Latest / Erstklassisch mit Mischke - Klassik hautnah / Cecilia Bartoli: „Meine Stimme war immer meine Chefin“

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Cecilia Bartoli: „Meine Stimme war immer meine Chefin“ · Erstklassisch mit Mischke - Klassik hautnah

• 0:00
  Your husband is a bariton. Who has the more beautiful voice,
• 0:03
  you or him? Well, our dog.
• 0:11
  My voice was always my boss. When I'm saying that, my voice was my boss.
• 0:16
  I was always following my instruments. So since I was very, very young, this is, and this is,
• 0:25
  what my mother teach me also, Also, to listen to yourself, to listen to your
• 0:29
  instrument. And then I did this more or less carefully, I think, during my career.
• 0:39
  Erstklassisch mit Mischke, der musikalische Podcast des Hamburger Abendbladts.
• 0:50
  Schönen guten Tag zu einer ganz speziellen Folge. Ich fange mal so an.
• 0:54
  Rom, zwei singende Eltern und Cecilia Bartoli wollte eigentlich Fremdenführerin
• 0:59
  werden oder Flamenco-Tänzerin.
• 1:00
  Beides hat nicht richtig hingehauen. Dafür ist sie heute eine der bekanntesten,
• 1:04
  vielleicht sogar die bekannteste Klassiksängerin der Welt.
• 1:06
  Sie hat Grammys gewonnen, sie leitet die Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele,
• 1:10
  sie leitet die Oper in Monte Carlo, sie hat ein Orchester gegründet und sie
• 1:12
  sagt, sie könnte glatt bis 70 weiter singen. In diesem Jahr ist sie,
• 1:15
  man glaubt es, kaum 60 geworden.
• 1:17
  Im nächsten Jahr feiert sie 40 Jahre auf der Bühne.
• 1:20
  Also herzlich willkommen hier und buonasera e benvenuti nach Salzburg.
• 1:25
  Buonasera e grazie dell'invito.
• 1:30
  Und nur zur Sicherheit, mein Italienisch ist nicht existierend.
• 1:34
  Wir sprechen jetzt hier auf Englisch und ich hoffe, es geht aber trotzdem.
• 1:38
  So we'll start right and we'll see where we end.
• 1:41
  So the first question is, you once said that you could easily keep singing until you're 70.
• 1:47
  You said that this year and it did not sound like a joke. So what would have
• 1:51
  to be right for that to happen vocally and physically and mentally to just keep
• 1:56
  on working, to just keep on singing?
• 1:59
  Well, I have to say I said that because it's more a question of genetic.
• 2:06
  Because my mother, she's 90 and she was just giving a masterclass in the Mozart town last week.
• 2:14
  Und mit einer wunderschönen Meinung. Ich sage nur das, weil ich meine Genes
• 2:21
  habe, wenn ich es glücklich bin, natürlich.
• 2:25
  Aber wenn ich die Genes von meiner Mutter habe, dann habe ich diese Genes.
• 2:34
  Aber mehr als das, weil ich denke.
• 2:39
  Musik, mein Instrument ist noch sehr solid.
• 2:46
  Ich habe so eine solide Technik bekommen, dass ich sehr viel preserving mein
• 2:51
  Instrument in den letzten 40 Jahren.
• 2:55
  Weil es jetzt 40 Jahre lang ist, was ich nachdem, was zu singen und was nicht
• 3:01
  zu singen. I think this is the way to preserve your instrument in a very healthy way, I think.
• 3:07
  And not only that, you even extended your contract in Salzburg until 2031.
• 3:12
  So at an age when others start to slow down, you seem to just ask for more work.
• 3:21
  No, I mean, I'm not asking for more work. Actually, you know,
• 3:24
  when I was younger, I was making this such a big tour, Going to the United States,
• 3:30
  going to Japan, or to China.
• 3:33
  Well, no, I did it once, but I was singing, I had much more performances.
• 3:37
  Yes, more concerts, more recitals. So in a way, in the last year,
• 3:43
  I reduced a lot of these big tours.
• 3:46
  And I tried to concentrate on.
• 3:53
  Preparing the Salzburg Festival, der Finstern Festival, also in Montecarlo.
• 4:00
  Und ich bin noch ein Konzert und Resizeit, aber weniger als vorher, natürlich.
• 4:06
  Ist es ein Fentom-Pain, das du missst, wenn du auf Tourstour machst,
• 4:10
  dass du drei Konzerts einstensierst? Oder ist es absolut gut für dich,
• 4:14
  dass du dich so leid und wie jemand anderes bist?
• 4:19
  No, no, no.
