in the roles of Goa-Cho-Sana and Pinkerton in Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly”.
They have met on stage in “Traviata” before, but this time too will be special: the roles have been prepared long and carefully – during the pandemic, Dana and Raimonds have become vocal teachers and the biggest support for each other. We talk about this and other current issues in a Sunday morning interview.
Anete Ašmane: Right now you are coming straight from the rehearsal and you can definitely tell – what are the feelings?
Raimonds Bramanis: Yes, we have just survived it all on stage, and we will try to do everything so that we can add something to our debut. The feelings are fantastic – work has been invested, music has been lived; roles, as much as we could, we have developed, and now we are waiting for the audience to have magic and energy together with the stage and scenery – to make everything top!
How long have these roles been cooked?
Dana Bramane: We were lucky in a way with the pandemic because it was calm, easy and stress-free. It was enough time to work out every note, every word and emotion on the shelves. Really everything came in handy.
Raimonds Bramanis: We had such a cautious pandemic time, but it was time to take these roles seriously.
Are they special to you, long-dreamed, long-awaited?
Dana Bramane: For me, this is definitely one of the roles of dreams – I am really grateful to God that I have the opportunity to sing and survive right now. Fantastic role and fantastic character. And where else is the happiness that with a man on the same stage! Because we really like to sing together and that’s why it’s really nice.
Raimonds Bramanis: Yes, all the gods of the stage have taken care of all this, everything is connected, and we are together. As for my role as Pinkerton, I think any tenor could be happy about it. Puccini, Pinkerton as an image – an American officer – is a new challenge and a small promise for both me and Dana in her role. Yes, we are both pleasantly excited and thrilled, and at the same time we try not to lose concentration.
If I’m not mistaken, this isn’t the first time you’ve both met on stage. This has already happened in Traviata. How do you feel – does it help or maybe sometimes interfere?
Dana Bramane: In our case, there is excitement about the other person on stage while
we like to sing together – we have good emotions, we can blind each other, help each other, and all this gives us strength. And we think we are doing well.
Raimonds Bramanis: We concluded that being together on stage as stage partners is also special for us. Not only do we enjoy being together as a husband and wife, but as two artists who respect each other, feel very comfortable, and we can create together. So we are happy for every show we have together, and this is one of them. Of course, compassion requires even more strength than another partner on stage, but it is an integral part of our lives and that is why we are for each other. I very much hope that the audience will feel our mutual energy.
Dana Bramane: And the true love that vibrates between us.
However, neither “Traviata” nor “Madama Butterfly” story ends happily.
Raimonds Brmanis: It is very rare for those stories that end with a wedding, most of them – with someone’s death. Although there is a wedding here at the beginning and love is above all in this story, this story does not have a happy ending either.
Dana Bramane: But there is no soprano who would not like to die on stage …
This show will also be the beginning of your personal season.
Raimonds Bramanis: Exactly! This is the first show after the pandemic break, and we are glad that the opera house is open, the audience is coming and we very, very much hope that people will come to our show and see what we have so carefully cherished. There is still something to do today and something to “dig”.
Dana Bramane: We already have such a never-ending learning process – we grow, we grow, we correct so that something else can be improved. We have such a profession.
Does this mean that you do not relax at home, but grind games and roles?
Raimonds Bramanis: Definitely! It is already an integral part of our lives. It’s not a coat we take to the door and do something completely different. We live in an opera, we live in music, and now that we are preparing a show, we do not stop discussing it, analyzing it and improving ourselves.
How did you go through this long period of silence?
Raimonds Bramanis: We still treat this situation very responsibly. (..) It helped that we have music and also two wonderful boys, who were not bored at home at the time, because one goes to kindergarten, the other – to school. What was absolutely missing was the live audience, the stage and the musicians in the orchestra pit. Energy exchange. It was all missing and, thank God, it has all resumed.
Dana Bramane: At that time, we really realized that without music, we would definitely not be able to live.
More and more – in the record!
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