{"id":33770,"date":"2016-02-01T11:12:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T16:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=33770"},"modified":"2016-02-01T11:12:05","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T16:12:05","slug":"33770","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/02\/01\/33770\/","title":{"rendered":"PROFILE | COC Debut Artist Bass-Baritone Josef Wagner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Josef
Josef Wagner (Photo: Steve Haider)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a wide-ranging interview, the Austrian bass-baritone talks about his life and his career<\/em><\/h3>\n

I<\/span>nveterate opera buffs that we are \u2013 and I count myself as one \u2013 we don\u2019t think twice about seeing something over and over again, especially when there\u2019s a voice we want to hear.\u00a0 As someone in his 50th<\/sup> year of attending opera performances \u2013 yes, I know I\u2019m dating myself \u2013 I\u2019ve seen more than my share of Le nozze di Figaro<\/em>. \u00a0Mozart\u2019s divine score never loses its appeal, and when you have an exceptional cast like the one the COC has assembled, it\u2019ll be an unalloyed pleasure. I\u2019m particularly curious to hear Austrian bass-baritone Josef Wagner, who\u2019s making his COC debut. My friends in Calgary have already given me a heads-up on his terrific Figaro last season at Calgary Opera.\u00a0 Recently, I met Mr. Wagner at the COC headquarters on Front Street for an interview. I was curious why he chooses to sing in Canada, given his career is almost entirely European-based.\u00a0 That mystery was solved when he told me he\u2019s married to Quebec soprano Marianne Fiset \u2013 \u201cwe have two homes, Vienna and Montreal.\u201d\u00a0 Fiset was his Susanna at Calgary Opera last season. They met back in 2011 and got married last summer.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Welcome to Toronto!\u00a0 Since you are \u201cCanadian by marriage\u201d this is probably not your first time in Toronto\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> I came to audition for the COC four years ago, although I don\u2019t really know this city. I know Calgary and Vancouver more, as I was with Marianne when she sang there. And of course, we live partly in Montreal.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Tell us your impressions of Toronto\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> I haven\u2019t seen so much, as we rehearse a lot! I was at the CN Tower \u2013 you have to do that! I was at the AGO, and I loved it.\u00a0 I started with the European section. I wasted a lot of time seeing things that I would have seen in Europe anyway. But then on the other floor, the Canadian section was very impressive. All of a sudden I saw the Rodin sculpture\u2026Wow! I didn\u2019t know it is here.<\/p>\n

JS:\u00a0<\/strong>What is your experience at the COC so far? Have you sung with your colleagues before?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> It\u2019s been great (laughs)\u2026. No, really!\u00a0 I knew Jane Archibald before, we used to have the same agent. We also sang Magic Flute<\/em> in Japan together, and we did Fledermaus<\/em> in Geneva in 2008. I knew the names of Russell Braun and Erin Wall, of course.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Have you sung in the Salzburg production before?\u00a0 How many Figaro productions have you done?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong>\u00a0No, not this Salzburg production. I was there at the time but I was in another production, La Finta semplice<\/em>. This is my 5th<\/sup> production of Figaro<\/em>.\u00a0 I did it in Salzburg, but in a German version in a different theatre.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Has your interpretation of Figaro changed over the years?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> My interpretation?\u00a0 I adjust it to the staging that\u2019s going on.\u00a0 A lot depends on the production. I did the one in Vienna with Arturo Marelli, which is a traditional opera buffa.\u00a0 The Calgary one is also traditional. This one here is the only \u201ccrazy\u201d one, but it\u2019s not crazy at all. It\u2019s a new view of it, but it\u2019s not pushing or shocking the audience.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Have you done many Regietheater productions?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> I did a La forza del destino<\/em> in Antwerp- Fra Melitone, that was typical German Regietheater. I don\u2019t mind it if it makes sense, if it brings out some emotional, inner struggle that would not have come out in a traditional production.\u00a0 Melitone in this production is not a buffo character, but a fanatical preacher. It was an interesting interpretation. Talking about Regietheater, I did recently a Don Giovanni<\/em> at the Volksoper directed by Achim Freyer \u2013 now that was a crazy production!<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> You are labeled as a bass-baritone, but I noticed you also sing lyric baritone roles like Papageno\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Oh yeah! I\u2019d still sing it if someone asks me. Every baritone should be able to sing Papageno\u2026 it\u2019s written for an actor.\u00a0 I also did Eduard in Hindemith\u2019s Neues vom Tage<\/em>, a high baritone.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Let\u2019s backtrack a little. I\u2019d like to ask how you got into music and opera. I read that you were a boy treble. Were you in the Vienna Boys Choir? Were you a soprano or an alto?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> I was in the boys\u2019 choir, but not the famous one. I was an alto. People say usually if you are a soprano, you become a baritone or bass, but it didn\u2019t work for me!<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Do you come from a musical family?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Only as amateurs\u2026 there are no professional musicians in my family.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Then you studied at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, with Kurt Equiluz and Paul Esswood. Is that how you got interested in oratorio?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Yes, that\u2019s where I came from musically. My first singing teacher, Gerd Fussi, was a concert singer mainly. He was very careful with me and we started slowly, with lots of Schubert and Haydn. I didn\u2019t think I would become an opera singer back then \u2013 I thought I would be a concert singer, in my tuxedo!\u00a0 At the time, I also did parallel opera studies and I was lucky and got my start at the Volksoper.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> I understand you still have a teacher?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Yes, Wicus Slabbert, a South African baritone. He\u2019s my main teacher \u2013 I\u2019ve been working with him for 17 years. He studied with Josef Metternich in Munich in the 60\u2019s. I met him at the Volksoper. I was in a production there with him. By then my previous teacher, Karl Heinz Tuttner was 85 and had to go into an old people\u2019s home. So I ask Slabbert if he would give me lessons. I\u2019ve been working with him since then. That was 1999.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> When did you make your debut, and in what role?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> My first role at the Volksoper was Baron Douphol in La traviata<\/em>, in 2001. I was 24. I sang lots of small roles. In the Magic Flute<\/em>, I did Geharnischter. Started with lots of little things \u2013 that\u2019s how it should start, to make your first steps, and sing with experienced colleagues. You do things you can completely accomplish, and you build up.<\/p>\n