• 4:24
  I think it's physically demanding. When you do 10 concerts in a run,
• 4:32
  especially if you do this with an orchestra, you have just one day to travel and to rest.
• 4:39
  Und ich denke, das ist die Mounding, Physically.
• 4:47
  Und ich versuche, für instance, dass ich eine Tour von 10 oder 15 Konzerts mache,
• 4:57
  ich versuche, dass ich eine Tour von 5 und dann ein Rest,
• 5:02
  und dann ein paar, aber nicht eine große Tour in der Raum.
• 5:09
  Okay. As far as I know, you were 16 when your mother began giving you lessons, singing lessons.
• 5:13
  16 is really rather late. Did anybody say to you back then, oh,
• 5:18
  that's too late, you're never going to make it, you're never going to be a singer,
• 5:24
  you're way too late, forget it?
• 5:26
  You know, actually it's not too late. If you want to become a really professional
• 5:32
  singer, you cannot start actually
• 5:35
  before that because you need to wait the mute of the boys, you know.
• 5:40
  Like also men, they have this with, how do you call this? Adam. The Stimberes.
• 5:47
  Yeah, exactly. So we have the same also as.
• 5:53
  The curl as the same, the female. So, you have to weigh this.
• 5:57
  And in fact, in the conservatory in Rome, you cannot apply before you are 16,
• 6:06
  actually, in order to start with having professional lessons.
• 6:10
  Yeah, so there was, I think I was even quite early, I have to say.
• 6:16
  Yes, I mean, as a singer, no, if you want to be a pianist, you definitely have
• 6:21
  to start a little bit earlier.
• 6:24
  Your mother gave up her career to teach you and to take care of your beginnings
• 6:32
  and what did this do to you, this sacrifice that maybe was never called a sacrifice?
• 6:36
  Was this something that she regretted later or that maybe you regretted her
• 6:41
  doing it because she stopped for you to start?
• 6:46
  Ja, meine Mutter hat eine unglaubliche Rolle, beide meine Eltern.
• 6:51
  Meine Mutter hatte diese unglaubliche, sehr gute Rolle als Soprano.
• 6:58
  Und mein Vater war ein Tenor, ein Dramatischer Tenor. Aber auf einen bestimmten
• 7:01
  Punkt, sie hat eine Familie, eine Kinder.
• 7:05
  Ich denke, das war eine Entscheidung, die.
• 7:12
  Sie hat eine Karriere gegeben, Aber sie ist die Familie, so die Familie zu haben.
• 7:17
  Und dann hat sie gesagt, dass sie es, weil ich hier bin.
• 7:22
  Und ich denke, es war nicht ein Sacrifice, es war eine Entscheidung.
• 7:30
  Wie hart ist es, being Cecilia Bartoli all the time, being famous,
• 7:34
  being recognized everywhere? Everybody ist Freundlich zu dir, everybody ist...
• 7:39
  Trying all the best to make you feel good.
• 7:43
  You have all this pressure on you all the time. I guess it's not all roses and
• 7:48
  sunny days because you still have to travel a lot. You're still alone a lot.
• 7:54
  You're still on a level where hardly anybody understands what this pressure is like.
• 8:01
  What does this do to somebody like you after four decades of being under this pressure?
• 8:09
  I mean, the pressure, let's say, I think the best way to avoid this is to keep
• 8:18
  your feet on the ground, you know.
• 8:25
  And then to always being able, you know, I think to have a kind of normal life.
• 8:32
  I know it's not so easy, but to keep in mind that this is really the normal
• 8:40
  life who gives you stability.
• 8:43
  So to be able, you know, to go and buy your grocery at the supermarket,
• 8:48
  coming back and make a good pasta, see, remember how to do that, you know.
• 8:53
  Although I'm in the restaurants a lot of times, but, you know,
• 8:57
  I think this is extremely.
• 9:03
  Important. This will keep you in balance, yes. Du bist die erste Frau in Salzburg zu halten.
• 9:06
  Ich meine, da waren alle diese Männer vor, Karajan, Mutti und alle anderen Männer vor dir.
• 9:11
  Ist das etwas, das ein Thema, dass jemand sagt, oh, du bist die erste Frau,
• 9:16
  congratulations, und endlich? Oder hat das nie als Thema, dass du eigentlich,
• 9:22
  die erste Frau zu brechen diese Gender-Wall war?
• 9:27
  Well, it's clear that I was the first woman and extremely young,
• 9:32
  considering also, because this was in 2000,
• 9:38
  my first season was in 2012, so which I was relatively young compared to my predecessor.
