Latest / Erstklassisch mit Mischke - Klassik hautnah / Ermonela Jaho: „Singen gab meiner Seele Freiheit“
Transcript
- Es ist so schwierig, zurückzukommen und manchmal dauert es mir die ganze Nacht, vielleicht zwei Tage, zurückzukommen, zur Realität zurückzukommen. Erstklassisch mit Mischke, der musikalische Podcast des Hamburger Abendblatts. Music. Schönen guten Tag zu einer neuen Folge. Wer sie engagiert, bekommt keine Stimmbesitzerin, sondern ein kleines Gesamtkunstwerk. hat der Münchner Merkur mal über sie geschrieben, als sie dort die Angelika in Puccini's Tritico gesungen hat. Jetzt hat die Staatsoper sie, dieses Gesamtkunstwerk zu bieten, in der Titelrolle von Donizetti's Maria Stoada. Das inszeniert gerade, wenn wir sprechen, Karin Bayer, die Schauspielhaus-Intendantin, die Proben laufen noch in diesen Tagen. Mein Gast stammt aus Albanien und wollte eigentlich wie viele Mädchen Popstar werden. Das hat nicht ganz geklappt. Eine Traviata in Tirana auf Albanisch hat das lebenslänglich geändert. Das war ihr erster Opernbesuch überhaupt. Und sie hat damals offenbar ihrem Bruder gesagt, ich werde Opernsängerin und wenn ich diese Oper nicht wenigstens einmal in meinem Leben singen kann, dann sterbe ich. Beides hat geklappt, also das Sterben nicht, aber alles andere, sie hat die Rolle schon ungefähr 300 Mal gesungen. Die New York Times nennt sie gern Lajaho, ihr ganzer Name ist Hermone Lajaho. Und ich versuche es jetzt mal auf sowas, was albanisch sein könnte. Tieta Dite Temire. I don't know whether that's right or wrong or completely bullshit. Was ist das Albanian? Nein, nein, Ditenemir. Ja, es ist Albanian. Es bedeutet ein guter Tag. Du bist sehr freundlich. Vielen Dank. Danke, dass ich mich mitnehmen. Und übrigens, falls Sie jetzt schon neugierig geworden sind, wer in diesem Podcast schon zu Gast war und von sich und von seinem Job erzählt, hat Sie finden Erstklassisch mit Mischke, auf abendblatt.de und auf allen anderen guten Podcast-Adressen und so. Fünf Sterne aufwärts wäre schön als Bewertung. Das freut uns und hilft uns, aber jetzt fangen wir mal an. Mein Albanisch ist nicht vorhanden, also werden wir auf Englisch sprechen, aber das kriegen wir bestimmt hin. So the first tough question. I found a quote that you said once, the bigger the dream, the bigger the sacrifices. So I have to ask, what was your dream and what did you have to sacrifice for that? My dream, it was to become the artist that I became today. But when you start the dream when you are 14 years old, 15 years old, you know, as a teenager, you know, we don't have, everything is possible because we go for that and we don't think about what is coming behind. So the sacrifices, of course, leaving my country, it was really difficult because, as you know, Albania, it was for almost 50 years, 45, 50 years under communism. So it was so isolated. And I lived to the last years of communism, but I've seen the sacrifices of my family, of the whole country. And somehow the mentality, it was completely different to change radically the way I lived in Albania to go out of Albania. And I left my country, I went to Italy with big dreams, but the sacrifices were being away from family, without money. Und es war alles, das ist ein Traum in meinem und die Sacrifice ist, du musst, du musst, du musst, du musst. Um dich zu tun, dass du es wert bist, weil in der Zeit, Joachim 1993, wenn ich in Albanien lefte, Albanien für den ganzen Welt war, die Menschen, die kamen als refugees, und nicht alle wusste, Albania. And somehow I had to pay for the, you know, for those, if I would say that in a simple way, that. Negative examples you know, that certain Albanians had, you know, around the world, you know, as you know, all those bad examples. And when I said, I'm coming from Albania and for the world it was the Albania of the people they were into the drugs, into all of the bad, that kind of bad life. So to win that kind of mentality it was so hard for me to be you know, a teenager a girl, 18 years old with these big dreams but yeah so, I started to work as a babysitter or a lady cleaning the houses, you know. And yeah, it was harsh because I didn't have money even to pay a ticket to go to have an audition. So it was hard. And somehow, the time, tested my dream. Das war es so, ich hatte Moments, dass ich dachte... Und Ihr Vater? Ich habe das Vater in den Militär. Ich weiß nicht, was die Situation war. War es noch schlimmer, weil Sie nicht mehr verletzten, weil Ihr Vater war Teil des Systemen und er wurde in die Probleme? Was war das so? Nein, weil es nach der Kommunikation alles verändert. Es war die Transition in Albanien, wenn Enver Hoca died. Und ich glaube, 1993 war alles verändert. Mein Vater, er war in der Militär. Aber wenn alles verändert, mein Vater, er hat sich geändert. Weil all die Leute, die in der System gearbeitet haben. Waren komplett aus der neuen System, wenn ich so sagen. So, no, but I won. Actually, I left my country in 1993. But my story, it was a little different, because in that period, Albania was opened, you know, started to open towards the world. So it was before me, the generations before me, they were completely forbidden to go out to Albania. But in 1993, it was better. Albania started to open to the world. So I won a competition. Katja Ricciarelli, the famous opera singer in the past, she came to Albania and I was chosen from her, one of the students that she picked, you know, to have this master