Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Opera singer and one of the world's foremost tenors, praised for his voice, authentic characterizations, and megawatt charisma.
On the island
Eight records
This is my happy music. I think music is an extreme good mood setter.
Aria from the Goldberg Variations
Until I was a student I loved it, and I couldn't understand why someone would like his later interpretation.
Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater from Die Walküre
If you can sing it in a legato and still make it understandable, then it's the best.
Der Müller und der Bach from Die schöne Müllerin
This is for me one of the most touching interpretations of Die Schöne Müllerin.
Im Traum hast du mir alles erlaubt
I'm a little bit ashamed to choose on Desert Island actually one of my songs.
GranadaFavourite
one of the songs that just kill me when I hear it.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:07Do you still feel the joy?
I do, absolutely. And that was actually one of the key ingredients why I struggled at the beginning to choose the music path as my profession, because I was afraid that the moment it's my duty, I have to do it, I could lose all that passion and joy and just see it as a burden. But in the end it just shocked me so much that I couldn't get rid of.
Presenter asks
1:50What's the feeling when you're standing in the wings before going onstage? Describe it to me.
Well, it's for me not very spectacular. I'm actually chatting with some friends in the wings and making fun, and when it's time I just walk out, I have never had something like stage fright. Yes, at the very beginning I did. … So that was really difficult for me. I was shaken all over. But the moment I learned how to sing and I knew that I have a reliable instrument, there's not much that could happen out there. I became one of those typical stage monsters that are just not afraid of anything.
Presenter asks
5:36Does the requirement of planning years ahead feel like a straitjacket for an artistic soul?
Well, absolutely. I'm in the rare position now to actually do something against it by just refusing to sign contracts five years in advance. I always compare it to a painter … who knows how I feel then? … artistically speaking, it's a catastrophe.
The keepsakes
Presenter asks
6:52Does it concern you that opera is an expensive night out and who you're reaching with your work?
Well, of course it does. … Those same people easily book tickets for the next movie … and we as people involved in the opera business, we need to get access to these people and tell them. It's the same story. We are also in the entertainment industry, and it's not necessary to know everything about it before you come.
Presenter asks
9:43What was the first music you remember hearing growing up?
I was constantly surrounded by music because my parents and grandparents they all loved classical music. The first thing in the morning was to put on some music. It was quite heavy stuff also. We had Bruckner, we had Mahler, Wagner, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff. So really very intense music. And loud.
Presenter asks
24:50How did you navigate your way through the external pressures when you were a younger singer being offered big roles?
Well, of course the pressure is always on. … it's very difficult for a young musician to say no to things where it might be the chance of your lifetime. … better no impression than a bad impression. … just don't do it. And it's very difficult to do. And I got lucky that I had maybe so much self-confidence that I thought, well, there will be another time. …
“I think music is an extreme good mood setter. It has the key to our soul for some reason.”
“He wrote him a postcard with a special code that they had made up years before, which meant invite me to your wedding.”
“I was totally in shock when afterwards I saw that she reappeared for the curtain calls. Because it took away the whole illusion that she just committed suicide.”
“He changed radically everything. I changed the way of singing, and through that I suddenly got a round instrument, a dark instrument, a very reliable instrument, one that I could trust and I could sing on and on and on. It wouldn't get tired. So it was a dream come true.”
“I'm the fixer. I'm the one that, whenever something doesn't work anymore, they just come to me and I'll do it.”