• 9:48
  Aber ich denke,
• 9:51
  das war eine große Herausforderung für den Festival. Aber wahrscheinlich waren
• 9:57
  sie auch für eine Herausforderung.
• 9:58
  Und die Direktorium waren für eine Herausforderung.
• 10:04
  Und sie haben eine neue, eine neue Idee, über wie ein Festival zu entwickeln.
• 10:10
  Und das ist wahrscheinlich der Grund, warum sie eine Frau entschieden haben.
• 10:14
  They also decided to have a person who, in a way, during my career,
• 10:17
  I had to do so many different kinds of projects and different kinds of programs also.
• 10:24
  And probably with the knowledge.
• 10:29
  Of the repertoire I was studying, I was preparing for all the concerts.
• 10:34
  Probably this is, at that time, this was the reason, yes. But I still...
• 10:40
  Being a woman, I think it's one thing, but I think.
• 10:46
  You must have the, how do you say, the merito? Yes, you know, in a way.
• 10:50
  So the position is not because you're a woman, then automatically it's going
• 10:56
  to be a success or not, or it's kind of a new fashion to have a woman now in
• 11:01
  a position, you know what I mean?
• 11:03
  It's just to have a person who has the knowledge to do that,
• 11:07
  and especially a passion, yes.
• 11:10
  Passion is a very important ingredient, you know, and not just to put a person
• 11:15
  because it's famous or, you know, or whatever. I think this is passion, vision.
• 11:21
  This is the reason why you can keep doing a festival. Yeah, energy.
• 11:29
  When you started doing this festival and later starting Monte Carlo again,
• 11:34
  you were already established as a singer.
• 11:36
  So you knew what to do on stage, you knew that you're good at what you're doing
• 11:42
  as a singer, but then you started this new thing. How long did it take you to,
• 11:46
  feel secure in this new position?
• 11:49
  Was it like 10 minutes after you started and you thought, oh,
• 11:53
  why didn't I start earlier?
• 11:54
  Or was it two years before you actually felt safe and secure and knowing you
• 12:00
  know what you're doing and you can't miss and this is actually a good idea to take this job as well?
• 12:06
  Yes, actually, the idea of taking the job in Monte Carlo, in the opera in Monte
• 12:10
  Carlo, was just after 10 years, more than 10 years of experience in Salzburg,
• 12:15
  you know, was just, and then it was not just coming like this and then let's do it.
• 12:21
  No, no, no, I was choosing carefully also that I was choosing an opera,
• 12:25
  which somehow the season in Monte Carlo goes from October to March.
• 12:32
  So it's a shorter season compared to Vienna, you know, to Paris.
• 12:40
  No, no, it's which allowed me to come to Salzburg and do all the job also in
• 12:44
  here and all the rehearsals. Yes, we need to do especially.
• 12:50
  But taking the festival in Salzburg, I would have been so scared taking this
• 12:54
  job after doing something completely different for years and then saying,
• 12:57
  oh, I'm going to be a director.
• 13:00
  I'm going to take the artistic direction of a festival in Salzburg,
• 13:02
  not somewhere way beyond small mountains, anywhere else, but in Salzburg.
• 13:08
  So you were so obvious, you were so visible in this job.
• 13:11
  I would have been scared shitless for three years, I guess.
• 13:15
  Look, I mean, talking about festival, it is an important festival,
• 13:20
  but Pfingsten is a long weekend. So we're not talking about summer.
• 13:26
  No, okay, but nevertheless. Although it's no, no, no, you're right, you're right. So.
• 13:32
  I thought, yes, at that time, it's clear that it probably was risky.
• 13:41
  But here I am, and I just signed for the next year.
• 13:46
  Next year is going to be my fourth Mangaata, you know, I would call that in English.
• 13:53
  So I think somehow it's very successful since 15 years now. So and then probably
• 14:02
  this means that if you do this, I mean, if you really do this,
• 14:07
  Ich weiß nicht, ob du deine Ideen möchtest, ob du deine Ideen möchtest.
• 14:12
  Und dann, wie ich gesagt habe, du musst eine Vision für dieses Kindes-Job.
• 14:18
  Und gute Kollegen, gute Singen, gute Direktoren.
• 14:25
  Aber es ist immer immer Risky. Aber wenn du nicht Risken hast,
• 14:30
  was ist Life ohne Risken?
• 14:32
  Ist es schwer zu sagen, nein? I mean, I guess many singers come up to you and,
• 14:37
  tell you, I'm your next big star in your next production.
• 14:41
  And you just have to tell a few people of those coming to you, no, thank you, but no.
• 14:47
  I guess it would break my heart to tell a colleague, thank you for the idea, but no.