JS:\u00a0<\/strong> Do you have a favourite role? <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> So far it\u2019s Jochanaan in Salome<\/em>.\u00a0 Of course Giovanni is a favourite of mine too.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> You don\u2019t sing Leporello any more? <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong>\u00a0I still do it. I prefer singing Leporello, but I prefer (acting) Giovanni.\u00a0 As Giovanni you don\u2019t actually have as nice music\u2026<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Really?\u00a0 In the last scene of Giovanni, do you sing the high A?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Yes, I do. It needs that\u2026not that I want to show off. This final scene is why I love Giovanni!<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Do you have an idol? <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Not really\u2026 Well, it\u2019s actually my singing teacher, Wicus Slabbert. I want to be able to sing as healthy as he does.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> I can understand why he would be your idol. Studying with Josef Metternich\u2026 that\u2019s something!<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Exactly. I feel like I am in this tradition, you know. I don\u2019t want to make myself big, but when my singing teacher dies, then it\u2019s me. I think I\u2019m the one he worked with the longest. Knowing what he passes on to me is from Josef Metternich, wow!\u00a0 When I sang Jochanaan, I did it from his score. He passed on to me a few of his scores he sang but doesn\u2019t any more. Some Wagner things. He said to me: \u201cYou\u2019ll sing it one day.\u201d He strongly believes I\u2019ll sing Wotan in my career at some point.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Do you have any dream roles?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Not really. Jochanaan which I recently sang is my dream role. I did it with Nina Stemme too!\u00a0 In the long run, I would love to sing some Wagner. I see myself singing Wotan at some point, a Hans Sachs maybe. I think I could do that. I don\u2019t really have a career plan. I just try to do what I do at the moment, in the best way I can.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> In other words, you follow your voice\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> That\u2019s it. \u00a0It will lead me to something else. I sang all those small roles, lots of Mozart and Rossini. And then I sang my first Jochanaan. Now I will sing Das Wunder der Heliane<\/em> in two years in Berlin.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Wow, that\u2019s a difficult opera!\u00a0 What role will you sing?<\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> I\u2019m the bad guy, Der Herrscher.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Tell us a little about the Winterreise that you\u2019re going to sing here.\u00a0 How many times have you sung it? <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> How many times? Not so often! I\u2019ve only sung two or three times, because somehow since I am in opera, I\u2019m not considered a Lieder singer, like other specialists, Christian Gerhaher, Matthias Goerne. I had a lucky coincidence. I met a pianist Christian Schmidt. He has a chamber music cycle, MusikabendGraz. \u00a0He asked me if I would like to do a recital. We started with Winterreise<\/em>, two years later we did Die schone Mullerin<\/em>. Now when I am back in Austria I will do Schwanengesang<\/em>, and Vaughan Williams\u2019 Songs of Travel<\/em>.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Oh that\u2019s a beautiful cycle, the Vaughan Williams! \u00a0Interesting that you are doing Winterreise before Schwanengesang.\u00a0 Usually Winterreise is sung by older singers. <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Yes, but I\u2019ve worked on it early in my studies, with my first teacher when I was 20. Then with Equiluz, and again with Robert Holl. It sank in. Three years ago I sang it for the first time.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Did you do it from memory? <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Yeah I did. In Winterreise<\/em> the songs are through-composed, not like songs with stanzas.\u00a0 Mullerin<\/em> is harder to learn by heart as you have all these stanzas.\u00a0 But of course, Winterreise <\/em>is much longer than an opera part!<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Who is your pianist?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> Rachel Andrist. We\u2019ve worked through already last week. Now we will do it again. We are approaching it slowly.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Where do you go after Toronto?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

JW:<\/strong> I have Schwanengesang<\/em> in Graz, then Matthaus-Passion<\/em> in Musikverein in Vienna. Then I go to Marseille for Cosi fan tutte<\/em>, as Guglielmo.<\/p>\n

JS:<\/strong> Thank you so much for speaking with us, and toi toi toi for the upcoming Figaro.<\/em><\/p>\n

Austrian bass<\/span>–baritone<\/span> Josef Wagner<\/strong>, who has his Canadian debut with Calgary Opera in January 2015, makes his COC debut in the title role of Mozart\u2019s The Marriage of Figaro <\/em><\/strong>Feb 4-27,\u00a02016. Tickets and details found at\u00a0www.coc.<\/a><\/p>\n

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