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| Erin Wall credit Kristin Hoebermann |
On the classical side, Canadian soprano Erin Wall joins the orchestra for Strauss' Four Last Songs. Strauss died before he had the chance to hear the works performed, so it seems fitting that his last work was on the subject of accepting the end of this life and the passing into another.
Paired with Strauss' Four Last Songs are works by Barber, Vaughan Williams, and a piece by contemporary composer Patrick Harlin. Harlin's Rapture seeks to musically convey the experiences faced by the world's deepest cavers. Harlin said the piece "is a blueprint for a universal human experience: the onset of extreme emotion."
We caught up with soprano Erin Wall to learn more about her connection to Strauss' Four Last Songs and her excitement for her RPO debut!
What is special/unique about Strauss’ Four Last Songs for you?
For a lyric soprano these pieces are the holy grail of the concert repertoire! I first heard them in college and fell instantly in love, but I didn't actually perform them with orchestra until a decade later. They're incredibly challenging but absolutely some of the most gratifying music I have ever sung. So many of the greats have sung and recorded them, and taking them on for the first (and second and third) time was very daunting, intimidating. Now I feel very at home with the songs and have my own take on how I like to perform them, but I never feel as if I've reached anything definitive, so I look forward to performing them as many times as possible in the future.
Since the songs are in German, what can you tell us about the story conveyed in the music?
Also, even though you aren’t acting here, how do you bring your opera training into a performance like this?
There are four songs, four poems, and primarily they deal with death, not a fearsome terrifying death, but a calm acceptance of it, even somewhat ecstatic experience, at least in the case of the third song, Beim Schlafengehen, which literally translates as "on going to sleep". The first song, Frühling (Spring) is an analogy for love. Im Abendrot, the final song, is incredibly powerful. The imagery is of a couple, essentially walking off into the sunset together at the very end of their lives. I find myself dangerously close to tears when singing it a lot of the time. The only difference in interpreting a set of songs (as opposed to an operatic role) is that I'm essentially playing myself, but as long as I have a connection to the music and the text, I don't really find my approach very different. It was suggested to me by a reporter recently that I might not have a lot to say in repertoire dealing with death given my relatively "young age". I honestly don't know how anyone reaches middle age without having death touch their lives and the lives of their loved ones, so to me, it's not a foreign subject at all.
Favorite role you have played
I just finished a very emotional run of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, and I absolutely adore singing the Countess in that opera. Other than that, definitely the Strauss heroines I've sung: Daphne, Arabella, and the Countess in Capriccio.
Is this the first time you will go to Rochester? What else are you looking forward to visiting while in town?
This will be my first time in Rochester, so I hope to see as much as possible. My husband is coming down on the weekend with our children, so the Museum of Play is definitely on the agenda. I'm also excited to visit with friends who teach at Eastman!
If you go
Stare Conducts Strauss Four Last SongsThu. Mar. 17 at 7:30 PM
Sat. Mar. 19 at 8 PM
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
Tickets start at $22
Preview Patrick Harlin's Rapture on Spotify
Hear Erin Wall sing Im Abendrot from Strauss' Four Last Songs with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
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