• 14:54
  Is this tough or is it just part of it? Also.
• 15:01
  If I think, if they suggest a role which suits their voice, I will not say no, I will say yes.
• 15:09
  I just say no when I feel,
• 15:13
  it's not ideal. So I don't want to put my colleagues in a risk,
• 15:17
  then they will not make it, you know.
• 15:20
  I think it's a gist of love. It's a gist of love and not the other way around.
• 15:26
  Okay. One word that is always or nearly always mentioned with your name is diva.
• 15:31
  Is this a compliment? Is this a
• 15:33
  burden? Or is this something where you're saying, yeah, I'm a diva. Okay.
• 15:40
  But what diva means exactly? I have no idea. What does diva mean?
• 15:44
  I mean, I know what the word means, but it's connected.
• 15:48
  I mean, diva in our days is considered like, when you say this person is a diva
• 15:54
  or a divo, so it sounds in a kind of negative way in our days.
• 16:01
  But diva for me, I mean, the real meaning of this is, a real diva for me was
• 16:07
  Maria Malibran. Maria Malibrand was the first diva.
• 16:13
  From the past. Maria Malibrand was not just an incredible, magnificent singer. She was a composer.
• 16:21
  She had so many talent. I mean, she was playing piano. She was playing harp.
• 16:27
  She was fluent in four or five languages. And then,
• 16:34
  I mean, this is diva. So it's really what diva means for me.
• 16:38
  So to have these incredible talents in so many fields, you know.
• 16:44
  Yeah, that translation would be diva for diva would be terribly complicated.
• 16:51
  Yes. But you're okay with this signature for your career and for your person?
• 16:58
  Because I guess it's so much pressure when you're not only a singer,
• 17:03
  but when you're a really good singer, when you're called a diva,
• 17:07
  you have to live up to that.
• 17:09
  All the time. You can't say, oh no, I have a bad day, sorry,
• 17:13
  come back in three weeks and it might be better.
• 17:17
  Honestly, I mean.
• 17:21
  As I said, I,
• 17:25
  don't consider myself a diva. I don't think I have so many talents like Maria Malibrand.
• 17:36
  One of the main jobs of your career was always going into archives and searching
• 17:40
  stuff and finding new compositions or old compositions that are really good to revive.
• 17:47
  Was the most beautiful moment in that work and what is the most frustrating
• 17:51
  I guess it must be terrible when you sit in some library for two weeks looking
• 17:57
  into stuff and not finding anything that's worthwhile and then just.
• 18:01
  Und sagen, sorry, ich konnte nichts finden.
• 18:05
  Ich möchte nicht zu uns, aber es ist genau das Gleiche.
• 18:10
  Wenn du in der Bibliothek findest du so großartig, und dann denkst du,
• 18:15
  okay, ich kann das, ich will, ich will, ich will, ich will, ich will das Projekt machen.
• 18:19
  Und dann, wenn du dich herauskommst, oh, look at das, aber das ist so großartig,
• 18:24
  das Musik, ich will das, das und das.
• 18:26
  Und dann denkst du, oh, so frustrierend. I know one life is not enough,
• 18:30
  you know, to perform all the music, you find a library.
• 18:32
  I remember, I mean, when I've done this for so many projects for Vivaldi, also when I went to St.
• 18:40
  Petersburg, you know, and to do a project related to the great composer of the
• 18:46
  18th century, Italian composer who went to the middle of the century in St.
• 18:51
  Petersburg. And I found in the Marinsky, in the library there,
• 18:55
  it's such a treasure, you know.
• 18:57
  And then I thought, well, I have to choose. But how I can choose,
• 19:01
  I mean, between this and them, all this music is such a high quality.
• 19:05
  So, and I think at the end, the frustration is knowing then,
• 19:09
  okay, I have to, especially at that time, you know, the recordings.
• 19:15
  You had to choose for 60 minutes of music or 70 minutes.
• 19:18
  And then you think, yes, but what happened to the rest of the music?
• 19:21
  You know, this is the biggest frustration.
• 19:24
  Yes, but I hope, I hope the, I mean, with some of my projects,
• 19:29
  so I hope I will somehow influence the new generation of singers. And I did it, actually.
• 19:37
  I know that because I have some new colleagues, young singers,
• 19:40
  who were really interested more and more in some of the rock neglected music.
• 19:45
  And they've done also good projects. So, I feel, yes, I'm.
• 19:52
  Happy about that, yeah. I can pass this also to the new generation, the curiosity.
• 19:59
  Is there something that you really try to not do to keep...
