{"id":5302,"date":"2019-04-26T21:33:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T21:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/?p=5302"},"modified":"2019-10-04T21:33:29","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T21:33:29","slug":"andreas-schagers-metropolitan-opera-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/andreas-schagers-metropolitan-opera-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Andreas Schager’s Metropolitan Opera Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andreas Schager’s Metropolitan Opera debut singing Siegfried in Wagner’s G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung<\/em> was lauded for its “heartiness and vigor” by The New York Times<\/em> who also wrote a great profile of the Austrian singer that tells the unlikely story of conquering his first Wagner role.<\/p>\n

New York Times Review:<\/a><\/p>\n

“Mr. Schager pretty much met expectations, which is saying a lot given the paucity of tenors who can sing Siegfried. (He shares the role with Stefan Vinke through May 11.) He has a hefty voice with clarion top notes and energy galore. He began his career singing lighter repertory, and remnants of that background came through in the lyricism he brought to Siegfried\u2019s tender moments. Of course, given the vocal demands, Mr. Schager had his share of bellowed outbursts, gravelly low passages and raw sound. His heartiness and vigor were boundless, and, like a college athlete, he scampered up and down the planks of the mechanical set that dominates Robert Lepage\u2019s production.<\/p>\n

In a role that can easily make Siegfried seem like some rowdy, clueless, clunky youth, he conveyed genuine romantic longing for Br\u00fcnnhilde (the soprano Christine Goerke<\/a> at her best). And during the long stretch of the story at the hall of powerful Gibichung family, when Siegfried \u2014 under the spell of a potion that makes him forget Br\u00fcnnhilde and fall for Gutrune (the gleaming soprano Edith Haller, in her Met debut) \u2014 Mr. Schager\u2019s vulnerable Siegfried often seems poignantly confused, with flashes of memory when he appears to know something is not right. Until a dream-come-true Siegfried arrives, Mr. Schager will do just fine.”<\/p>\n

Read the full review.<\/a><\/p>\n

New York Times Profile:<\/a><\/p>\n

Siegfried, the dragon-slaying hero of Richard Wagner\u2019s monumental \u201cRing\u201d cycle, is one of the most punishing operatic parts ever written.<\/p>\n

\u201cSiegfried doesn\u2019t know any fear, and I think this is the key for doing this role,\u201d the tenor Andreas Schager, who will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in \u201cG\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung,\u201d the four-opera cycle\u2019s finale, on April 27, said in a recent phone interview.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, this 48-year-old Austrian singer has emerged as one of the world\u2019s leading heldentenors, singing the most challenging Wagner roles to acclaim across Europe. In endurance-test parts like Siegfried, Tannh\u00e4user, Parsifal and Tristan, his full, ringing voice seems indefatigable. He can channel a character\u2019s wild desperation, ardor or impetuousness with steely yet easygoing assurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anyone who can sing Siegfried and Tristan like him,\u201d the eminent conductor Daniel Barenboim, one of Mr. Schager\u2019s champions, said by phone. \u201cFor me, he is one of the very few real Wagner tenors today.<\/p>\n

But his path to singing Siegfried at the Met \u2014 he also sings in \u201cSiegfried,\u201d the third \u201cRing\u201d opera, on May 2 and another \u201cG\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung\u201d on May 4 \u2014 was unusual. Mr. Schager, who was born Andreas Schagerl in the small town of Rohrbach an der G\u00f6lsen, started his career in operetta (precursors to modern musical comedies) and lighter tenor roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustrian tenors are always going for operetta,\u201d he said. \u201cFor 12 or 13 years, I sang works like \u2018Der Zigeunerbaron\u2019 sometimes twice a day \u2014 works that are totally different and unknown to people who listen to Wagner.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he took his first stab at Wagner in 2009 \u2014 as David, a relatively lyrical part in \u201cDie Meistersinger von N\u00fcrnberg\u201d \u2014 Mr. Schager dropped the final letter of his last name on the advice of a colleague.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult if you want to start an international career as a heldentenor with the name Andreas Schagerl,\u201d he recalled the colleague telling him. \u201cBecause if you type it into Google, you only find operetta. Many opera directors will see this and won\u2019t even invite you to audition.\u201d<\/p>\n

But little else about his vocal transition was calculated. Asked about how the change came about, Mr. Schager replied matter-of-factly: \u201cIt happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always took the roles that I was given and always made them as good as I was able,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd so when I got this offer to sing my first Wagner, I said: \u2018Why not? I\u2019ll try it.\u2019 I didn\u2019t know anything about Wagner or his music at this time and I began to study, and very soon I recognized that this is very good for my voice. I was very excited and my voice didn\u2019t get tired, so I could go on and go on singing and I felt my voice get stronger every day I trained.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April 2013, he became an overnight heldentenor sensation when he jumped in to sing the first act of \u201cSiegfried\u201d at the Berlin State Opera, a sold-out performance conducted by Mr. Barenboim, after another tenor failed to show up on time. Mr. Schager happened to be in the house to rehearse \u201cG\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung\u201d but was scheduled to sing a bit role in a concert version of Mozart\u2019s \u201cDie Zauberfl\u00f6te\u201d across town later that evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 10 minutes before show time,\u201d he recalled, \u201cthe opera director came in and said, \u2018Mr. Schager, can you please help us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of the first act, thankfully, the other tenor had materialized and Mr. Schager could rush to his other performance. \u201cIt was a busy day for me,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, of course, it was very good luck,\u201d he said. \u201cThis story went immediately around the world. Everyone was talking about it; everybody knew my name as this new Siegfried in combination with Daniel Barenboim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full profile.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andreas Schager’s Metropolitan Opera debut singing Siegfried in Wagner’s G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung was lauded for its “heartiness and vigor” by The New York Times who also wrote a great profile of the Austrian singer that tells the unlikely story of conquering his first Wagner role. New York Times Review: “Mr. Schager pretty much met expectations, which is … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3854,3803,3856,3705,3612,3857,3855],"class_list":["post-5302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-andreas-schager","tag-debut","tag-metropolitan-opera","tag-opera","tag-review","tag-tenor","tag-wagner"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5303,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5302\/revisions\/5303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/5284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}