Ella Milch Shreve's fifth opera is about Alma Mahler. “I don't know if I love her. “But I can understand it,” says the Israeli composer. Like Gustav Mahler, her husband had major problems with his wife's success.
In a few days, your fifth opera, Alma, will premiere in Vienna. Are you nervous yet?
Ella Milch-Sherif: I'm excited. You know, from the idea of an opera to the premiere is a very long way. But I'm lucky: I've been receiving authorship commissions one after another for more than 20 years. There are not many composers, especially in Israel, who are as lucky as me.
Your success does not depend only on luck.
I know it's a combination of hard work, ability, talent and luck.
Alma Mahler also composed as a young woman. But Gustav Mahler asked her to stop because he did not want to overshadow her. How did your husband, Noam Sharif, the composer and orchestra conductor, deal with your success?
When I met my husband, I was 28 years old. Noam was 48 years old and very popular as a rock star in Israel. On the other hand, I had just finished my singing studies and had already composed a little. But my husband was a great musician. He never asked me to give up writing, but I was paralyzed next to this famous and powerful man. That's why I devoted myself entirely to singing. But there came a moment when I realized that I had to do what was my destiny. This is writing. I was already writing songs and small orchestral pieces when I was 12 years old.
What happened next?
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