• 20:05
  Die Musik, die profession, die professionelle business, aus deiner privaten
• 20:10
  Leben. So, sind es Dinge, die du wirklich,
• 20:14
  Keep out of your life, to just have a private life as well. So I have to stop
• 20:18
  sometimes working to say, okay, weekend, I'm done.
• 20:23
  I'm private now.
• 20:25
  Of course. How easy or how complicated it is for you to just say, no, this is it.
• 20:32
  Friday night, Netflix, I'm going to cook. I don't care about who's going to sing in three weeks.
• 20:38
  I'm going to cook for my husband. Yes, I did. Und, you know,
• 20:43
  my husband, he loves good food, so I cannot just prepare a sandwich. No way. No, and then.
• 20:53
  Well, first of all, in order to have a private life, you have to keep it private.
• 20:58
  This is the first lesson I learned, yes.
• 21:04
  Many years ago. And then you have to plan that.
• 21:08
  So you need to rest, not only, I mean, in order to recharge your battery, in order to rest, to,
• 21:18
  have a rest for your instrument, for the voice, you have to plan the,
• 21:22
  yes, the famous holidays. Yes.
• 21:24
  And you have to respect also the period. This is more important.
• 21:30
  I once talked to Christian Gerhager about rituals before a concert,
• 21:35
  and he mentioned things that he was sort of embarrassed. So,
• 21:37
  he mentioned jelly beans and strange rituals that he didn't want to explain.
• 21:43
  Is there anything you need to do before a concert or anything you need to have
• 21:47
  before a concert, which might be sounding a little weird, but if you don't have,
• 21:53
  I don't know, four apples before a concert, you're going to die on stage.
• 21:58
  Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, no, four apples. Oh, my goodness. This will make your stomach
• 22:02
  like a bowl. No, no, a big bowl. No, no, no, no, no.
• 22:07
  Woop!
• 22:09
  I think the day of a performance is a very boring day.
• 22:18
  Because you don't speak. It has to be a boring day because you don't speak,
• 22:21
  because you have to rest. I think this is, I think.
• 22:27
  And let's say, I will not say boring, but calm.
• 22:31
  Calm day has to be calm because this is, or try to be, you know, really,
• 22:40
  relax all day, especially vocal cords, so not talking too much.
• 22:45
  And yeah, and have quite a light meal also.
• 22:50
  I mean, I'm speaking about myself. So, and then, and after the performance,
• 22:57
  well, if I'm really nervous, I like to have some salts with me.
• 23:01
  Salt, because when you're nervous, you're missing your salutes in your mouth.
• 23:08
  This is the first symptom.
• 23:11
  And then a little bit of salt, you put it under your mouth. This will help to recreate.
• 23:21
  The ideal system in your mouth. Okay.
• 23:26
  How good are you at forgiving yourself for a performance that is maybe only
• 23:32
  85%, 90%? I mean, you hear yourself. You know what you can do,
• 23:36
  and you know, I guess, that you can't be perfect all the time.
• 23:40
  And nevertheless, there are evenings when you start, and after three minutes,
• 23:44
  you know, oh, this evening is going to be mediocre.
• 23:48
  I can do whatever I want, it won't get perfect.
• 23:52
  How easy is it for you to forgive yourself and to get on the stage the next
• 23:57
  time and just, whoop, it's gone, I've never had this problem last night. Is it easy?
• 24:03
  I mean.
• 24:06
  Honestly, I mean, it's never perfect. I mean, I'm afraid that you don't have...
• 24:15
  In a live performance, perfection doesn't exist.
• 24:19
  Yes, but of course, you have performances, then you, especially,
• 24:24
  I'll just give you an example.
• 24:26
  Last year, I was in Vienna and I catch COVID.
• 24:30
  Und die Nacht bevor der Premiere, ich hatte 39.6. Oh.
• 24:37
  So, und, ja.
• 24:41
  Und es war ziemlich klar, dass der nächsten Tag, ich hatte zu performen.
• 24:46
  Wir waren versucht, eine Lösung zu finden, eine Kleopatra.
• 24:50
  Aber, unfortunately, wir konnten niemanden finden.
• 24:55
  Und dann habe ich zu gehen.
• 24:59
  So, and it was not easy because, you know, I don't know if you had COVID,
• 25:06
  but the COVID makes you really weak.
• 25:09
  So, and then I found it was a tough evening, but at the end,
• 25:16
  so Cesare decided to marry me in any case. So, even with COVID.
• 25:25
  Ich habe mich sehr.
