0:00

Oh my God. Well,

0:02

first of all, hello and thank

0:04

you for having us here. It's wonderful.

0:08

Thank you. Well, um

0:10

my, my, the proudest

0:12

moment. I, I don't know, I don't

0:15

know. I'm, I'm, I'm proud

0:17

when everything works out

0:19

as I Yeah,

0:21

the way I want it, the way I planned

0:24

it or when something really

0:26

special happens between

0:28

the colleagues on stage and we,

0:31

we, we, we have a, we live a magic

0:33

moment and what we are all longing for

0:35

when music and, and, and

0:37

feeling just transport or somewhere

0:40

else. And it's, it's just wonderful.

0:43

Yeah. Well, proud I can

0:45

be proud to have sung in

0:48

the very year at the

0:51

of Milano in Milan

0:53

in Italy and this for

0:55

the opening of the season in new production. So

0:57

this was more than I would have ever

0:59

dreamt of. Yeah. Well,

1:02

what, what are your favorite sort of roles?

1:05

Are they, you know, the, the damsel

1:07

in distress ones or the heroines

1:10

or,

1:11

you know, I, I like, I like

1:13

all kinds of roles. I'm, I'm an actress.

1:16

I'm very, very, um let's

1:18

say, um I'm very

1:20

curious and I love

1:22

moving and acting on stage.

1:25

I, I love to laugh so

1:27

well as well as I, I love

1:30

to be the queen of the night, the meanest

1:33

woman on earth with,

1:35

with magical powers, which

1:37

just really, these are,

1:39

these are characters and feelings. You can only live,

1:41

you live on stage and, and

1:43

it's fantastic. But yeah,

1:46

I, I love, I love to make people

1:48

feel and cry and laugh

1:51

and, yeah, I really can't decide.

1:54

Have you always been like that? Like, since

1:57

you know, you were a child?

1:59

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Well,

2:01

I danced and, and, and the Sunday

2:04

afternoon, coffee time

2:07

at, at my grandmas, I always

2:09

hid behind the curtains and,

2:11

and then I, then I danced something

2:13

or I sang something or whatever,

2:17

they were laughing. So

2:18

it was dancing first then.

2:22

Yeah. Yeah. Both all, all

2:24

together, all together. It's like what I'm doing

2:26

on stage now.

2:28

So, so do you recall the time

2:30

when you decided that singing was going to be a career?

2:34

Ohh. Well, no, actually this

2:37

um I was um

2:39

since I sang all the time with my

2:41

grandma and when I saw the Traviata

2:43

movie with uh Sali

2:45

Traviata movie on TV, with

2:48

Teresa Stratas, then I got hooked

2:50

with opera completely and then

2:52

I wanted to learn how to use

2:54

my voice, my instrument like

2:57

like an opera singer is doing. So we,

2:59

we're, we're not singing with microphones. We

3:01

just do this with our own body

3:04

and, and in concert halls

3:06

which have acoustics. Well, that's clear.

3:08

Um So, um, yeah,

3:11

then I, when I learned how to

3:13

do it, then, then one day my singing

3:15

teacher said, you know, I think

3:17

you can make a profession

3:20

out of your singing. And

3:22

we ask your parents if you, if

3:24

they allow you to do this career

3:26

and to study singing

3:28

and really go to university,

3:31

music, university and

3:33

well, yeah, they said yes. And,

3:36

uh and I tried and I kept going

3:38

and it was just wonderful

3:40

every stage. So, so

3:42

what has been the greatest challenge

3:44

for you as a, as a singer?

3:47

The greatest challenge or

3:49

it's been a breeze all this

3:51

time?

3:53

Um Well,

3:56

yeah, a great challenge was

3:58

when, when the, the

4:01

scholar of Milan, the

4:03

opera house was long time closed

4:05

for due to renovation and

4:08

Ricardo Muti, he,

4:10

he chose me to sing by

4:13

Salieri, which was the opera Salieri composed

4:17

to open the opera house when

4:19

it was built. So it, that,

4:21

that was kind of a historical moment.

4:23

It was never, it was never performed

4:26

since, since that, that day.

4:29

Uh since then. And uh well,

4:31

then with Ricardo Moti as

4:34

conductor, you using

4:36

like the hell out of your body

4:38

and you just want to be just perfect

4:41

and to do everything really, really,

4:43

really well. And uh yeah,

4:45

and, and then the, the night of

4:47

the first performance, um

4:50

it was in 2004.