class. Oder der Academy, der Summer Academy in Italy. So ich habe das angefangen. Aber ich habe meine Lande mit meinem Geld, mit meinem Traum. So zu faceen, die Situation außerhalb der Albanien, es war nicht so schön, wie ich imagine. Denn wenn wir in der Nähe des Closen, wir denken, dass alles aus Albanien, aus unserer Lande, war es ein Paradies. Aber es war nicht so. So, and yeah, like everyone, you know, when you start the first steps, yeah, that's the sacrifice that I was talking about and being so close to being Mediterranean, if you know, especially Balkan, you know, countries, we are so close to our families. And suddenly I left my country and I didn't expect that it was so radically, you know, that cut with my family. And yes, it was so difficult to be away from the mentality, from my family, from your roots. And those difficulties, those times, they tested my dream. I had moments that I wanted just to let it go or to quit because it felt so difficult. But it was my passion. I think maybe the singing, it was the freedom of my soul somehow. And I continued, I continued. And I think those difficulties, those sacrifices made and shaped my soul to be an artist. Because all the operas, all the theatre, it's about the human feelings in extreme mode. So, universal human feelings, like the sacrifices, suffering, you know, everything in extreme. And I think they fitted perfectly, you know, with me. And they gave me that archive of emotion that I could channel them, you know, during my singing. And it became that kind of sufferance. The weakest, let's say, point became my strongest one. So the sentences, so the stupid sentence is true, no pain, no gain. Bravo, exactly. No pain, no gain Even for the dream Always when we dream Because we have to start from somewhere, And the dream It feels so beautifully To go in the dimension Everything is going to be like this and like that I was dreaming to become an opera singer, And I saw the first time Traviata in Albania And I was 14 And I decided now I'll become an opera singer And I'm not going to die without, Singing Traviata once in my life But after the story now, the journey, this moment that we are talking together, I've sung Traviata 320 times and I'm so proud. I made it. It was really difficult, but I made it because when you want something, you know, desperately, it's something that it's part of you. Or like everyone, I found myself channeling my feelings in singing, someone in writing, someone else in other things, you know. And yeah, no pain, no gain. And I think those emotions built and built the soul of an artist that I became today. So, yeah. So, was there a special moment when you found out, okay, I sing okay, but now I'm actually an opera singer? Was there one performance, one evening, one song, whatever, when you thought, okay, this is it, it's really true, I have to be an opera singer? Or was it not like that? Because I think maybe the first performance was the one to get you hooked. I don't know. The first performance, first one, it was when I saw Traviata in Albania. Yeah, but the first performance of yourself. I mean, when you were yourself. Myself, you're right. Meine erste performance, ich habe es begonnen, als ich ein Kind habe, mit den Kindern, die ich singe habe. Und für mich, die stage war etwas speciales. Für die Operat, ich habe es in Albania, weil ich habe ein Operata gesangt, mit Traviata. Es war in eine Konzert form, Traviata in Albania. Und ich liebe das Sensation. Es waren die kleinen ersten Schritte. But I loved that sensation and it became more and more and more every time I went on stage. When I went to Italy, the concerts, the La Boheme that I've sung the first time in Italy, or when I won the first competition in Milan, I've sung Amico Fritz Mascagni. But every time, even now, Joachim, every time I'm on stage or every time I rehearse, so magic I cannot explain that it convinces me that I made the right choice but every time I was on stage. It felt like I don't want to be presumptuous saying that I belonged on stage but I don't know I felt that kind of freedom that I could I felt home if I would say that I felt home it was something things that I couldn't say that louder or because, you know, the society, it was there, it's today, we are so judgmental and the staging somehow became like a therapy, like that nest that I could scream, I could say everything and not be judged as Hermonella, but judged for the character that I was singing. So it became that kind of, I'm not, I don't want to say the comfortable zone, but for my soul, it was something so special. And still today it is like that. So, yeah. Is there anything left for you to be afraid of? Because you've died so many times on stage, I think there's no fear left. At least, even as Violetta in Traviata, you've died 320 times, and then you die in all the other operas as well. So, nothing to be afraid of anymore. No, it's interesting, Joaquin, because more, I repeat that, more especially with age now with my experience as an artist and as a human being I understand more the vulnerability of life itself and somehow you appreciate those moments those little moments and yeah. I'm not afraid sometimes it feels a little weird if I have to do something in some operas like Rondine, oder no one dies at the end because it became so natural but it's part of life as well because in that way you understand afterwards, You appreciate even the little things, the