After this many performances do you not find the role of Judit in Bluebeard a bit boring?
Not at all. I think it is impossible to exhaust the diversity of Bartók's music. His opera always offers something new to discover. I think as far as getting a full understanding of the opera, I am only at door three...And the atmosphere of every performance is different. It depends on the conductor, my partner, the audience. As a result, new tones and different interpretations appear. I had an interesting experience during this season when I was singing in Dvorak's Requiem and the conductor was the same as nearly two decades earlier at a performance in the Staatsoper in Vienna. I have been singing Judit for many years and I have performed Bartók's opera with many excellent partners, but one of the most wonderful performances was a production in New York's Lincoln Center last year, with László Polgár appearing as Bluebeard and Iván Fischer conducting the Festival Orchestra.
What made that performance different from others?
It is difficult to tell. You cannot foresee when or tell why miracles happen. I hope the Hungarian audience will get a similar experience now. The production at the Palace of Arts may be very special. I am looking forward to film director Kornél Mundruczó's take on Bartók's only opera, as he will direct this semi-staged performance. The programme will include Bluebeard alongside The Miraculous Mandarin.
And what is your take on Judit?
She is curious, ambitious and restless, a real woman. But if you wanted to follow her example and look behind every door, then you would either become very sad or very disappointed. You do not always need to know everything. Some secrets should be left alone. Judith is a brave woman, and even though I was born in the sign of the Aries, I am not as brave as she is. I do not want to open all doors....
Your partner will be László Polgár once again, just like in New York but this time the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra will play. After the Palace of Arts, the performance will be repeated as a concert in the Opera House.
I am glad that János Kovács will conduct these performances as I worked with him often during the ten years I was a member of the Opera. I received an awful lot from the opera house, many opportunities that helped me start my career.
But in the past few years you have not appeared on the stage of the Hungarian State Opera. Will Hungarian audiences get a chance to see you in the next season?
Yes, the new management has invited me to appear as Venus in Tannhauser in the current season but I could not accept the offer because of a contract I signed earlier. I said yes to these two Bartók performances even though I had to cancel the first four Cavalleria rusticana shows at the Metropolitan because I consider it important to appear to Hungarian audiences from time to time as well. And in the next season, in December, I will once again perform at the Ybl palace. I will sing Eboli in Don Carlos.
You debuted at the Met in New York as Charlotte in Werther exactly ten years ago. But you really started appearing more frequently on overseas stages in the past few years.
And I was concerned that they would never invite me again after I had refused their offers twice. At first, they offered me the role of Dorabella but I felt that in this role I would not have been able to present my real strength: my personality and acting skills. So I turned it down. After that, I could have sung Delilah next to Plácido Domingo. I also refused that because I had never performed it on a smaller stage and I thought in such a role one must not give a poor introductory performance because that would reduce the chance of being invited back, and I always plan in long term. So after this I was sure that the Met would never give me another offer. But they did: singing Preziosilla in The Force of Destiny. I accepted it because I thought if I refuse this offer, as well, then the Met will write me off for good. The entire cast was excellent: Deborah Voigt, Salvatore Licitra and Samuel Ramey...I am always inspired by singing with good colleagues. I do not like to be alone on stage. It was a success, and I kept getting more invitations after that. I also started the season last autumn at the Met singing Herodias in Salome. It is not a dream role but one that is possible to make into a good performance. There was an interesting concept that required plenty of acting skills, like when I had to drink until I was drunk by the end of the opera. My performance was greatly appreciated.
Still, sopranos remain the spoilt group in music history. Did you never wish you were one of them?
I certainly did. I often thought sopranos had such an easy life. It is enough to be pretty and sing well and you keep getting the primadonna roles. It is an easy way to become a diva. Of course there are differences even among the divas because there are some real artists and the rest are vocalists. But I am attracted to soprano roles also psychologically. I even had a go at it and sang one, but only one, because you must test your limits. I enjoyed Donna Elvira but despite the many offers I received, I never returned to the stage in that role. They even invited me to sing Lady Macbeth. I learnt it, worked on it for three months and then I said no. After all, when critics said after one of my Aida performances that they did not understand why this opera was not called Amneris, then I realised it was not that bad being a mezzo after all.
I can tell you like challenges and unusual tasks...
I enjoy expanding my repertoire. In the next few months of the current season, I will tour Spain, sing Santuzza in Cagliari and Palermo, then continue my Carmen series in the Verona Arena and introduce myself as Amneris. But perhaps what I am looking forward to the most is a curious task in Brussels. They are making a cartoon adaptation of Aida and I will lend my voice to Amneris. I definitely want to be involved in that.
You are celebrating an anniversary this year considering that you started your career exactly 25 years ago.
I have built two careers during this time. A started out as a lyrical mezzo, singing Octavian in The Knight of the Rose and the Composer in Ariadne. This period was crowned by Werther at the Met. During this period, it was my great desire to bring to life Richard Strauss's love-struck heroine at the Wiener Staatsoper, but they said the role could only go to a native German speaker. Still, I became a regular guest at the opera and I have sung alongside partners, such as Felicity Lott, Anna Tomowa-Sintov, Barbara Bonney and Edita Gruberova. I feel I achieved what I wanted. Shortly after my son's birth, my dramatic mezzo career started. The first important step was Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. It was followed by Eboli and Amneris. I gave myself a good ten years for that period. And already now, I am trying to build the third period of my career, a Wagner period. I have started learning Kundry which I will sing in a year and a half at the Deutsche Oper. But I consider this period as a premium, so next to Wagner, I will also keep up my current repertoire.
I am surprised that after the bel canto pieces, you are happy to sing musical dramas.
One must grow up in technique, emotions and acting to reach Wagner's world. One can only sing the beautiful phrases of Venus in Tannhauser if one is also capable of bel canto. To this day, I go for voice control because I consider technique very important. And as long as I sing, this will not change. Over the years, I have seen many stars rise and then disappear without a trace after a few years. I endeavour to achieve a different career. The wisdom of "go slow and live longer" seems to have worked for me. So I already have many invitations even for the year 2012. I already realised at the start of my career that it is not enough to only like singing. Becoming an artist can only result from continual effort and work, and I am determined to become not only a vocalist but an artist.
Interviewer: Zsuzsa Réti
