A day without music? Impossible!

Sometimes it seems as if the music is looking for very specific people. For people who want to be found by it.

For people who, without perhaps being aware of it, are ready to be permanently absorbed in the world of sounds and harmonies and to work for and through them. It would at least be a nice explanation as to why, for some, even an unintentional triviality can ignite a never-ending musical passion. In Nikola Hillebrand's case, it was an audio cassette with a playfully narrated biography of Franz Schubert. Her mother had given it to her on some occasion, unaware that it would trigger a veritable addiction. Nikola, who was still very young, was so taken with the famous Forelle song that she not only listened to it in endless loops, but also encouraged the girl to imitate the adult operatic voice over and over again. A first singing lesson, so to speak.

In any case, the foundation stone had been laid and a vocation awakened: Nikola Hillebrand and music had forever become intimate friends.

In turn, contact with the world of the stage was made primarily through almost fifteen years of ballet training. And here, too, it was love at first sight: As a five-year-old, she was allowed to portray a pony in her first public performance. Admittedly not yet a leading role, but something about the magic of the stage must have touched Nikola Hillebrand even then, because after the performance, when all the other children rushed outside, she was the only one left behind with the words: "Mom, wait, everything is free now. I have to go out on stage all by myself again, enjoy this environment and dance my steps."

And this desire to stand on the podium in front of an audience, to present something to the audience in a celebratory manner, has not left her since.

But then there is something else that is characteristic of real artists and singers. In addition to the apparently innate desire to express themselves to an audience through music, in addition to the fundamental joy of music: namely the ability of total inner devotion and emotion through art. A special moment in Nikola Hillebrand's life in this respect took place at the beginning of her singing career. She had just been accepted into the Mannheim ensemble and was able to attend a performance of Strauss' Elektra on a rehearsal-free evening. She had never before experienced this work, or indeed any Strauss opera, live. The immediate impact of what she heard was all the more elemental. An hour after the curtain fell, tears were still running uncontrollably down her cheeks. Whatever had been triggered in her, she knew from then on at the latest that she possessed an emotionality that on the one hand enabled her to have the most intense artistic experiences and on the other gave her the opportunity to trigger something similar in others through her singing. Nikola Hillebrand recognized herself as a mouthpiece, as a medium for composers and their works.

She understood that she not only wanted to be constantly surrounded by music, but also needed to be in contact with others through it. With colleagues as well as with the audience. To put it prosaically: two to three performances a week are about the operating temperature at which the soprano feels comfortable - in addition to rehearsals and her own studies, of course. And if you happen to bump into her in a supermarket or on the subway, you can guess from her humming and a few hints of her singing what music is currently on her mind (although she consciously strikes a balance between opera, concerts and song programs so that she can fully enjoy the entire spectrum).

All those who are now wondering about her busy schedule, wondering how she manages to do all this without taking time off and to such a high standard, should be reminded of a phenomenon that other singers have already confirmed: performances not only require energy, they are also a source of energy! And so Nikola Hillebrand draws new artistic inspiration even from a long, demanding role such as Susanna or Pamina. Or from the Rosenkavalier-Sophie, which she has also sung repeatedly since the age of 24 - most recently with great success in Berlin under Christian Thielemann - and with which she will introduce herself to audiences at the Vienna State Opera in May. Which, by the way, she will fortunately remain with from now on. Next season alone, she will be heard on this stage so often(Konstanze in Die Entführung, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Sophie again, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Zdenka in Arabella) that audiences will be presented with a fine cross-section of her broad operatic repertoire in a very short space of time. However, the audience will certainly have already grown fond of her. More precisely: after the curtain falls on May 9, immediately after her first Vienna Rosenkavalier performance..