Saving the world on Mount Everest

Some are instantly recognizable. Not only by their voice, but also by their posture, gestures, aura and expression. Take the Kammersängerin Camilla Nylund, for example. She fills the world's great stages with her stage presence, her voice captivates with exquisite beauty and color and offers the necessary punch. And her characters are people of flesh and blood whose fates move us. Whoever experiences her never forgets her: the superior calm, the spellbinding power of the highest quality, the certainty in what she does. She has appeared around 150 times at the Vienna State Opera since 2005, particularly in Strauss and Wagner roles. Now it's time for another summit storm: Brünnhilden in the Ring des Nibelungen, which she sang last May and now in June.

Richard Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen fills entire libraries for good reason. Quite apart from the music, i.e. on a purely content-related level, it is like a repertoire of daring approaches and concepts, from ecological to anti-capitalist. Which aspect is central for you?

Of course, the ring can be an expression of so many things. A social idea, a world view, it can be read politically, as a family story, philosophically. There are simply so many aspects that play into it and so many possible interpretations. But you can also look at it on the level of the characters. Personally, I'm most interested in the characters, their relationship to each other, their psychology, their relationships. I have to say that I have been involved with the Ring of the Nibelung since the beginning of my career, in other words for around 30 years.

You sang one of the Valkyries in your early years?

I was a Valkyrie - Gerhilde - and a daughter of the Rhine - Woglinde - the latter in both Rheingold and Götterdämmerung. Later I was Freia, I was also Gutrune, and I sang one of the Norns. Yes, and in 2013 I made my Vienna State Opera debut as Sieglinde in Die Walküre. Thirteen years later, I now have the opportunity to play Brünnhilde in the same production at this opera house. Actually: the Brünnhilden, i.e. the character in Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. I know many of my fantastic predecessors in this role - and, despite all the awe, I am very pleased that I can now also portray this character.

You can hardly exhaust the Ring cosmos; through constant study, you always discover new angles, corners and connections in the great tetralogy. Is it also the case for you that you immerse yourself radically deeper into the work with every study? Do you understand more and more, but also have more and more questions?

Of course, the Ring is a work that includes an enormous amount, offers models of interpretation and shows reflections due to its very well-woven material, this essentially mythical material, this old saga. There is a lot to discover in it, and if you want to, you can also recognize situations taken from real life in the constellations of characters, for example. As in many other great operas - that's what makes a masterpiece. And as with all these important pieces, each new examination leads to an even deeper understanding; you recognize aspects that you didn't see so clearly last time, and of course new questions always arise. A work of art like the Ring can never be fully explored.

In addition, each production is designed differently: in the direction of the staging, in its aesthetics, in the constellation of performers. This means that different moments are always emphasized, which in turn opens up new perspectives. This is now my third Ring. I didn't accompany the Vienna production during its creation, but I was lucky enough to sing Brünnhilden in two new productions. In other words: I was able to work out exactly how to play this character and am currently in the process of immersing myself even more deeply in the Ring world.

How did this learning take place? First the traditional saga? Or the text first?

At the beginning, of course, you are busy not only learning the text, but understanding it in the first place. It's not just a historical German, but a Richard Wagner German, his own poetry. Then there's the music, which doesn't make it easy either. But the more confident and deeper you are in these worlds, the more relaxed you become. And the serenity and experience you gain opens your eyes to new things. As I said, it's a long process that never ends.

You just sang the Marschallin in Rosenkavalier here at the State Opera, now you're playing Brünnhilde. Which of the characters teaches you more?

That's difficult to answer for two reasons. Firstly, because I've been singing the Marschallin since the early 2000s. So it has really become second nature to me, I go on stage calmly, I know every gesture, every look, every step, every nuance. And I enjoy that accordingly! It's simply wonderful to play a role like this - and to be so familiar with it. Secondly, the two are simply such different characters. The Marschallin is enormously complex, Brünnhilde is just as complex, but in a completely different way. They are simply incomparable characters. What's more, Brünnhilde appears in three parts of the Ring and undergoes major changes.

Does this number of three also mean a different tuning in each case?

Yes, you need a slightly different voice each time. Some of my colleagues say that the Valkyrie Brünnhilde is too low, the Siegfried Brünnhilde is too high and too short, and the Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde is too long.

What all three works have in common, however, is their enormous power of fascination.