4:52

Um I, I got

4:55

a cold and I went to the pharmacy

4:57

and they gave me a nasal spray that

5:00

the, the, my, my,

5:02

my head was opened like, like

5:04

the DMO in, in, in, in Rome,

5:07

I was, I was, and I had headaches

5:09

and I, and it was live broadcast

5:12

in cinemas and also in the,

5:14

in the Galleria, it was public viewing.

5:16

It was one of the first public

5:19

viewing events

5:23

which were, which were produced

5:25

then. So that, that

5:28

was so much pressure, but I managed

5:30

to sing and then everything went well.

5:32

And that was, that was a real challenge.

5:37

I hope you well, this

5:39

evening and today.

5:43

Sorry. What did you

5:44

say? No, I said, you know, I, I hope you stay

5:46

healthy and you stay well

5:48

this trip.

5:50

Yeah, that's what we all hope all the time

5:52

for every performance we have since

5:54

our, our instrument is

5:56

we carry it all the time with us. It's our

5:58

body. I'm, I'm using it talking.

6:01

Uh I'm in the car with,

6:03

with air conditioning on and in the hotel

6:06

and then outside it's hot and cold

6:08

and wind. And so, but

6:10

we have to stay relaxed and don't go crazy.

6:13

It, it, it'll be fine.

6:15

OK. So that brings me to the program.

6:17

Uh This coming Friday with the Singapore

6:19

Symphony orchestra, Kings and Queens

6:22

of um opera. So,

6:24

what are the three favorites from

6:26

this program? What are your three

6:28

favorites?

6:30

My three favorite. Well,

6:33

um I

6:36

love very, very much.

6:39

Well, for sure. No. And

6:45

yes. And, and I, I love

6:48

Ellen from Don Carlo,

6:52

which Nicola is going to,

6:55

to sing. It's just an incredible

6:57

a and, and the cello solo, it's, it's

7:00

so, so, so, so touching

7:02

and uh well, then we have a lot of

7:04

color to fireworks and

7:06

I brought something really special.

7:09

Um It's by and Bulgarian

7:12

Queen. It's an opera about

7:15

Maria de La. She was queen

7:18

of Bulgaria. And

7:20

uh it's, it's like the national anthem

7:23

for, for Bulgarian people.

7:25

And I sang it, Pablo

7:27

Bali our conductor. He said, when, when

7:29

we sang in, in Sofia, he

7:31

said, please have a look at this. Aria

7:34

don't sing only the beginning. The people

7:36

will love it. And I said, no, no, we will

7:38

sing the whole area and it's beautiful

7:40

and it's so beautiful that I it has

7:42

to get into the program not

7:45

as encore because then

7:47

you have the, the

7:50

a queen is praying

7:52

to God. It's a prayer and she,

7:55

yes and she's so sad and it's

7:57

in the orthodox church. So

8:00

the orchestration and,

8:02

and the, the contra they,

8:05

they bring such a fantastic, you

8:07

really think you are in a dark

8:09

orthodox church and you see this

8:11

lonely woman, which

8:14

is the queen of Bulgaria

8:16

there as a humble

8:18

human being praying.

8:20

And it's, it's, it, it touched me so much.

8:23

I, I, I just want to show this also

8:25

to, to the audience to

8:27

a broader audience.

8:29

You're enticing us already.

8:32

Looking forward to that. Now, you're going

8:34

to sing a couple of duets with

8:37

uh your husband Nicola tests. So,

8:40

what is it like? Tell us working with

8:42

your spouse. How

8:45

do you balance personnel? You know, from professional?

8:48

No, it's, it's, no, it's, it's wonderful.

8:51

You know, you have,

8:53

let's see, let's say

8:55

you have with magic flute roles for,

8:58

for opera. Not, not really opera.

9:00

Knowing people you have the of

9:02

the night, it's the highest you can get and you have

9:04

Sara, it's the lowest

9:07

voice voice you can

9:09

have. So we, it's

9:11

quite extreme and

9:13

a bass and a color soprano.

9:15

There are not many love duets but actually

9:18

none. Um but

9:20

a lot of duets with

9:23

uh with the priest with the father.

9:25

Um like, like

9:27

we have the, the big confession scene

9:29

of Maria by. So

9:33

he, he's the priest then and

9:35

they're very, they're very close

9:37

and, and, and she's confessing

9:39

before, before being beheaded.

9:42

It's a, it's a very, it's a very

9:44

strong moment and moving moment

9:47

and well, for sure, when

9:49

you, when you sing with somebody you

9:51

love and you're, you're very close, you're,

9:53

you're very, you're very connected.