simple things in life. So somehow it became not just a profession for me, but it became my therapy, my catharsis. And I feel so comfortable. And so I can go more and more. Sometimes I'm telling to myself, like in Traviata, Sor Angelico, Madame Butterfly, and so go on. It feels like, oh my God, I can give more than that. Just, you know, I have to die for sure on stage. the dream of every singer just to die on stage and to live this life, dreaming let's say Is this the most fun part maybe this is a silly question but is this the most fun part of being on stage in an opera to die at the end because that's the most extreme and intense thing you can do on a stage, and maybe I don't know maybe you look ahead every time you sing Traviata oh I can't wait to die because that's the best part of my part at all. All the rest is okay, but dying is the greatest thing. No, because it's the conclusion. At the end, you know, it's the conclusion of our lives and the life of Traviata, of Jojo-san, of Butterfly. But not because it's so fun. It's not about that, but it's the whole journey. The whole journey. You know, you see everyone. Because in this opera I see love in an unconditional way, We all want to be loved and to live the unconditional love, which sometimes is so ethereal or so impossible. But we are lucky to live that on stage. So somehow, yeah. But I have to feel that kind of emotion. It's not only about the death. And it's not the death. It's more, you know, what is beyond that. Es ist mehr wie, es ist eine catharsis. Es ist etwas, dass du dich und du reibst über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über und über. Und es impacts dich als ein humaner Mensch. Because, ja, wir verstehen die little things, wie wichtig es sich zu lieben, wie wichtig es sich zu lieben, wie wichtig es sich zu lieben, einfach Dinge zu lieben. Und weil nur in das Art, wir connect die humaner Mensch. Wir connect, you know, durch die Pain, durch die Joy. Why not? But we learn from pain and we understand through all this world so extreme, let's say. We understand, you know, the precious, the beauty and the vulnerability of life because no one is going to live forever. So somehow, yeah, it becomes your therapy or catharsis and not because I'm waiting for her, for the characters to die at the end, but it's the whole journey. And somehow, maybe it's going to sound silly or stupid and crazy and somehow I prepared myself. So anything can come right now even to leave this world it's not going to be a surprise you know and yeah you accept life like it is you know and yeah maybe, tomorrow or next time when we'll have this conversation together maybe I'm going to say something else but at the moment it feels like that yeah okay, I found a quote in the New York Times you said that after a performance you feel completely empty, you gave everything I don't even want to come on stage for the applause I want to leave, I'm shattered, is that the worst possible feeling or the best possible feeling for an opera singer? To be completely done empty, burned out vanished, what's it like then leaving the stage, getting back into your room How long does it take for you to be yourself again? I don't know, maybe it's just like and you're back to normal or it takes you an hour or three hours or the night, I have no idea. Oh yeah, it's an interesting question. I cannot say if it's the best thing or worst thing to feel in that moment but you feel complete. Yes, I have those moments giving so much because now I think it's my first and last show of my life when I go on stage and when you give so much at the end yes, it feels like um. Ich weiß, es ist das Gefühl, es ist das Gefühl, es ist das Emptiness, es ist so schwierig zu kommen. Und manchmal dauert es mir eine ganze Nacht, vielleicht zwei Tage, um zu kommen zurück zu der Realität. Und ja, ich habe die Momente, dass ich sage, okay, warum ich nicht auf der Stage sterbe und das Leben leben? Ich bin mein Traum. In den Momenten, wenn du zurückkommst, du denkst, okay, da sind andere Dinge zu finden. So es ist ein weird, ein strange, Sensation. Ja, es dauert lange Zeit zu kommen, Joaquin. Aber nicht jede performance ist so, dass. Es passiert, wenn es magic ist, wenn du, das nicht so oft passiert, wenn du Kollegen nicht nur über die Note denken, die Technik, die Voice, They are the tools to express the feelings, the emotion that we are giving to the public, okay? And sometimes when you have the conductor, which, you know, together we put in those kind of emotion, it becomes, you know, all those powerful forces from energies, from everyone, and reproduces that kind of magic on stage. Und wenn du diese Momente hast, ja, es ist etwas, was ich kann nicht express, ich kann nicht sagen, ich kann nicht mit den Worten, aber es bringt dir eine andere Dimension. Es fühlt sich so, wie ein Leaves, wie du fließt, wie du fließt, wie du mehr auf den Boden fühlst. Es fühlt sich wie die Soul fließt. Es ist schön, absolut. Aber es ist eine kleine Idee. Aber der Problem ist, dass es ein Problem ist, dass es ein bisschen schwer ist und es dauert. Es dauert Zeit, weil du nicht so leichter switch bist. Weil ich es nicht so mache, weil ich ein Psychopath habe, aber es dauert Zeit. Und du gehen zurück und zurück und zurück und zurück und zurück. Ja, ja. Okay, so... Wenn ich nicht so fühle, dann ist das jetzt in diesem Moment, ja, bitte. Okay, so one of these maybe silly questions, but since one