{"id":42508,"date":"2017-02-02T14:16:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T19:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=42508"},"modified":"2017-02-02T14:22:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T19:22:53","slug":"interview-andreas-schager-a-tenors-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/02\/02\/interview-andreas-schager-a-tenors-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Andreas Schager: A Good Tenor Is Hard To Find, Let Alone One Who Can Handle Wagner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Andreas
Tenor Andreas Schager chats about his career and starring role in Wagner\u2019s\u00a0G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung<\/em>, opening this week at the Canadian Opera Company. (Photo: David Jerusalem)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I<\/span>n the opera world, good tenors are always in demand. And when that tenor is a bona fide<\/em> Wagnerian with a rich, ringing tone, grounded in solid technique, combined with the requisite acting chops and an engaging stage presence, it makes one sit up and take notice. Such is the case with Austrian Andreas Schager, who has established himself as one of a handful of the foremost Wagnerian tenors in front of the public today. Although he made his professional debut back in 1998 as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte<\/em>, he didn\u2019t sing his first Wagner until 2009, in the relatively light lyric tenor role of David in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg <\/em>at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl. It was quickly followed by Florestan in Fidelio<\/em> and Erik in Die fliegende Hollander<\/em>, and he was on his way.<\/p>\n

In 2013, his appearances as Siegfried in G<\/em>\u00f6tterdammerung<\/em> at the Berlin Staatsoper, BBC Proms, and La Scala, all under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, turned him into an overnight sensation. This was followed by critically acclaimed performances of Tristan, Parsifal, Florestan, Max, Erik, Rienzi, Menelaus, and Apollo in major houses, including a highly-praised Parsifal in the all-important Bayreuther Festspiele, a role he\u2019ll reprise this summer. \u00a0Schager has engagements six years into the future, with his 2022-23 datebook almost full. \u00a0It is our great good fortune that we\u2019ll get to experience his Siegfried in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s G<\/em>\u00f6tterdammerung<\/em>, which opens this week at the Four Seasons Centre.<\/p>\n

Few opera fans would likely realize that the Austrian tenor is no stranger to Toronto, having sung here on previous occasions. Way back in 2004, he sang Tamino \u2014 his first \u2014 at the now-defunct Opera Mississauga, in four performances of The Magic Flute<\/em> that took place at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in North York \u2014 \u201cIt was my first Tamino. I had never sung this role but always wanted to do it.\u201d \u00a0At the time, his last name was spelled Schagerl, with the \u201cl\u201d which he later dropped. I attended one of the performances. His bright tone and engaging stage persona were a pleasure. \u00a0Given his lyric, if robust sound, I would not have guessed that thirteen years later, he would return to Toronto as our new Siegfried.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, when Schager returned to Toronto to sing in the 2014 New Year\u2019s Eve Bravissimo Opera Gala<\/em>, he was hailed as the newest Wagnerian heldentenor discovery. To show his versatility and in keeping with the typical audience-friendly, easy-listening style of these galas, he eschewed Wagner and Strauss for three Italian operatic chestnuts, \u201cVesti la giubba\u201d from Pagliacci<\/em>, \u201cChe gelida manina\u201d from La boheme,<\/em> and \u201cNessun dorma\u201d from Turandot<\/em>, singing with rich, ringing tone, complete with a big high C in the climax of the Rodolfo aria.<\/p>\n

His most recent appearance in town was just a month ago, on January 1, as the surprise guest in Salute to Vienna<\/em> at Roy Thomson Hall. He was already in rehearsals at the COC but made a cameo appearance: \u201cConductor Matthias Fletzberger is a good friend of mine \u2014 we\u2019re from the same area in Austria, and I\u2019ve worked a lot with him.\u201d \u00a0He treated the audience to Franz Lehar\u2019s \u201cFreunde, das Leben ist lebenswert\u201d from the operetta Giuditta<\/em>. You can watch this very performance on Youtube<\/a>. And here\u2019s a clip of Schmiedelied from Siegfried conducted by his friend and colleague Maestro Fletzberger.<\/p>\n