Her voice came back gradually, but at the start of the pandemic her chiropractor warned her that she needed to start singing again, to restore her lung capacity.
The gods depart for Valhalla in Melbourne Opera’s 2021 Das Rheingold.Credit:Robin Halls / MO
So when she heard Melbourne Opera was putting on Die Walkure, she rang up and pleaded to sing a Valkyrie.
Conductor Anthony Negus and director Suzanne Chaundy were delighted to have her. Illing is one of Australia’s most renowned sopranos: she has performed at the world’s greatest opera houses, including as Musetta in La Boheme with Placido Domingo as Rodolfo, at Covent Garden. In concerts she has sung with the world’s great orchestras and conductors.
Conductor Anthony Negus says he’s thrilled to have her, “a huge, great star” as part of a fine cast.
The show is a challenge, there’s even a German word for it: fünfstündigenopernaufführungsangst or “fear of five-hour operas”. But despite Walkure’s four hour (plus intervals) running time, as the last bar fades away Negus always finds himself invigorated, he says.
“In that moment you just ‘live’ for a moment and think ‘oh my god, this has been something really special’. In the immediate aftermath of a performance I generally enjoy having a drink and a bit of company, and then the following day zonking [out].”
As a sought-after Wagner specialist this is his third Walkure in less than a year, having conducted it for Longborough Festival in June and English National Opera in December.
“It has a huge great range musically, emotionally, because Wagner is really giving expression to so much that’s new and such powerful emotions,” Negus says. Part of the challenge is to find a “pulse” to the piece even in the quietest passages, he says.
“All the slowest bits need to have a flow to them, and the quickest bits need to be not too quick otherwise they won’t make sense.”
But at times he gives the orchestra permission to “go wild”, he says.
Another trap is that famous Ride of the Valkyries: in some hands it can turn into “tiddlywinks” if it’s tripped through too lightly. Negus says you’ve got to put the stress at the beginning of each cycle of the theme, to give it weight, a heartbeat.
Chaundy, the director, says her main aim is to “tell the story really well”. She doesn’t want to impose a modern interpretation or concept, she’s “embracing the fantasy elements in it” – the popularity of shows including Game of Thrones have shown fantasy is accepted as an adult genre.
Walkure’s story is about the “power of love and the transformative nature of love”, she says. Yes, the women in the story “are treated quite badly, but they’re not weak in it, they come out strong… they bring about massive changes in the structure of the world”.
On a practical level, directing a show involving more than 140 cast, musicians and crew in the age of Omicron has proven a challenge. Almost every role has a “cover” who can step in, rehearsed in a different room at different times.
“But we’re all on eggshells now that we’re in the theatre,” Chaundy admits.
Die Walkure is at Her Majesty’s Theatre from February 9-16 and at Bendigo’s Ulumbarra on February 27.
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Source: Philippines Alive