of your trademarks is not singing really loud, but getting the audience by intense soft singing, what is actually harder, singing loud or singing soft? This is a technical question, but an emotional question as well, because you can overwhelm the audience by shouting and getting into the last corner of the hall. Or you can just be silent, as silent as possible and get them towards you. But I don't know what's easier for you. Okay. It depends on which character you are singing. Let's have an example. If I have Traviata or Suor Angelica, yes, you have the explosion when she is desperate and she's asking help from the gods to bring her to meet her child because she committed a suicide. And of course, I can scream, I can be loud because it's the emotion asks about that. And you have that kind of sufferance. Still, it remains in the character. The tears of her soul crying for her child. And it's written. So they are different. So it's not, I want it to be, I try to use the technique. I'm not saying it's harder or easier to do. But as far as I express that kind of emotion. Yes, you're absolutely right. When you have the explosion, of course, I scream as well. But you have the other, like singing. Sometimes it's like in life, we want to be heard, but sometimes it's something that you want that for yourself. Of course, we have the public and there it comes the soft singing, but it's the soul, like, you know, the sound of the soul, I call it, because we have to find the imagination to give that kind of emotion. And both of them are, you know, as far as they give, they give the emotion. Technically, I work, I still am working today, technically speaking, because the technique gives to me the tools how to express the emotion, you know, because it's not just singing louder or soft. Oder der Emotion, Louder Emotions, you know, the Explosion and the Intern, really inside Emotion. So, and, uh. We can say that in technical expressions, louder or soft, but they are both different emotions. And for me, yes, as far as I'm believable, they are true. So I cannot say it's more difficult than this or the other one, as far as they are believable and they reach the public. Okay. You're a regular guest at the Met in New York. You're singing in London all the time, more or less. So you are more often, I guess, in more traditional productions. And now you're working with Karin Bayer as a director here. She's leading a big theater here in Hamburg. And she is a director of the more or less, I don't know whether you know the term, Regie Theater, whether we heard this. So the special European or even more German version of doing things differently on stage in an opera or in theater. What was it like to work? What is it like to work with her now? Weil du noch in den Rehearsalen bist und ist es kompliziert, weil du an etwas anderes benutzt bist, wie Lush-Kostumst und Kasteln und was auch immer, und jetzt habe ich keine Ahnung, wie die Szene aussieht, wie die Produktion aussieht. Aber was ist der Arbeit mit jemandem von dieser Schule, der so anders denkt als die Direktor der Met oder der Covent Garden? I love very much to work with Karin. It's the first time working with her. And really, she's someone that comes from the theatre, which I love it. I love it. Especially, it's so difficult working when you do this kind of opera, the bel canto, because it's the repetition, the agility, the cabaletta, aria, repeating and repeating. And sometimes we've seen a certain production just staying there, standing, Und mit Karin, es ist fantastisch, weil es kommt von Theater und der Subjekt. Wir sprechen von Maria Estuarda. Es ist ein historischer Figur, die wir heute noch haben. Es ist sehr wichtig zu bringen das Power von Theater auf die Stage. Es ist es, es ist, es ist, wie ich gesagt habe, wir brauchen die Szene. We need the sound, we need the technique, but, you know, to give those emotion. Because we cannot just sing in the notes when we are talking about the life of this queen. And the confrontation that I have, it's so strong. The words are, you know, great violence. And you cannot stay here like this and just sing in the notes. And with Karin, I love her because we are singing the piece of theater. And it's fantastic. It's between, you know, classic and not, you know, tradition and not. But it's a piece of theatre. And the way how she's working, I love it because I'm discovering maybe at this stage of my career, I'm looking for more emotion because I died so many times for 32 years and I need something, you know, different now. Und in dieser Bel Canto-Opera, mit Karin, es ist fantastisch, weil jeder breath, jeder pausa, jeder Wort, jeder movement hat eine meaning. Und es ist etwas, ich habe Maria Estuarda in den letzten Jahren, in wirklich traditionell, traditionell. Stage. But with Karin, I love it because we are working together and we are going to the guts of the story. So the music is so bel canto, so soft sometimes, but the words are so strong. So we are trying to give that kind of tragedy because it's a tragedy the way when Maria Suarda, she's going to be executed, you know. And the confrontation with Queen Elisabeth. So it's a piece of theatre and a work of caring. And sometimes I don't think that she's coming from the theatre or she never, I don't know how many operas she staged already, but the sense of the theatre and her sensibility, it's a great pleasure to work with. And still we are in process, you