Interview with Rebecca Nelsen, an American Soprano in Vienna

When Samantha Farber of Vienna-based SONO Artists Management dropped me a line a few months ago about Rebecca Nelsen, a young American soprano who is forging out a promising career in Europe, I drew a complete blank. Being a bit of a nature-freak that I am I immediately tried to fill the vacuum with a slew of internet searches for information on the singer and found a wonderful selection of various video and music clips on the artist's website... and was soon convinced of her extraordinary brain and musical power. As with the splendid introduction to Arturo Chacon Cruz, I am in serious debt to Ms. Farber for this wonderful artistic discovery and her role in arranging this interview. Really, this multi-talented young lady is much better met in her own words since any written introduction I can come up with can hardly do her justice. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is Rebecca Nelsen:

Smorg: You came from the country music-loving big sky states of New Mexico and then Texas. How did you discover opera/classical singing?

RN: You're right, I did have a lot more exposure to Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks growing up in New Mexico and West Texas than I did to singers like Beverly Sills and Renee Fleming! Weirdly enough, a scratched up, brass trumpet was really my introduction to the world of classical music and performance.

When I was in the second grade in Albuquerque, New Mexico, my elementary school announced that it was starting a band program and my parents, who have always fostered a love of art an music in all of their seven children, went right out and bought an old beaten-up trumpet and a clarinet at a garage sale somewhere. They came home and handed my twin sister the trumpet and me the clarinet - they didn't ask us, probably because they knew we would fight. After we had both already learned the basics of our instruments, my sister had to get braces and couldn't play the trumpet anymore, so our parents just switched the instruments - giving the trumpet to me and the clarinet to my sister, again without asking us. I remember being furious that they had taken my clarinet away from me. I was terrible at first at the trumpet (perhaps intentionally) and in the beginning, I played so badly (and loudly) that my parents made me practice in the back yard (our poor neighbors!).

Eventually, I really came to love playing the trumpet. I also loved that it was viewed as a 'boy's' instrument and as I have always been very competitive, I decided that I had to get as good as possible so that I could beat all the boys, and I did! I played the trumpet all through school and was seriously considering becoming a professional trumpet player as I was finishing high school.

I was in my senior year in Lubbock, Texas - and I was the principal trumpet in the Lubbock Youth Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra had a concerto competition every year in which orchestra members were encouraged to audition a concerto in front of a panel of judges and the winner would get to perform their concerto with the orchestra in the major fall concert. I decided on a lark to sing an opera aria, it was really nearly a joke at first as I knew absolutely nothing about opera at that point, but I went to the library (this was before youtube) and researched arias. I found a recording of Kiri Ti Kanawa singing Puccini's O mio babbino caro [from Gianni Schicchi] and fell in love.

I learned the aria, auditioned and won the competition. It was great - I got to play the fairly challenging first trumpet part in Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol then put down my horn, walked backstage, came out and sang the aria with the orchestra. It was an amazing feeling, mixing voice with orchestra and I was hooked! After the concert, voice professor Karl Dent, who became my voice teacher, came up and told me, "I know you think you're a trumpet player, but you're actually an opera singer." Texas Tech offered me a vocal scholarship and after a lot of consideration, I decided that I would pursue a degree in vocal performance and that was the start of everything.

I finished my degree at Texas Tech and, with the help of a Fulbright Scholarship, continued my studies at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. My wonderful husband Greg and I have been living and working in Europe ever since.

Smorg: That explains the photo of you blowing away at the trumpet on your website. Do you still regularly play the instrument? (as a side note, do you ever dream of singing something like Rinaldo's Or la tromba - transposed to a more comfortable range - to your own trumpet obbligato?)