So Walküre is simply a fantastic piece. I've always enjoyed singing Sieglinde, and I'm really enjoying being Brünnhilde now. It starts with those very famous Hojotoho cries, but of course the role is not limited to the imposing and wild, it is also incredibly moving. Brünnhilde's big scenes with Wotan, her father, are incredibly touching, perhaps also because many of us think of our own family constellations. Although we are in a world of the gods, the issues being dealt with here are very human. Wagner's gods often have the same questions, the same problems as us humans - and that can be both exciting and moving. The great awakening scene in Siegfried is of course fantastic, the love that develops between the two. But my favorite part is still Götterdämmerung-Brünnhilde, I just love singing and playing her!

Do you see the three evenings as a unit? In other words, one very long, albeit vocally somewhat different role, split over three evenings? Or do you fillet the whole thing and there are simply three roles?

I definitely see the three Brünnhilden as a unit. It is one person, but one who undergoes a huge development. We see her in Die Walküre as she makes a supposed mistake - but she doesn't see it that way! - and is punished for it. From the situation, the encounter with Siegmund, she learns what love is, what true feelings are, what it means to have compassion for someone. And she learns what love does to you. She saves the pregnant Sieglinde, gives her unborn child the name Siegfried - and then meets him again later, in the opera Siegfried: it is he who awakens her from her sleep and whom she loves. A predestined love? But how she is later betrayed in Götterdämmerung is inconceivable ... Much of this role is very difficult to sing, very dramatic - and I am not a "high drama" per se, but have gradually approached the character, but still always stick to my voice. But it must also be said that Wagner divided up the role very cleverly, especially in Götterdämmerung. As Brünnhilde, you always have breaks in the course of the evening. That helps a lot!

And which of the Brünnhilden do you prefer as a character? The young one at the beginning? The wise one at the end?

In the end, the one who knows is the closest to me. After all, I've played young girls all my life. I was never a warrior before that ... I also find the character of the vulnerable Brünnhilde in Siegfried, who sings this great duet that ends in a frenzy, exciting.

As Brünnhilde in Siegfried, you have a bit of a strategic advantage in that Siegfried sings the whole evening and you only enter in the last act.

Yes, as Brünnhilde you are fresh!

And yet a challenging game.

Without a doubt, I would say that Siegfried-Brünnhilde is a great balancing act between fragility and power.

Brünnhilde's hojotoho calls in Die Walküre are familiar to many, and they are particularly challenging. The singer already needs the high C in bar eleven. Do you sing differently for such a start than for a Marschallin, for example?

No, not really. I always sing in straight away, regardless of the role. I check whether the voice runs, whether everything is nice and open and whether the height is there. You don't need the latter as much for the Marschallin, for example; you need a very stable and sustained middle range. In this respect, it is a good preparation for Brünnhilde, because that also requires a lot of middle range. When I was planning Brünnhilde, I immediately thought of it: Yes, I will sing this Hojotoho. But this moment passes surprisingly quickly on stage. The bottom line is that Brünnhilde is actually a rather low part.

Let's jump to the end, to the finale of Götterdämmerung, when Brünnhilde throws herself into the fire: do you see her as a victim? Or as a heroine who saves the world from the Ring?

You could also say that she is both heroine and victim. For me, she is the one who takes control of the situation and says: 'Well, it has to end so that something new, something better can come.

Of the many great moments in the Ring, the announcement of death in Die Walküre stands out in particular: In a poignant conversation, both musically and in terms of content, Siegmund learns of his imminent death and reaffirms his all-consuming love for Sieglinde.

This is one of the really, really great moments in the Ring - and it demands great calm and composure and the highest emotional expression from the singers. It is precisely because of scenes like this that one understands why the Valkyrie is ultimately the most popular part of the Ring with the audience. It is precisely for this reason that the Valkyrie is sometimes also performed once in the Ring series.

You sang many great Wagner roles, Isolde, Eva, Elsa, Elisabeth, Venus, Senta, Sieglinde - are the three Brünnhilden something like Mount Everest?

I've sung everything by Wagner that I've wanted to. The only thing missing from the big roles is Kundry, but I don't think I'm a Kundry, at least that doesn't appeal to me much at the moment. Brünnhilde ... I used to think that I would never sing her. And now I'm right in the middle of it. Yes, Brünnhilde, that's Mount Everest! Every time. But that's also what makes it so appealing: I love this challenge, this Mount Everest, the task that is set before me! That's also what my life as a singer is all about!