• 25:31
  Sehr hart gearbeitet, aber ich denke, das ist der Moment, wenn man nicht fühlt
• 25:39
  sich gut fühlt sich, wenn man eine strong Technik hat,
• 25:44
  Und mit dem, man kann man auch, man kann manchieren.
• 25:51
  Okay, aber ich habe gedacht, ich habe mir gedacht, die 3rd Evening der Hotel Metamorphosis.
• 25:59
  Vielleicht, um einen Beispiel zu nehmen. Vielleicht, dass das Evening nicht gut funktioniert.
• 26:07
  Und du warst, und du denkst, die 1st Nacht war great, die 2nd Nacht war great. This night just sucks.
• 26:15
  And how easy is it then to go offstage, to go in your wardrobe,
• 26:20
  to go back into your hotel room and to say, okay, this was not good.
• 26:28
  Is it something that you take into your sleep? Is it something that you really
• 26:32
  are angry about next morning while having breakfast? Or is it all gone after two hours?
• 26:41
  No, but I have to tell you something. If it's not good, I know already before I go on stage.
• 26:48
  This means that I will not go on stage if it's not good.
• 26:52
  You know what I mean? So if it's really not good, then I know and then,
• 26:58
  I will not go on stage. It means.
• 27:03
  Because it's not good. So if I feel really not good, if you feel,
• 27:07
  I mean, we are human, of course. You have one evening, then you can give 85%.
• 27:13
  One evening, you can give it 95%.
• 27:16
  But if it's not good, you stay at home.
• 27:20
  Okay. So, unfortunately, this is, yes.
• 27:25
  I mean, okay, if you say the next day you said you just woke up and then you
• 27:30
  realize, okay, yes, there was 85% of people,
• 27:36
  99.9% Weil es nicht 100% ist, ich habe das zu sagen, das ist niemals.
• 27:45
  Aber du hast es zu accepten, weil wir ein Mensch sind.
• 27:49
  Und dann ist das wie es ist, wie es ist.
• 27:55
  But somehow, even in a performance where you don't feel 100%, somehow.
• 28:03
  If you know this, somehow your
• 28:06
  kind of concentration and your adrenaline becomes even higher in a way.
• 28:13
  You discover things also about your body that probably you will not know if you feel 100%. Good.
• 28:23
  If you're this strict with yourself and this self-conscious,
• 28:30
  do you have a date set for you completely secret,
• 28:35
  where you say on this day I'm going to end I'm not going to tell anyone before
• 28:40
  I'm just doing my last concert and afterwards I'm going to tell all the world
• 28:44
  this was my last performance is there a plan like this or do you know how your career is going to end.
• 28:49
  Do you have a plan for this which you can keep secret if you want to but nevertheless,
• 28:55
  is this something that you have already set up in your mind to say,
• 29:00
  either I'll just keep it a secret and I'll just tell people afterwards that
• 29:04
  this was the last performance or is there a certain,
• 29:08
  date or age or something else that you already know and have in your mind to
• 29:14
  just wait and see this is on the horizon, I'm going to end,
• 29:18
  in this way and I'm going to do it.
• 29:21
  Well, I,
• 29:25
  Honestly, I mean, my voice was always my boss.
• 29:29
  When I'm saying that, my voice was my boss. I was always following my instruments.
• 29:33
  So since I was very, very young, this is, and this is.
• 29:39
  What my mother teach me also, to listen to yourself, to listen to your instrument.
• 29:44
  And then I did this more or less carefully, I think, and during my career, doing role,
• 29:52
  some role, with a great challenge and I'm very happy and proud and I did,
• 30:01
  for instance, a role like Norma which for many people was unexpected.
• 30:09
  But was one of the biggest success in my career especially here in Salzburg,
• 30:16
  so step by step I was always following my voice and my voice is my boss My voice
• 30:22
  will tell me what to do and for how long to do it.
• 30:26
  Yes, for the moment, as,
• 30:32
  I said,
• 30:34
  it's there and it's very still excited to do projects.
• 30:39
  And for how long this icon answer is difficult to answer.
• 30:44
  So, if somebody proposes me to go to Marte, you know, or to the moon,
• 30:50
  in the next three years, probably I will quit and say, bye-bye, I go to the moon.
• 30:59
  Which is not so impossible. I mean, see what the technology,
• 31:03
  what all the crazy people we have around.
• 31:08
  Just a few quick questions, and you can just pick the first or the second thing. Rossini or Vivaldi? I,
• 31:17
  have to pick it Rossini The last time you were on a plane and how bad was it?
• 31:25
  Ich weiß nicht, es war so lange, so lange, so lange. Es war wirklich schlecht, ich denke. Okay.
