A Violetta in Athens with Hollywood sparkle
Ahead of appearing in ‘La Traviata’ with the Greek National Opera, up-and-coming US soprano Nadine Sierra talks about this and other roles
American-born, lyric coloratura soprano Nadine Sierra is one of the brightest stars in today’s operatic firmament. Her glorious, sensuous vocal instrument – without hint of the dryness often present in this type of voice – is combined with considerable acting skills and looks to kill: a combination of Hollywood and the pages of Vogue.
The Greek public first saw her a few months ago in the live relay of Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” from the Metropolitan Opera in New York – a production so perfect in every respect that the cinematographic audience at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron) burst into prolonged, spontaneous applause at the end! Sierra is now preparing for her live Athens debut as Violetta in Verdi’s much-loved opera “La Traviata” in a new production by Konstantinos Rigos at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Irodion), which will mark the Greek National Opera’s final show for the Athens Epidaurus Festival.
Sierra is one of today’s most distinguished interpreters of this role, in which she has triumphed at some of the world’s top festivals and theaters – from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Arena di Verona to the Metropolitan Opera. When asked during our recent meeting whether her interpretation has changed since then, she replied that it evolves constantly, parallel to what is going on in her own personal life and her experiences as a woman.
“Of course, all this influences the way I approach Violetta, not just from production to production but also from performance to performance. Because when on stage, I experience the heroine’s emotions very deeply. I don’t merely think of the notes, but also of the topics each opera is trying to teach and convey to the audience, which also teaches me quite a lot in the process! Each time I sing Violetta, my brain and thoughts change and my soul is affected by the character… this is why I enjoy singing this role so much. Because it inspires me every single time.”
‘When on stage, I experience the heroine’s emotions very deeply. I don’t merely think of the notes, but also of the topics each opera is trying to teach and convey’
Looking back at this heroine, can she think of specific ways in which her interpretation has changed?
“Yes, absolutely! When I first sang it in Florence in 2021 with Zubin Mehta in the pit, I was perhaps overconscious of the fact that I wanted to meet people’s expectations. I wanted to please people, not just their ears but also their senses and make them enjoy the opera fully. And maybe at the premiere I was just a bit too correct, a little restrained in showing my emotions. Looking back, I would say that I wasn’t able to give 100% of myself. I wanted to be sure that I was doing everything right. I think this is the case with most singers when we sing a role for the first time. But as the production progressed from performance to performance, I started feeling freer to showcase not just what I was trained to do but also what I was feeling at the moment and to be a bit more spontaneous. And now I have reached the point when I can give myself to the character completely.”
She adds that “it is a very freeing experience to be spontaneous and able to show that you are responding not just to the huge vocal demands of the role, but also to the sadness and pain that Violetta is suffering throughout the opera: the pain of knowing that soon you are going to die, the sadness that you cannot live the life you want with the person you love. And in order to express the truth of the role I now feel completely comfortable about making things vocally maybe not as beautiful, not ugly, but sometimes more realistic, with the voice, which express these sad, traumatic experiences.”
She is grateful that her first experience of the role was with Mehta, who taught her “all sorts of tiny details which nevertheless made a whole lot of difference to the overall finesse and impact of my interpretation.” Mehta was the second in a succession of people who have helped her reach a higher level of understanding of her roles. The first was and remains Kamal Khan, who has been her teacher and coach for the past 22 years, since she was 13. “He is my mentor par excellence, the person with whom I learnt Violetta, Gilda [in ‘Rigoletto’), Lucia and almost my whole repertoire. When I was studying Violetta, he and his husband [Renata Scotto’s manager of 30 years], came to stay at my parents’ house in Florida for 10 days, during which I learnt the whole of Violetta. We would wake up in the morning and discuss her over breakfast. Then we spent two hours at the piano followed by lunch, more work at the piano all afternoon and then we would dine still discussing Violetta and Verdi and why he wrote certain things into this opera. It was a totally immersive experience and nowadays very few artists have the chance and privilege of being able to be taught in such a way.”
Despite her great love for Violetta, Sierra explains that, in a repertoire that includes Verdi’s “Luisa Miller,” Massenet’s “Manon” and the title role in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” (in which she scored a major triumph at the Met), her favorite role of all is Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” a heroine many colleagues dismiss as idiotic. But for Sierra, “when compared to the other characters, Gilda personifies the absolute, purest light in this opera. She is the one who, despite her youth and lack of life experience, manages to perform the ultimate sacrifice of allowing herself to get murdered in order to save the life of the man she fell in love with – keeping alive the faith in God with which was raised and the dream of love she experienced with the ‘poor student,’ in reality the womanizing Duke of Mantua.”
“Gilda is a young girl who, despite experiencing the devastating shock of this discovery, does not let go of her beliefs and in the end, wishes to save the souls of all those around her – her father’s, the Duke’s, Maddalena’s and also that of Sparafucile, her killer. Her last words before the latter knifes her are ‘God, forgive them.’ And for me, this is Verdi’s message in this opera: forgiveness. And I would like to believe that her father, Rigoletto, will learn something from her death and understand that, since his daughter sacrificed herself for love, he himself must change his choices and way of life and learn to forgive. And I cannot help feeling shattered by the fact that such a young person is capable of such an enormous sacrifice, which might change her father’s life for the better. Her death is the greatest gift to him. And even though some colleagues find all her attitudes silly, to me Gilda is a huge miracle in my life. And when I sing her, I am so deeply moved that I cry real tears on stage. Yes, this can be dangerous for the voice… but very good for the soul!”
Although on stage she gives her all, Sierra is very careful about taking on new roles and waits for the right moment for each, so that her vocal agility and brilliant gift for coloratura are not impaired. Her dream role is Mimi in Puccini’s “La Boheme,” but she is prepared to wait until her voice is ready for it. “I wouldn’t like to die without singing her, because this is the role that made me fall in love with opera when my mom (who hails from Portugal) took me to see this opera at the age of 10.
“I know that, compared to Norma or Leonora, Mimi is far more simple. But I, too, am quite a simple girl, you know… a simple person, not someone who likes extremes or who likes taking big risks in life. I am more humble and feel that have a lot in common with Mimi, the girl next door. At this very moment, my partner [who is not a musician but produces and teaches music, parallel to his involvement in science and numbers] is in the kitchen, cooking lunch. Oh yes, he will be coming to Athens for the premiere!”