know, work, und we are in progress right now but let's hope that we'll make it you know, to reach that kind of intensity. We want to leave the public like, you know, really, is she dying? is she doing this? Are they killing each other? so we are going towards that hopefully it will be okay with the orchestra with the singing but sometimes, even to compromise a little bit the singing, it's good it's good because you are more believable because it's so real, screaming sometimes the singers are afraid to scream because oh my god. Aber die Sprüche, die Sprüche, die Sprüche, die Sprüche sind, wie in der Welt. Als wir jetzt sprechen, wird es nicht schön sein, aber nach zehn Minuten wird es nicht schön sein. Die Publikation wird sagen, okay, ich habe Sie, Sie singen, aber ich brauche etwas mehr. Und die Geschichte ist eine unglaubliche Geschichte. Historisch gesprochen, alle haben die Geschichte geschrieben geschrieben. Wir haben die Materialien da. Und es ist schön, und ich bin so froh, dass ich Teil von dieser Produktion habe. Wir haben viel Zeit zu gehen, zu finden, zu finden, zu finden, jede Wort, jede Note. Und es wird, hoffentlich, wirklich, wir werden es geben, das Kind der Drama, das Kind der, wow, Explosion auf dem stage. Karin, sie ist fantastisch. Ich liebe sie. Ich liebe sie. Und manchmal ist es gut zu haben eine Stage Director kommen aus dem Theater. Es ist sehr gut. Weil, wie ich sage, manchmal ist es schön, zu bleiben. Aber jetzt ist es der Theater, weil wir haben diese Competition mit der Musiker, mit der Movie, und die Opern hat sich auf der gleichen Level. Wir sind eigentlich stärker weil wir haben die Live-Performance. We have the stage, we have the orchestra so it has to be more powerful and to have that, really you have to let it go, without thinking okay, why not it's going to go. Out, who cares she's angry so to be angry, we are not angry with beautiful voice, we scream that would be believable, as far as is believable, of course, because we can do everything, but if we are ridiculous, the public is going to, yeah and now you're completely spoiled for these Park & Park productions, where you just have a sign on the stage, you stand there for an hour and sing, and then you go to another sign and then the opera is over. You're completely spoiled now because you've seen something else. Sorry, I didn't understand. No, you're completely spoiled for Park & Park productions, where you just stand on the spot and sing until you're done, because that's really boring now after experiencing something like this. Yeah, more than boring. The opera today is different because as I told you now we have to be, for example okay, let's say let's take Madame Butterfly or Traviata or even Bohème, okay, Bohème, she Mimi at the end, she dies because she, okay, because she's sick you cannot stand there and say I'm sick, I'm dying with Traviata really you have, it's a theater sometimes the singers, the artists because of the insecurity of the technical things or... Und wir werden ein bisschen mehr Static No, es ist opera Es ist opera So, ich prefer Ich habe, Ich habe mit Zeffiarelli Ich habe mit People wirklich, Tradition Which, they are beautiful Because they have their beauty Okay, the costume And everything But to be more theatrical I like it It's challenging And I love it more now because maybe for such a long time I went, you know, I was this queen without moving too much, being really, but now maybe I understand more we know more and professionally speaking, as a human being as well after such many, many years, you know you want to discover a little bit more because that's the connection that you have with the public, yeah. What would you say to someone who says to you Oprah, I don't understand the story This is elitist stuff. This music is too long. The music is from the museum. Why should I go there? What does this have to do with my life? Exactly. This is the reason. Why? Because it's our duty as artists. And I'm talking not about myself, but the whole machine, let's say, the stage director, the conductor, everyone. We have to bring it to life. Because at the end, we are talking about power, about love, about death, about passion. It was there in that time. But today we have the same thing, the power, the fight of who's the most powerful. The world is changing today because of those things, those feelings, let's say, that kind of feelings. So in the opera, we have the same. We have to make it believable. App. Und, ja, es kann nicht für L8 sein, ich bin sorry, aber es sehr wichtig ist, wie wir den Oper aufbauen bringen. Wenn wir nicht sagen, wir sagen nichts, nur singen die Norte und die Worte, ist es natürlich, niemand will da gehen. Even ich, ich möchte nicht gehen und sehen einen Opern wie das. So, no, I would say that they have to go to the opera and it comes, you know, it's important that the opera houses, they have to have the productions, you know, to be meaningful and to highlight those human feelings. Emphasize the universal that doesn't matter. It was 500 or 1,000 years ago. Still, the humanity is today. Still, we are talking about those feelings, but it depends how we bring that. We have to be believable. Now everything became so, I'm not saying superficial, maybe a little bit. And with the artificial intelligence, yes, it can help in every other thing, but not in the culture, not in the art, because the human soul, the human voice never, ever can be replaced. Of