RN: I do still get to play, perhaps not as much as I would like, but it is still a definite part of my life, which is only fitting, as it is my first musical love. This Spring, I got to play my trumpet onstage at the Volksoper in Vienna as Julia de Weert in Der Vetter aus Dingsda. The trumpet solo, which is a reprise of Julia's aria "Strahlender Mond", was actually put into the production for me specifically during the rehearsals for the premiere in 2008 by the wonderful and imaginative opera director Olivier Tambosi. He asked the cast if any of us had any hidden talents and when I told him that I was a trumpet player, his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. It ended up being a really interesting scene and the Volksoper even used the picture of me with my trumpet for promotional posters.

In answer to your second question, I would love to do something like Or la tromba, but one of my biggest dreams is to sing a bugle-playing Marie in La fille du régiment - can you imagine? It would be wonderful to come out at the beginning of Chancun le sait, military trumpet in hand, and bugle the introductory cadenza - I have even worked out a few that I like. Dramaturgically it makes perfect sense that the tomboyish ward of a Regiment would be taught by her adoptive fathers to play the most militaryof instruments. I love the role in general and adore Dessay's interpretation of Marie. Hopefully one day I will get to sink my teeth into this fantastic role.

Smorg: As a young singer you have already tackled many challenging roles from the well known testers like Blondchen (Abduction from the Seraglio), Gilda (Rigoletto) and Violetta (La Traviata) to the lesser known but no less difficult Marenka (The Bartered Bride), Julia (Künnecke's Der Vetter aus Dingsda) and Ippolito (Mayr's Fedra). Do you enjoy any particular role more than the others (if yes, why)? Is there any particular role that you would really like to sing in the near future?

RN: It is hard to pick a favorite from the roles that I have already sung, but I have to say that Violetta speaks to me more intensely than other role I have ever performed. She is such a beautifully formed character, so sensual and passionate and noble in a way that those around her cannot even begin to understand. When I sing Violetta, my heart bleeds with hers - I love Alfredo more than my own life, I fear the glowering doom of death that hangs silently over me, growing ever closer - I both love and hate Germont. I feel her perhaps too keenly sometimes - I remember being fully unable to hold back the tears after Addio del passato one night at La Fenice. I finished the last phrase and wept - it was not acting - it was as real as any sorrow I have ever felt. I was so choked up that it was really difficult to sing the rest of the opera - I had to focus with every fiber in my being that night to finish the show because I had allowed the intense sadness of Violetta to overcome me as a singer, but it was a very powerful, if terrifying, experience.

Another role that I absolutely loved was Ippolito. He was so fantastic, because in him, I got experience all the things that a lyric coloraturanormally does not on stage- namely to be masculine, angry and strong. The freedom of his movement, the weapons, the disdain and the violence inherent in his character were tantalizing - I loved the intensity of his fights with Fedra and Teseo. The music was originally written for a castrato and was like nothing I have ever sung before -written in the same range in which I am accustomed to singing, but somehow inherently male. This was an opera in which I got to fire a crossbow, swing a real broadsword, slaughter animals on stage and fight - I got to smear myself with blood and dirt be thrown to the ground by my father Teseo - I got to experience rage and the forlorn love of a son for his father who has forsaken him - it was a great experience and one I hope I will get the chance to repeat.

As far as dream roles I would like to tackle, I have already mentioned Marie - I think she would be an amazingly fun character to become. I would also love to sing Cunegonde in Candide, Juliette in any of her incarnations, Lucia [Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor] and also many more castrato roles - that would be fascinating and challenging.

Smorg: How in the world did you manage to learn Susanna in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 2 weeks???

RN: God has blessed me with many things; a great family, a wonderful husband, a good education and the ability to learn music quickly. I have never been more thankful for that last blessing than I was when, through a perfect storm of events, I ended up having to learn the entire role of Susanna in 14 days - let's just say that it involved a lot of intense study and a very patient and helpful husband. As a result, the role is more indelibly etched in my brain than most of the other roles I have ever sung with the definite exception of Violetta. That was not the only time I have had to learn an opera quickly, though - I once jumped into the lead of a modern opera and had only a week to learn the role and the staging from a video - that was a real challenge, but it turned out well in the end.