• 31:34
  Ihr husband ist ein Bariton. Wer hat die mehr schönes Worte, du oder ihn?
• 31:42
  Well, our dog.
• 31:50
  What kind of dog is it? It's a Belonca. Okay.
• 31:58
  Do you still remember what you did with your first professional fee,
• 32:02
  the first money you've earned as a professional singer? The first money as a
• 32:08
  professional singer? Oh, yeah.
• 32:12
  Well, it was so little that I don't remember. Yesterday I talked to Manfred
• 32:18
  Honeck and he told me he paid money he owed to somebody.
• 32:23
  Oh, really? Yeah.
• 32:27
  No, no, probably it was the time finally that I was able to.
• 32:33
  Buy. Ah, yes, no, no, no, I know, I know, I know, I know. because I tell you,
• 32:40
  the first things I've done, I was eight years old, nine, and I did the Shepherd in Tosca.
• 32:49
  Yes, at that time, the Shepherd in Tosca, in Rome.
• 32:53
  And I remember with the fee, we were able to buy a TV, portable TV,
• 33:01
  black and white. Do you remember the portable TV?
• 33:06
  Und dann war das eine revelation, weil wir able to go from one room to the other
• 33:11
  with my sister. Und das ist exactly was wir waren. Wonderful, wonderful.
• 33:19
  I looked up und ich fand dass, wenn es nicht falsch ist, die erste Mal in Hamburg
• 33:25
  singen war in der Oper in 1989, Rosina in Rossinis Baviere.
• 33:34
  Was must Hamburg Opera und Tobias Kratzer do to get you back on that stage?
• 33:40
  Wow! Can you imagine? I mean, this was almost my debut. I mean,
• 33:47
  my debut was in 1987 in Rome, with Rosina. And then I think this role bring
• 33:53
  me so much luck. And then I was.
• 33:58
  I mean, to come to Hamburg. And then, if I remember, well, the cast was also quite amazing.
• 34:03
  I don't know if this was Leo Nucci singing Figaro, or I have to check.
• 34:08
  Aber es war wirklich eine große Erfahrung, ich meine, zu sein, so jung und allein.
• 34:20
  Ich kann mich so vorstellen, in Hamburg. Das ist eine sehr schöne Stadt,
• 34:25
  die für mich war eine große Herausforderung. Ich meine, ich komme aus Rome,
• 34:30
  aus dem sehr Süd, aus dem sehr Nord.
• 34:33
  Und es war nicht so sehr kalt. Das war also wie ich erwartet.
• 34:39
  Aber du hast sort of evadiert die Frage, was du nach dem Hamburg-Opera-Stage
• 34:46
  brauchst? Apart von Geld?
• 34:51
  Well, you said that. I didn't say that. So.
• 34:57
  Well, I don't know. It has to be the right project.
• 35:01
  Okay, so it's not impossible. And then if it's not impossible,
• 35:05
  no, of course not. With the right project, I will be happy to come. Yes.
• 35:12
  You've often called Hamburg one of your beloved cities when touring,
• 35:15
  and you always work in historic concert halls, und du bist ein super Fan von Elbphilharmonie.
• 35:22
  Das ist alles, was ich immer hören. Ja,
• 35:27
  ich liebe es. Ich liebe die Acoustik. Ich liebe Leitz Halle,
• 35:29
  die historische one. Aber ich finde Elbphilharmonie hat eine wirklich unglaubliche
• 35:34
  Qualität in der Sound. So, es gibt eine pureness in der Sound,
• 35:37
  in dieser Acoustik, das ist sehr, sehr spannend zu performen.
• 35:43
  Wie viel besser kann man als Artist sein, wenn die Halle ist richtig?
• 35:47
  Wenn du wirklich fühlst dich in der Hohen in der Halle fühlst,
• 35:49
  weil ich manchmal, ich glaube, du fühlst dich nicht in der Hohen in der Halle,
• 35:51
  aber du wirst du singen da irgendwie.
• 35:53
  Aber wenn du in der Halle fühlst dich in der Wohnung und fühlst dich,
• 35:57
  und künstler, und freundlich, und nicht hostile, wie viel das dein Werk als
• 36:04
  Singere und deinem Atmosphäre in such an Evening?
• 36:09
  Ja, ich meine, es.
• 36:13
  Wirklich depends also, ob es ein Abend ist, ob es eine Recyter mit Piano oder
• 36:18
  eine Konferenz mit Arche.
• 36:21
  Aber erst einmal, es muss man die richtige Positionen finden,
• 36:27
  weil in jeder Halle, wenn man, manchmal, man muss man mehr zurückkehren,
• 36:32
  oder manchmal, man muss man mehr in die Front gehen.
