“The public wants to see her die.”

Work has a lot of personal meaning to you, doesn't it?

“Carmen” was the reason I became an opera singer. My mom actually found a video of me standing in front of the TV when I was three, fascinated by this music, this woman, this story. That’s the age when children develop interests and obsessions! For me, “Carmen” was just right, and it still is to this day.

Doesn't that make it difficult to bring the role to the stage – with all the emotions you bring to it?

This is a big deal for me. But I think it makes it easier because I've been studying the material my whole life. I don't know how many performances of “Carmen” I've seen! At the beginning of the production I was afraid I'd fixed a picture of it. I usually like to do the first rehearsal with a white surface so the director and conductor can work easily. But “Carmen” in particular is an opera that offers so many possible interpretations – which ultimately makes it easier.

But the opera also poses challenges of interpretation: the greatest danger here is cliché. There are in fact very contemporary stories in the text – social conditions, power relations – which are often exaggerated with hit songs.

There are enough operas where people today have real difficulties with the libretto. But in “Carmen” everything is there. This is the genius of Bizet – and perhaps the reason why the opera initially collapsed so catastrophically. “Carmen” was not a success at all! It contains criticism of many things that are still a big problem in our society.

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This woman's life is being sucked into four chapters. Their initial enthusiasm for play makes this downfall that much worse. This man takes everything away from a woman who loves life and loves so much!

And in the end, life too. As is often the case in opera, a woman must die to tell a story.

Yes, this is a subject that we talked about a lot with Lotte and it is also very important to her. But for me it seems a bit different – ​​the mezzo is finally allowed to die, which is usually only allowed to the soprano! (laughs) This is a very important role for a mezzo. To finally become a prima donna! Bizet must have chosen the deeper voice because sopranos are very associated with the nobility. Carmen is from the working class, from the people. It also has to do with eroticism.

So what does your Carmen look like?

And I'm convinced that we've managed to get out of the clichés. Lotte tells a story in which Carmen realizes that she's in the theater, that she's an opera character trying to escape the tradition that women must always die in opera. Spoiler: it doesn't work. She realizes more and more that she actually has no power at all. The opera audience just wants to see her die. The final couplet breaks your heart.

Has anything been changed or added as was the case with “Larondine”?

No! We took the opera as it is. But it's just a theatre within a theatre.

How do other roles change?

With “Carmen,” I always worry that the audience will feel sorry for Don José. Like, “Oh, poor thing, he loved her so much and she didn't want him.” If that had come out, we would have done a lot of things wrong. Don José basically embodies this ordinary, inconspicuous man who can't take no for an answer, becomes more and more delusional and eventually kills the woman. Femicide is a social problem and still happens quite often today.

A story that often becomes depressingly real.

Yes, this is a big problem. It is also about how masculinity is presented in our society. It is particularly interesting to see the different types of men that Bizet designed in the 19th century! It is very modern, and seems written for our time.

Speaking of different genres – what role do appearances play on the opera stage?

I heard – and saw – Elena Garrança sing Carmen. Many people said it couldn’t be done – what a tall, gorgeous blonde Carmen! But her performance has long been legendary. In the Volksoper we are three Carmens who look completely different and have certain body types. Of course I thought about that. Anneli Sophie Müller, for example, is an incredibly great Carmen. But when she, a small, delicate white woman, pushes a man away on stage, it shows a completely different picture than when I, who is the same height, fat and black, push a man away on stage. It tells the audience something completely different. These are body politics that we have to be aware of. And I have thought about this over and over again, including with Lotte: there are some things I simply cannot do if I want to continue to be a celebrity.

How do you feel when you finally sing “Carmen”?

I've been very lucky in life, time and time again. But this is the biggest thing. So far. (laughs)