Smorg: From your first professional operatic engagement (the woman in John Casken's God's Liar) you have experienced theatrically challenging stage direction that is more typical in Central Europe than in America. How do you like it compared to traditional opera staging? [I myself rather enjoy the minimalistic conceptual staging like you'd see done by Christof Loy or David McVicar because they keep the visual part of the performance interesting while still telling the core of the story and usually without stressing the musical performance too much, though some directors like Hans Neuenfelds tends to go too far toward shock-inducing theater for my taste. I've heard from some singers who feel artistically stimulated by these so-called 'Regietheater' and from some who absolutely detest it. Would love to hear your point of view about it]

RN: I have had the pleasure of working with some really fantastic stage directors like Olivier Tambosi, Robert Carson, Andreas Homoki, Wally Sutcliffe, Mascha Poerzgen and Stephan Bruckmeier and many of them have asked me to do extremely challenging things onstage - like singing while performing acrobatics, while dancing on an extremely raked stage, while sliding down a moving wall or climbing a 30 foot ladder, or holding the entire focus of the scene with nothing but myself and an empty stage. There are singers that hate this sort of thing, but I love a good challenge and when the challenge of the direction leads my character in a way that serves the story and I am physically and vocally capable of doing what is being asked, I am usually more than happy to do it.

On the other hand, shock for shock's sake - needles vulgarity, things that inherently go against the piece and negate the will of its creators and nudity for nudity's sake are all things that I would rather not see on the operatic stage - I believe in the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk and for that idea to function, the direction cannot be willfully destroying the piece in order to get a rise out of the audience.

There is also nothing wrong with traditional opera. I have been in several traditional productions and I believe it is necessary to keep them around too, because many people want and expect that kind of experience when they go to the opera and because a traditional production is an excellent introduction into the world of opera for newbies, but that doesn't mean that the staging needs to be static. "Park and bark" opera can be very effective some of the time, but opera is vibrant, it is violent and active and passionate and interesting and sometimes, the piece requires that something extra and I believe it is our job, as performers to at least try to give it.

Smorg: Some performers have a personal caveat on what they will not do on the stage. Do you have a limit on what theatrical device you would not do even if it costs you the job? [most often, thanks goodness, appears to be 'take all or most of my clothes off'. I'm not sure I'd want to see someone singing naked on the stage even if the person looks like Anna Netrebko]

This can be a touchy subject with singers - I have a friend who recently had to resort to legal action because a director was trying to force her to be completely naked on stage in a production that really did not call for it. Nudity for opera singers is a slippery slope if there ever was one and I have to say that, unless I am singing Salome, which is almost definitely never going to happen without a major change in the character of my voice, I don't think I would ever sing naked on stage for the same reason that mentioned before - I believe in pushing the boundaries when it serves the piece - not for shock value.

In Salome, nudity serves the piece, it almost needs to be there and I can completely understand a director who would at least ask the singer to consider it. Regardless, I believe in healthy communication and a willingness to compromise between singer and director. I have been very fortunate in that I have never been asked to do something on stage that I felt so uncomfortable doing that I had to fight it - most directors are good, sensitive people and are willing to work with singers and compromise when they feel uncomfortable doing something.

Smorg: Your husband, Greg Nelsen, is a theatrical actor. Does he help you with your development of operatic character? Have you two performed together? If yes to either, what do you think is different between acting in an opera performance and in straight theater?

RN: Greg is a great help when I need some ideas of how to make my characters come more alive onstage and he has given me some invaluable advice for both humorous and dramatic roles in terms of characterization and mannerism. He even helped me choreograph a slapstick scene once - he has amazing natural timing and great stage instincts and I know I'm very lucky to have a built-in acting coach in my husband.

We have been in several productions together on the university and professional levels ranging from musicals to straight theater to even ballet. We have a great time with each other on and off the stage and I hope that we will get to be in many more productions (perhaps even operas) together in the future. There are definite differences between acting in an opera and acting in straight theater and sometimes Greg and I engage in friendly debate on this one. He sometimes refers to what happens on operatic stages as "opera acting" and insists that most of the acting done in opera is too big and over-the-top for a straight theater production. I think it depends on so many variables that it is hard to quantify, but we agree to disagree on that one.