course, it's going to help in medicine, in other fields, but artificial intelligence, maybe because I want to convince myself about that, I don't know. But the humanity, we need to connect because of our emotion, our guts. We need to cry, we need to smile together. But it depends how we artists, we can expose that and to give that to the public. So it's not old. If it's old, because it's our fault. Never is going to be old because life show it's that form of art sublime because you have the costume you have the orchestra you have the dance you have the lighting so it's the whole. Art in all of these fields they are together in opera and opera is so powerful but I'm repeating depends how we bring this or this form, art on stage. If we bring that light to an old, of course, no one, even myself, I swear, I'm telling you the truth, even myself, I'm not interested to go to see that. I want to be moved. I want to be moved. I want to be like, oh, wow, what happened? But you have to have courage to do that. Speaking of operas, what is, apart from Traviato, of course, and the one you're working on right now, Maria Stiada, what is the best opera in your mind zu werden komplett aufhörter, als der erste visitiert. So der 1.Opera, wenn du überhaupt anfangen willst, mit Oper zu fallen, das ist der 1.Opera zu gehen. Für mich, es war Praviathan, ich denke. Wenn wir sprechen über die Jungen Singers, oder die Leute, die wollen sofort getholtt, ist Bohème. Bohème spricht für alle, ich denke. Weil die anderen Operas, As far as I know, they take a little more time to get into that because it's a little more drama. Sometimes you need a little more preparation, emotionally speaking. But for me, it was Traviata. In the beginning, I didn't understand so much about Traviata, but I was, I don't know. Maybe I was ready for that or I don't know. But Bohem, I think Bohem, because it's not so long. Es ist nicht so lange. Es spricht über alle, so young souls, young, young, young people. Ja, Bohem, I would say. Just a few days ago, I saw the movie Maria with Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas. And I thought, while watching this and afterwards writing about it, I thought this might have, this should have been ideal role for you as an actress, as a singer. Did you see the movie? I've seen the movie and thank you very much for thinking of me. Yes, I've seen the movie, and you're absolutely right. I'm not talking about myself, but it could have been someone really in the opera to understand better Maria's life, I would say. What's your opinion of this movie? And I mean, if you had the part, the singing would have been okay. Now it's not okay. But what is your opinion about this movie? And I wondered even whether you were able to watch this movie because maybe you might have been too afraid to see and to hear a singer, a person, a singer that has lost her core because that's what you see when you see these last days of Maria's Colors, the last week. Then you see someone who has lost what she really is. It will come that moment for everyone, Joachim, because we are not going to be forever there, top shape. Everything is going to be there. You go on stage. It will come that moment. And yes, it's so cruel, so dramatic, because you lose your life, you lose your core. But this is life. and that sufferance built the artist at Callas, still today still we are talking about her yes it's dramatic it's so painful but this is life so it will come that moment for everyone so I had that moment the moment like that I had something personal that I was. Having struggle Personal Problems, let's say. And somehow, I remember I went on stage. It was Craviata in Japan with Royal Opera House. And yes, I had something that I wasn't concentrating on my voice. I was concentrating my pain, in what I was going through. And on the stage, suddenly I couldn't see fucking. It was oh my god, It was like my life was over, you know, and it's so painful. I've been there only in that moment. And after that, I took a pause and just to, you know, to get rid of my problems. And I went back because it was more of an emotional, personal issue. And yeah, it's horrible. It's really so dramatic. It's a tragedy for a singer to have that moment. Und ich verstehe, wie sie in dieser Momenten konnte, weil es sich so fühlt, wenn du ein Famer bist, jeder ist zu dir. Wenn du ein Famer bist, jeder will ein Piece von dir. Und plötzlich, wenn du nicht mehr geliebt hast, niemand denkt über dich. Und ich denke, es war eine Lehre, weil wir nicht eternal sind. So, everyone is replaceable, and that's why that movie, I think, Maria's Life, it's a lesson for everyone that at the moment that we have this gift, the opportunity to deliver, we have to enjoy it until the last breath, let's say. Because tomorrow someone else will come someone else will be younger better, everything is going to be different so, yeah, but it was painful to see that movie because at the end she gave her life to her profession and at the end when the voice didn't respond anymore, she was dead, and you think I thought this might have been a sort of horror movie for you and on the other hand I thought it might Was das in My Fair Lady gewesen ist, wie in My Fair Lady, alles du singst, ich kann singen besser? Ich weiß nicht. Es ist anders. Wir haben alle unsere Geschichte, unsere Leben und es ist anders. Es ist nicht einfach. Es ist für alle. In der Leben ist nicht einfach. So, that's