Opera Australia Interview With Lohengrin Soprano Emily Magee

OA presents Lohengrin at Arts Centre Melbourne between 14^th – 24^th May 2022. Ahead of opening night, we talk to Soprano star Emily Magee who is making her debut with Opera Australia in their Autumn season.

Lohengrin

In a romance of mythical proportions, our Knight of the Swan rescues his damsel asking only one thing in return…

Elsa stands accused of a horrible crime. She prays for a champion, and a noble knight appears. But his help comes with a condition: she must never ask his name. Does true love demand blind faith?

Lohengrin is a fantastical romance. It’s filled with shimmering string passages and angelic choruses, including the famous Bridal March. Wagner described his music as “streams of gold, ravishing the senses of the beholder”.

Tahu Matheson conducts a stunning cast. Emily Magee is Elsa, while Elena Gabouri sings the conniving Ortrud. Simon Meadows performs as the deceived Telramund, and Jonas Kaufmann is the noble Lohengrin.

Director Olivier Py sets this battle between good and evil in the ruins of Berlin in the aftermath of World War II. A monumental revolving tiered set depicts a decaying theatre, where emblems of German Romanticism gather dust.

Lohengrin is a co-production between Opera Australia and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.

Emily Magee

Soprano Emily Magee studied at Westminster Choir College, Indiana University, and completed her training at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she made her professional debut. Her career has taken her to all the leading opera houses, including La Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Zurich Opera, Hamburg and  Dresden State Operas, Berlin’s Opera Houses, Barcelona’s Liceu and the Paris Opera. In recent years, her career has focused on the works of Richard Strauss, such as the Empress/Die Frau ohne Schatten, Countess/Capriccio, Ariadne auf Naxos/title role, Chrysothemis/Elektra, Puccini heroines Tosca and Minnie/La Fanciulla del West and all important Wagner roles in her voice category such as Elisabeth/Tannhäuser, Isolde/Tristan und Isolde, Walküre/Sieglinde. 

Hi Emily, thanks so much for talking with us at TheatreArtLife! You’re about to make your debut with Opera Australia in the role of Elsa in Lohengrin at Melbourne this May. That must be incredibly exciting for you – how are you feeling and how are all the preparations going ahead of opening night?

Thank you!  I am very excited to finally be in Australia for the first time, blessed to work with INCREDIBLE colleagues and of course, as always, excited and nervous to be preparing for a massive Wagner opera.

All of the cast are working hard to be singing their hearts out, inhabiting the characters, and, of course, investing in a pair of comfortable shoes!

Wagner evenings are always long, serious, in depth, and, of course, exquisitely beautiful.

I understand you’re playing opposite the world’s most in-demand tenor, Jonas Kaufmann. How are you enjoying working together?

I am very fortunate to have known Jonas for quite some time. We have done several productions together, and have always had an easy and productive rapport. Although we will have had limited preparation for this particular production, we have quite a lot of experience to lean on, both alone and together, to bring something special to this experience.

It is an incredible pleasure to work with an artist, like Jonas, who brings his all, both vocally and emotionally, to everything he does. Add to that a wonderful colleague, a lovely person, and an AMAZING artist, and we have the whole package! He brings a singular magic to every production, and most especially to the role of Lohengrin, which is indescribable in all honesty.

You studied in the USA and have performed internationally, most notably with all of the big European opera houses. Do you find the Opera Australia process different from other countries, or do you feel ‘at home’ wherever you are performing in the world?

Wherever there is an opera house, I feel ‘at home’, but every home and every opera house does have a different personality. I will say about Opera Australia that I am honored to be able to sing with a company of such incredible talent and esprit de corps!

The talent within the company is absolutely astonishing, and the management of the company showcasing Australian talent while incorporating international artists, I think, gives the company a very special feel.

I am very impressed by everything I have encountered here, and feel very much welcomed!

With such an interesting international career, is it possible to choose some of your favourite moments or highlights so far?

It is very difficult to choose, in all honesty, but I would have to say that the “firsts” hold a special significance. My first roles performed, my first professional performances in Chicago, my first European performances in Paris and Berlin (my first Elsa!) and my first experiences at the Bayreuth Festival (where I also met my husband) hold a special significance. There are also certain runs of favourite roles that become etched in the memory.

There is something so special in digging into a role like Kaiserin, for example, and bringing her to life over years, and reinventing her each time.

Each and every role has been a highlight, but some of them have followed me for years, and have etched themselves into my personal life as well. It is a treasure to be able to live with these characters over a lifetime.

And following Lohengrin, what can we look forward to from you next?

This year promises to be more of the same – my future shows a lot of Wagner in the next months, which makes me very happy. It remains to be seen what the post Covid future brings, but for the moment it brings many old friends, Sieglinde, Elsa, for example, and some upcoming Isolde, which makes me very happy. Investing once more in comfortable shoes!

Lohengrin at Arts Centre Melbourne

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