9:56

But sure we have also,

9:59

this can be quite

10:02

irritating sometimes because when you know

10:04

that when, when, when you're not, well, and you

10:06

know, if you, you worry for,

10:08

for the, for the other one. So, but

10:11

then we have to get into our roles

10:13

and sometimes you get to scream it

10:15

to each other and, oh,

10:19

no, no, no, no, no. On stage on

10:21

stage. You know, there, there is, there,

10:23

there is also fantastic to it. We won't

10:25

sing it this time because

10:28

it's no kings and queens. But, uh, it,

10:30

it's a fantastic to it in, in Louisa

10:34

and, and he's really mean

10:36

and she, she is, she is fighting

10:39

and they're fighting and it's war.

10:42

Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to do that

10:44

on stage.

10:48

So, how, so how do you balance then

10:50

your busy traveling schedule with?

10:53

Well, it's nice when you bring your husband

10:55

and spouse with you. But what about

10:57

the Children? How, how do you balance that,

10:59

you know, with family life?

11:02

Well, well, over the last years

11:04

due to COVID, uh, we had a little

11:06

break which forced us to,

11:08

to stay at home and, and

11:11

just live normal

11:13

life with school and planning

11:15

and traveling a little bit. Um,

11:18

but, uh, this time

11:20

we, we managed once

11:22

a year, uh, to bring the boys

11:25

with us and, uh, they've been

11:27

our, on our last Asia tour.

11:29

They've been with us already and

11:31

now, now they're here too.

11:34

They are very, very happy. So, but

11:36

we have. Yes.

11:38

Yes. Yes. Yes, we are working

11:40

with ipads and,

11:43

um, like we did also

11:45

before COVID but the school

11:47

now, now they really

11:49

know how to handle, uh, everything,

11:52

uh, online. And,

11:55

uh, well, we will have, we will have some help but

11:57

also we will, we will do with

12:00

them, the, the classes

12:02

as well as the homework as well.

12:04

We prepare them for the tests and meanwhile

12:07

traveling and singing and exploring

12:09

and, and enjoying

12:11

it. They must be

12:12

the envy of the schoolmates.

12:15

Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. They, they're speaking

12:17

for one year already. They, they, they,

12:19

they tell the boys that their, their friends,

12:21

that they, they go to Asia and

12:24

it's, it's all exciting. So,

12:26

where is home for you?

12:28

Well, home, home is family.

12:31

But now we are

12:33

based in Switzerland, near Zurich

12:36

and from,

12:38

from, from there, since it's really

12:40

central, we, we manage

12:43

to, to travel in,

12:45

like, go back and

12:47

forth and, and change

12:50

because my husband has his engagements

12:53

and I have my engagements as well.

12:55

So, so we balance everything and,

12:57

um, yeah, and since school gets

12:59

more and more difficult with time

13:02

and the age of the kids. So we, we

13:04

have to be more based as,

13:07

as we were before, but

13:09

everything's organ,

13:12

everything is possible. You

13:15

go for it. Yeah.

13:16

Ok. So when, you know, when

13:18

life consists of so much traveling,

13:21

especially for you and your husband rehearsing,

13:23

performing, what do you do for, to de

13:25

stress,

13:27

for distress? Well,

13:29

I, I love, I love,

13:31

go, go, go on,

13:33

on walks in nature or,

13:36

um, this morning I went

13:38

with friends to a horse riding

13:40

place here in

13:42

Singapore and I saw

13:45

the horse, I didn't ride but I, I saw

13:47

the horses and I just, this is, this is so,

13:50

so relaxing and I love

13:52

spa and massage and

13:54

uh well, or, or just run

13:57

and dance.

14:00

What about food? Are you gonna catch up

14:02

with, say chili crab or? That's

14:04

not good for the voice.

14:07

Well, every everything at its

14:09

time, just be

14:11

careful before singing. No, we,

14:14

we, we love Asian food and

14:16

this, this is going to be heaven

14:19

four weeks just

14:21

exploring and, and enjoying.

14:24

So. So after Singapore, where, where

14:26

does your Asia tour takes you to

14:28

next, we will go to Hong Kong.

14:30

Uh then we will have concerts

14:33

in, in Seoul and

14:35

in Taipei and

14:38

two concerts in Tokyo, right?

14:41

So all the best then,

14:43

yeah, we are so

14:45

much looking forward the people

14:48

here, so friendly. I had

14:50

two fantastic taxi drivers today.

14:52

It's, it's, it's, it's just, it's just

14:54

wonderful to be back

14:57

all the best to your concert,

15:00

this uh Friday, Kings

15:02

and Queens of operas. And

15:04

uh we wish you a very, very pleasant trip

15:07

in Singapore. And thank you

15:09

again.

15:10

Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you very

15:12

much until Friday. Thank

15:15

you. Bye bye bye.