why it's better to enjoy it and to find the positive side, because everything can finish anytime. Anytime can finish. So, let's enjoy it every moment. But, yeah, her life, it was a sad life. So, yeah. Na sowas. Musikerinnen und Musiker sind auch nur Menschen. I have a few short questions. What was your biggest professional defeat? Did you ever try really hard to get a role in a production and then someone came and crossed your way and just snatched it away? Was there anything that you really, really, really, really wanted and it didn't work out? Or was everything smooth after a certain point of being successful? Everything was smooth, I would say, but I worked hard for that. I worked 10 times more than I should, but because I wanted it desperately. I worked hard. So far, it never happens that someone can, you know, take something away from me. But I worked hard for that moment, always. So I would say smooth, but with the hard work behind, you know, on my shoulder. But you would never let anybody take anything away from you. That sounds like that. So far, no, but I recognize when someone did that better, I had the courage and the honesty, then the humbleness to go and to say, bravo, beautiful, so this belongs to you. So when I had those moments, but in the production that I sang, when I had the role, I sang it until the end. So, yeah, but when I recognize someone is better, absolutely. Can sopranos be friends? Yes, absolutely. For me, yes. Because everyone is different. We understand each other, two sopranos, which is so rare to be friends. You are absolutely right. But for me, we understand better each other, the struggle, how difficult it is to sing the role. And of course, you want to be in front, to be best or to be better than the other one but it's the work that you do, professionally in private, the work that you do with yourself I have many Sopranians they are really best friends they are really good friends of mine so for me, yes because everyone has their own destiny, and everyone we are so unique, everyone can give something different for me, Sopranians can be ein Freund. Aber es muss sich von beiden Seiten sein. Ich will sein Freund von dir als Soprano, aber du willst nicht sein, mein Freund. Aber die Soprano können sich sein, absolut. Okay. Ist es etwas, was du gelernt hast, von einem Opernzinger für deine eigene Leben? Was ist die wichtigste Lehre von einem Opernzinger? Ich glaube, dass du eine bessere Person bekommst, weil du singst Opernzinger singst, aber vielleicht du. Ja, das ist eine gute Frage. Was ich gelernt von mir selbst, ich bin so hart für mich, immer. Ich bin so geimpft von dieser Frage. Weil, It was, as I told you, it was my freedom. But at the same time, a lot of solitude, loneliness. Because never I was happy with myself. Always I wanted to prove, not only to the other people, to myself. Now I don't have expectations anymore. But I worked so hard and somehow I had to apologize with the younger Monella. So, to have a little more balance with the life of every day and at the end, this profession is not going to be forever. So, what do you have afterwards? So, you need other things beside the stage, you know? And that's the lesson, working. I worked hard, I understand that, and I sacrificed a lot. But, yes, the only lesson I would say is I wanted to be a little nicer with the younger Monella. When I think about that, it moves to me because I was so away from my family, away from everyone, away just to... But everything has a price. So it was, yeah, the only thing that I could lesson just to be a little more nice with the younger Monella. Fünf Fragen, fünf Antworten. Kurz und knapp und gar nicht einfach. You can just pick one of the answers possible. Okay. Piano or Pforte? Piano. Dein Lieblingsinstrument und dein eigenes Sprache geht nicht. Ich verstehe nicht, was mein Instrument ist? Ihr Lieblingsinstrument, was ist dein Lieblingsinstrument? Und du kannst nicht deine eigene Sprache sagen, nichts anderes, aber deine Sprache. Ah, okay, okay. Violin. Okay. Hast du eine Idee, was du mit deinem ersten Professionalschiff, mit dem ersten Geld, die du erneut hast, After getting on stage and singing? I remember that. Because I bought a dress for the opera, to go to the opera. I just bought a dress to be a little more presentable, because I was a student. So yeah, for my first money, yes, I bought something to go to the opera. Okay. Bier or champagne? I don't drink alcohol at all, but let's say champagne. Okay. Okay, what's the most typical thing of a singer for you? If you were a tenor, you could always have the white scarf, but how could I all the time recognize that you're a singer? Oh, God. No, just the score. For me, just the score is always with me. Only that. Okay. And the last of these questions, is there a superpower you'd like to have? The superpower that I would like to have, I want to bring my mother to see me on stage, because she never saw me on stage. Really? Yes, never. And that's the superpower that I would love to have, because she loved so much Madame Butterfly and she told me that I'll come to see you only if you sing Madame Butterfly but was so young and for Madame Butterfly I needed more time technically and everything you know because it's so demanding and she died one year before I sang Madame Butterfly and I pushed myself so much, to to. To sing that before and I sang it actually really early but But it was exactly one