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TONHALLE-ORCHESTER ZURICH
American soprano Dawn Upshaw is frequently mobbed, but not in the mob
Dawn Upshaw is up to her elbows in batter. She’s in the kitchen of her New York home, making pancakes with her son. It’s a very domestic scene, but then the American soprano couldn’t be further from the diva-ish stereotype. She’s just returned from the Aspen Music Festival and soon she’ll pack her bags for the Edinburgh International Festival where she’s appearing with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich and long-term collaborator, conductor David Zinman. The programme includes Folksongs by Berio, Mahler’s Symphony No.4 and Brahms’ Variations on a theme by Haydn. ‘I haven’t sung Mahler for a while, though I
used to do it often,’ she says. ‘One of my favourite things about doing it is listening to the first movement. There’s such redemption, joy and peace in it. I find it rejuvenating to perform.’ While many vocalists make choices based on
which orchestra or opera house will do the most to advance their career, Upshaw has always been guided by her personal response to the music and the other artists involved. It’s a method that has led to some unexpected, often exciting choices. ‘I’m always looking for like-minded souls to work with. As I gather more experience, I realise that my work is very much affected by the collaborators I work with so I’m quite picky about what I take on.’
This approach has taken Upshaw from the great Mozart roles (Pamina, Ilia, Susanna, Despina) to modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen, and from Paris, Salzburg and Glyndebourne to the Metropolitan Opera, where she has made 300 appearances. She has featured on more than 50 recordings and won numerous awards, including four Grammy Awards and a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship known as a ‘genius grant’.
Upshaw chats thoughtfully and freely about her career and the choices she’s made since her 2006 diagnosis and successful treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Though she doesn’t believe it has altered her approach, critics have pointed to a greater emotional complexity in her performances since.
‘Work is an ongoing journey for me. It’s a real
gift to have this kind of work where you are constantly evolving.’ (Claire Prentice) ■ Usher Hall, 473 2000, 27 Aug, 8pm, £10–£39.
deeply metaphysical.’ Bach never wrote any operas. In his lifetime, the sort of boundaries that exist today between light music and serious music were paralleled between sacred and profane. Profane was for the theatre, but Wernicke has brought Bach’s sacred music onto the stage. ‘Actus Tragicus steps over a border,’ says Hofstetter. ‘At the end, it sends shivers up the spine. I don’t know how or why, but it works.’
Festival Theatre, 473 2000, 4 & 5 Sep, 7.15pm, £14–£64.
27 Aug–10 Sep 2009 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 89
THERE ARE OVER 50 PERSONAS ON STAGE, FROM THIEF TO NURSE
in another is a celebration of Christmas, there is a postman, a policeman and a mother doing the ironing. Dress is just what people wear to do these things - jeans, sweaters, trousers, work uniforms. ‘On one hand, you are seeing modern people fulfilling the rituals of everyday life,’ says Puhlmann, ‘but the baroque music of Bach is a kind of protection against our hectic, global existence in a fascinating combination of Bach’s music and our prosaic lives. It is a sort of baroque theatre, using allegories for the characters. For instance, the character of vanity, a young lady looking for the right skirt, is very important. We have performed many performances of Actus Tragicus in Stuttgart and it is always sold out. People are deeply moved by it.’
Musically, the cantatas are performed as they are written, apart from the last one, Actus Tragicus. ‘There is only a little manipulation here,’ explains Puhlmann. ‘After the hallelujah and amen, Herbert Wernicke has arranged the music with the middle section repeated so that it ends with the question of hope and redemption. Man has to die, but musically it is then left open. Will Jesus come or won’t he? It is unresolved. Actus Tragicus is more than a nice evening at the theatre. The whole evening stops with a question.’ Stuttgart Opera has received many plaudits for Actus Tragicus and rightly so. They are one of the longest established opera choruses in Germany, founded in the early 18th century, and, in more recent times, they have been awarded the title of Opera Chorus of the Year by the magazine Opernwelt on at least seven different occasions. ‘They sing it all by heart,’ says Hofstetter and really are a very good choir indeed.’ In their repetitive situations, the baroque texts they are singing, such as “how rapid and easily passing is man’s life”, or “and even children in the cradle in sickness lie with bitter anguish” take on fresh understanding. ‘The words are beautiful’, says Hofstetter, ‘but, like the beauty of Shakespeare, can also be cruel. They are very direct, but heartfelt, and