• 36:35
  For instance, Philharmonie, I have the feeling, then Acoustic,
• 36:40
  it's very interesting if you don't approach too much the audience.
• 36:45
  I think if you really, you have a really interesting spot there, so acoustically.
• 36:53
  And then of course, every hall is different. But honestly, what make an evening
• 36:58
  is not just you performing, it's all the audience listening. This make an evening.
• 37:03
  Wie die Zuschauer reagieren, wie die Zuschauer reagieren, wenn es wirklich attentiv ist.
• 37:09
  Ich denke, es ist eine Ping-Pong-Situation.
• 37:14
  Und finally, was good advice would you give to 20-jährige Cecilia Barteli für ihre Karriere?
• 37:25
  Well, first of all, not being Cecilia Barth, only by being yourself.
• 37:30
  This is the best advice, you know. Frank, your way of singing, yes.
• 37:35
  Listening, not only to singers, listening through instrumentalists.
• 37:40
  I think this also, for me, was extremely important. I learned a lot how to sing,
• 37:46
  not only by singers, but especially by instrumentalists.
• 37:51
  Violinists, pianists, yes. So in your next life, you're going to be an instrumentalist?
• 37:58
  No, I'm very happy to be a singer, because I think at the end,
• 38:02
  the human voice is the most flexible instrument you can get,
• 38:07
  and it's the most close to the soul also.
• 38:11
  So that's why still human voice can touch so many people. But,
• 38:18
  I think somehow listening to great musicians, you know, and as I said,
• 38:26
  to, I mean, Wengerhoff or to Lang Lang,
• 38:30
  or, you know, to Daniel Barenboim, yes, I learned so much,
• 38:38
  from them. Ja, und das ist mein Tipp.
• 38:48
  Zu hören, zu all den großen Instrumenten und Singern und Conductors.
• 38:55
  Die letzte Frage ist vielleicht ein bisschen banal, aber es ist,
• 39:02
  dass du eine Leben ohne Musik vorstellen kannst?
• 39:12
  Oh, nein. Was würde es passieren, wenn du nicht mehr singst?
• 39:17
  Wenn du nur able zu hören könntest, das könnte helfen.
• 39:20
  Aber wenn du ein Morgen wachst und denkst, ich kann nicht sing,
• 39:23
  ich möchte nicht singen, aber ich kann nicht mehr singen.
• 39:28
  Was würde das mit deinem Leben tun?
• 39:31
  Aber es,
• 39:35
  ist, ich meine, es ist ein Teil. Es ist eine Passion, aber es ist ein Teil,
• 39:41
  zu anderen Singern, zu anderen Musikern. Es ist auch eine große Passion.
• 39:46
  Und das ist, ich denke, es ist life. Die Musik muss es mit mir oder ohne mich
• 39:55
  bleiben. You know what I mean?
• 39:57
  Okay. But this is, yeah, I have no, I have no, definitely no problem with that.
• 40:04
  At the contrary, every time I'm listening to, I'm actually, I'm very excited
• 40:11
  to listen to also to the new, the new musician, the new generation of musicians.
• 40:16
  Und jetzt, an dem Moment, auch mit den.
• 40:24
  Neuen Musikern, das ist auch so spannend.
• 40:27
  Aber zu gehen und hören zu ihnen, es ist so, ich meine, es ist so ein Balsam für mein soul. Okay,
• 40:39
  ich möchte nicht in der Weg für das, weil du musst jetzt ein Konzert hören in ein paar Minuten.
• 40:45
  Exactly. So, you see, I'm not going to sing. I'm just going to listen.
• 40:48
  Yeah, maybe. It's fantastic. No, no, no, not tonight.
• 40:53
  Okay. As far as I know, there's no date in Hamburg coming up in the next time,
• 40:57
  so I have to wait to see you at the boss level of Salzburg Summer Festival.
• 41:02
  Maybe you're going to take this one as well, since you're in Salzburg as well.
• 41:07
  But apart from that I'm looking forward to seeing you either at Elbphilharmonie
• 41:10
  hopefully soon or at Hamburg State Opera hopefully soon or maybe again next year in Salzburg and,
• 41:18
  thank you very much for having me and it's been a pleasure and take care and,
• 41:23
  just behave in Salzburg and enjoy your time there Thank you so much Grazie,
• 41:29
  arrivederci Thank you, bye bye,
• 41:34
  Ein Podcast von Funke. Weitere Podcasts vom Hamburger Abendblatt finden Sie
• 41:38
  in unserer Abendblatt-Podcast-App und auf abendblatt.de slash podcast.