year after my mom died. So that is the superpower that I would love to have. Okay. To wrap things up in a way, what would be the most important tip or information, or help you would like to give to the 20-year-old Hermonella for her life? Now looking back from where you are now, Was ist die erste Sache, die du von Ermonieller erzählst, wenn sie 20 Jahre alt war? To be more relaxed, to be nicer with her, Monella. Yeah, to be nicer with herself. Just to be nicer with herself. But you don't seem to me as someone who isn't nice to yourself. Because I was so harsh on myself, Joachim. You know, as we started coming from Albania in that moment, and I had art and culture in Albania. So, don't get me wrong, really, I learned English there. We were listening opera and everything in Albania. But it was so hard when I left Albania. And it was the time, that period that when I mentioned I'm coming from Albania, everyone, I felt judged for everything, you know. And because somehow I paid for people that no country is perfect but somehow you know and I worked so hard I was really harsh on Armonella really harsh really really harsh but because of that discipline I made it but maybe that kind of nostalgia or that kind of sentimental thing or quite a little sadness sacrifices maybe Er hat sich die Art, die ich heute bin, so es hat sich jetzt nicht mehr gemacht. Aber ich würde gerne, um mein Jeunesse zu leben, um mein Kindermonella zu leben, um zu leben, um die anderen Menschen meiner age zu leben. Aber ich hatte zu arbeiten, so das ist das warum ich es gemacht habe. because I worked hard. Otherwise, it could have been something, you know, okay, just a hobby. If you make it, okay. If you don't make it, that's okay. So, yeah, only that. To be a little, to love Hermonella a little bit more, let's say. Nice. Okay, and to end up on a positive and friendly note, are there any wishes or goals left for you? Because every part you would be perfect and you've already sung and you're already singing. So what's left to come? I don't think that you think, Ich muss in Bayreuth singen. Das ist etwas aus der Frage. Aber was ist noch was? Was ist noch als Goal? Oh, I don't have dreams anymore, let's say, you know, because I didn't tell you, I'll be really quick. I kept a diary, Joachim, when I was in Albania, and writing what I wanted to become, where I wanted to sing, the moment that I decided to become an oppressed singer. Und in der Realität war es etwas anderes, aber was ich wollte es, es wurde geschrieben. Und wenn ich das Diary, das Notebook, ich habe es gemacht. Und jetzt kann ich sagen, ich habe mehr als ich gedacht. So mein Leben, ich lebt mein Leben. Jetzt, was ich möchte, ist es, was ich mir zu geben, und zu zeigen, So in somehow, how it happened for me, I made it come from the difficulties and everything. If I made it, even the young generation singers, just to give, to show them that everything is possible. Even today, with everything that the world changed, is going mad, still you can make it. And to show them that there's a possibility, but you have to love it. It has to be something really so that you cannot live without that, without music, without singing. So maybe somehow I'm projecting myself when I was young in Albania that I wanted that inspiration, someone to show to me, yes, this is the way. It's harsh, okay, you have to work hard, but you can make it. So that's why I started to work with young singers and I love it. I love it. So yeah, and somehow to give my experience that everything is possible. If I made it, everyone can make it. So maybe I'm too... I'm a dreamer. I don't know. I want to see that in a positive way because we need culture. We need opera. We need music because only in this way we connect to each other. We understand each other's souls. Especially in this world, it's going mad. Only the connection that we have with each other will keep us sane, still to smile in the morning. So, yeah, maybe I'm going mad as well, Aber ich glaube, ich glaube in das. Okay. I think we're done. I couldn't think of a better end. Thank you very much. Ich habe sehr viel gelernt. Ich habe zwar kein Alebanisch gelernt, aber ich kann jetzt kaum noch erwarten, mir diese Opernproduktion anzuschauen. Also, noch mal ein kleiner Hinweis. Maria Stoada fängt jetzt demnächst an. Läuft vielleicht auch schon, wenn diese Folge draußen ist. Die Serie an der Startoper läuft bis zum 2. April. Und wenn Sie die Doku noch nicht gesehen haben sollen, sollten. Es gibt einen Film mit Hermonella Jahu und Asmik Gregorian und Barbara Hannigan, Fokus Sacro, das Heilige Feuer, großartige Dokumentation, sehr sehenswert, gibt es auf DVD. Gregorian und Hannigan waren auch schon hier im Podcast, also es gibt da nochmal zwei Gründe mehr, um hier rein zu hören. Alle Folgen finden Sie im Archiv und erstklassisch mit Mischke, wie gesagt, auf abendblatt.de und wo Sie sonst Ihre Podcasts hier bekommen. Jetzt bin ich erstmal sehr gespannt auf die Premiere von Maria Stuada und darauf, was dann so passiert auf der Bühne mit Amonila Jahu und vielen Dank und viel Spaß bei der Oper hoffentlich und wir sehen uns. So thank you very much and I'm looking forward to see you at the Opera and enjoy your rehearsals and we're done. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you very much. Ein Podcast von Funke. Weitere Podcasts vom Hamburger Abendblatt finden Sie in unserer Abendblatt-Podcast-App und auf abendblatt.de slash podcast.