Behind every performance lies months of work: rehearsals, coachings, new scores, and the quiet hours of preparation that never reach the stage. This section offers a closer look at that process — masterclasses, studio sessions, collaborations, and the moments in between.
Music begins long before the curtain rises.
Music begins long before the curtain rises.
Masterclass with Thomas Hampson
Work on lieder by Mahler, Schoenberg, and Zemlinsky
Bellini — I Capuleti e i Montecchi
A moment of stillness at the centre of the storm. Giulietta is alone — Romeo gone, his fate unknown. Is he alive? Has she lost him forever? Bellini gives her no certainty, only the weight of waiting — and music of such quiet devastation that the question itself becomes unbearable.
Working on Musetta from "La Bohème" with an Orchestra
Sparkling, sharp, and impossible to pin down — she is pure champagne. Finding her colours is endlessly fun.
Agafya's monologue from "Marriage" by Nikolai Gogol performed by Anastasia Kradènova in German
Agafya Tikhonovna is eager to marry. The daughter of a merchant, she has a respectable dowry and asks the matchmaker Fyokla to find her a suitable husband.
Several suitors appear, but Agafya cannot decide. She knows only what she does not want: no merchant, no drunkard, no hot-tempered man, and no one too fat or too thin. When four of the candidates gather in her drawing room and all eyes turn to her, she becomes overwhelmed. Embarrassed and unable to choose, she asks her aunt to speak for her and retreats to her room.
She longs to be married—the wedding dress is already waiting in the wardrobe—but she has no idea how to choose the right man.
Several suitors appear, but Agafya cannot decide. She knows only what she does not want: no merchant, no drunkard, no hot-tempered man, and no one too fat or too thin. When four of the candidates gather in her drawing room and all eyes turn to her, she becomes overwhelmed. Embarrassed and unable to choose, she asks her aunt to speak for her and retreats to her room.
She longs to be married—the wedding dress is already waiting in the wardrobe—but she has no idea how to choose the right man.
Moments for inspiration
Schönbrunn, Vienna State Opera, Schlossberg, and a few other things.