We also sometimes have fun debating which is more challenging in terms of memorization and staying on cue - I argue that as an actor, it is easier for him because if he looses his place or needs to do things differently for any reason (like a set piece that doesn't function or a colleague who misses their cue) - he always has the possibility of ad-lib open to him, whereas an opera singer does not (can you imagine an opera singer suddenly bursting into operatic scat because they forgot their next phrase?)! He argues that through the music, much of the pathos of the character is already established and that an actor has much less to start from initially - I think that we are both perhaps a little right and a little wrong on both points and it is always interesting and eye-opening to have someone to argue the other side of a topic.

Smorg: You came from a big family, have a twin (identical?) sister, and are now married and living in Vienna, Austria. How important is family support to you? Do your parents and siblings come to visit or see your performances much? How is Vienna as a second home?

RN: Greg and I are very close with both of our families and we try to get back home to Texas as often as we can to visit and see how big everyone's babies are getting. It is a difficult thing being so far from home and from the familiarity of our home country, but it is also a great adventure and the difficulty of separation gets easier with time. All I can say is thank God for modern telecommunications and the internet. I have no idea how people moved away from their families before the advent of the telephone and remained sane! Facebook is also a wonderful tool to keep in touch and abreast of all the happenings in our family's lives. I keep in the best contact with my identical twin sister, who is a musically-gifted dermatologist (does that mean that I am perhaps a latent dermatologically-gifted musician?). We talk a lot on the phone and visit each other as much as possible.

Up until several years ago, neither of my parents had ever owned a passport, but that all changed when I moved to Europe. Both my parents and Greg's parents have come to visit us several times here in Europe - my parents even came to Venice last summer and got to see me sing Violetta at La Fenice - it was wonderful. My sister has also gotten to see me perform, but the rest of my siblings have not had the chance to come visit yet - I would love to see them over here and show them what their little sister does for a living.

It is not an accident that Vienna perpetually ranks at or near the top of the best places in the world to live. We feel very lucky to be able to call Vienna home - the architecture, the music, the culture, the food - it is amazing! Our apartment is literally across the street from the Museums-Quartier and it has really started to feel like home away from home to us. We don't know what the future will bring, but we are sure that Vienna will always hold a very special place in our hearts.

Smorg: Is there anything you would like the opera/concert goers to know about you as a person or a performer?

RN: I love singing, I love performing, but more than anything, I love truly becoming the characters I portray. It doesn't happen every performance, but there are some shows where I actually feel like I am the person I am representing on stage and those are very special to me. If I had my wish, it would be that I would be able to give every audience member the feeling of the truth of those performances. I wish that opera audiences knew how much we as singers want to be in communion with them and their experience of our performance, I wish they knew that we can feel their energy and that it effects us perhaps just as deeply as our performance affects them. There is nothing more exhilarating than an active audience - I would ask them not to be shy, but to feel with us, to suffer with us, to laugh with us and to love with us. We are not a television, we are not a movie screen - we are real and we are alive and we need them - that knowledge is what I would like to share with every audience member. I want to tell them, "Come experience this amazing art form that is opera with us."

Rebecca Nelsen's Upcoming 2010 Performances:
- May 24, 26, 29 : Violetta in "La Traviata" (Semperoper, Dresden)
- August 16 : Kammermusikfestival (Schloss Laudon, Vienna)

Rebecca Nelsen's Website ( http://www.rebeccanelsen.com/index.htm )
Rebecca Nelson on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Nelsen/51336456263 )
Rebecca Nelsen's bio at SONO Artists ( http://www.sonoartistsconsulting.com/rebecca-nelsen_bio.php )
Youtube clip of Nelsen as Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUWWzQPcK08 )
Greg & Rebecca Nelsen at International Theatre ( http://www.internationaltheatre.at/zzzWebTeam.htm )