Soprano Rachel Harnisch

HARDLY TURNED 50, A SWISS OPERA DIVA HAS HAD ENOUGH OF THE SINGING WORLD
Christian Berzins

No farewell concert, let alone a gala. But if you scroll to the end of the bio on her homepage, you have to read: “Rachel Harnisch ended her successful career in 2023.” The best Swiss soprano of the last 50 years is leaving the opera world pianissimo.

Not only with her voice, but also with this step, the 50-year-old Valaisian is reminiscent of her legendary predecessor on the queen's throne of Swiss sopranos, Lisa della Casa (1919–2012). The Burgdorf native said goodbye to the opera stage in 1974 at the age of just 55: first in the center of the opera world, then withdrawn for decades in Gottlieben on Lake Constance. She stopped because her daughter was seriously ill.

For Rachel Harnisch, the withdrawal released decades of tension. Anyone who has discussed opera and, consequently, triumphs and tragedies with Rachel Harnisch in recent years quickly noticed: this soprano always wanted to do more than just string together highly correct notes; she wanted to sacrifice herself to the music by singing, despite her Marianly beautiful timbre, which singing could only come from the depths of your soul.

INTERVIEW RADIO SRF "PERSÖNLICH" WITH RACHEL HARNISCH - STOCKALPERSCHLOSS BRIG
Rachel Harnisch and Daniel Albrecht in conversation with Sonja Hasler

Rachel Harnisch and Daniel Albrecht in conversation with Sonja Hasler
On Sunday, June 5th, hostess Sonja Hasler invites you to the Stockalperschloss in Brig. Register now if you would like to be part of the audience live on the program “Personally”.

"Persönlich" is Switzerland's first live radio talk show. It is followed on the radio by over 400,000 listeners every week.
Every week people talk about their lives, talk about their desires, interests, views and opinions.
"Persönlich" is not a hot seat or an information program, but a conversation about the person and their life.
In the «Personal», guests are invited who, based on their life experiences, have something to say that is valid beyond the day.

NEW YEAR'S EVE AND NEW YEAR'S CONCERT TONHALL ZURICH and KKL LUZERN
Rachel Harnisch - Maurice Steger

A star soprano and a long-time musical companion are this year's New Year's Eve and New Year's guests of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra: flute magicians Maurice Steger and Rachel Harnisch take the audience at the KKL Luzern and in the Tonhalle Zurich on a musical search for clues about the four elements of fire , water, air and earth.

The Zurich Chamber Orchestra and its New Year's Eve guests Maurice Steger and Rachel Harnisch will musically pop the corks in two concerts. Starting with Jean-Féry Rebel's "Les éléments" from 1737, the program spans a wide arc from the musical big bang of the Baroque era to operettas and Neapolitan folk songs.

At the turn of the year, the soprano Rachel Harnisch, originally from Valais, and the recorder player and conductor Maurice Steger, who grew up in Graubünden, explore the elements of fire, water, air and earth vocally and instrumentally. Based on Jean-Féry Rebel's composition "Les éléments" from 1737, they have put together a diverse concert program that artfully combines baroque arias as well as operettas and a Neapolitan folk song to create a festival of the senses and of nature, human conflicts, passion and lust for life tells.

MAHLER SINFONIE Nr. 4 with ORCHESTRA DELL’ ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DI SANTA CECILIA
Rachel Harnisch, Sopran - Daniele Gatti, Leitung

The George Enescu Festival (also known as George Enescu International Festival and Competition), held in honor of the celebrated Romanian composer George Enescu, is the biggest classical music festival and classical international competition held in Romania and one of the biggest in Eastern Europe.

Rachel Harnisch sings Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Orchestra Dell’ Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia conducted by Daniele Gatti.

MEILENSTEIN: JOHANNES BRAHMS - LIEDER & DUETTE
Rachel Harnisch - Martina Viotti - Yannick Debus - Jan Schultsz

The Dutch pianist and conductor Jan Schultsz is a professor of chamber music and song composition at the Basel University of Music. But he is also an excellent accompanist, on whose skills Cecilia Bartoli, Werner Güra and Ian Bostridge have counted. On his new double CD, Schultsz undertakes a journey through all phases in the life of Johannes Brahms as a composer based on the songs and duets. With exciting results, because the recording with three outstanding singers (Rachel Harnisch, Marina Viotti, Yannick Debus) comes closer to Brahms than almost any other song CD so far.

Jan Schultsz maintains the historical approach down to the last detail with meticulousness and expertise. One side of it is the instrument itself: Brahms privately owned a fortepiano made by the piano maker J. B. Streicher, whom he held in high esteem and of which he himself said that he had the technique and sound of the piano very clearly in mind (or ears) when composing it. Schultsz was able to use an identical model of that instrument for this recording. We also know a lot about the personal piano playing of Johannes Brahms, on the one hand through testimonies from contemporaries, but also through a recording on a so-called Edison cylinder, a forerunner of the gramophone. This shows that Brahms apparently cultivated a very free, almost improvising way of playing the piano. This applies not only to the tempo relations in a small space, but above all to the arpeggiation of the chords and the not exactly in meter guidance of accompanying parts. Bindings were played with the fingers as much as possible, but the pedal was used very sparingly.

Jan Schultsz has decidedly made these findings his own and internalized the specific playing styles of Brahms in such a way that we can get an idea of how Brahms himself would have accompanied his songs. This is often slightly irritating when you first listen to it, and the meter often appears blurred. On the other hand, it gives the three singers an enormous amount of space to trace the nuances of meaning of these melodies and poems. So these interpretations sound incredibly lively, like the way a good actor would recite these texts, and not as the note values of a four-four time dictate. And when it comes to singing, the three artists can show their best side in every respect.
Reinmar Wagner
http://www.musikundtheater.ch/...

MAKROPOULOS, Oper von Leos Janacek mit Tomáš Netopil
Regie: Kornél Mundruczó

Rachel Harnisch, Sopran
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Tomáš Netopil, Leitung

26. Oktober - 6. November 2020

Beneath the fascinating guise of a great artist hides a young woman who is artificially kept alive by an elixir of immortality. Between the singer Emilia Marty and Elina Makropoulos, daughter of a Cretan alchemist born in 1585, there is not only 337 years of gap but also a series of identities and various nationalities which marked an excessively long life and exhausting. Elina Makropoulos is a perversion of nature.

Leoš Janáček's opera tells the story of how Elina manages to find the formula for the elixir, this elixir which renews the life within her. But once she obtains it, she foregoes any further extension of her existence. The Czech composer based The Makropoulos Affair on the play of the same name written by his compatriot Karel Čapek in 1922. By locating Elina's birth in Prague at the end of the 16th century, Čapek was nodding to the imperial reign of Rudolf II of Habsburg, great patron of the arts also fascinated by alchemy and the occult sciences.

The original title of the work, Věc Makropulos, has a double meaning. The word věc covers a fairly large semantic field, with several common meanings. It designates the (concrete) object, (personal) affairs, a fact (objective) and only in the last instance, the legal affair, mentioned at the beginning of the opera, which opposes two Prague families, the Gregors and the Prus, about a heritage and which is the backdrop to the story of Elina Makropoulos. A psycho-thriller in one breath but which certainly leaves you breathless.

For the Hungarian director and filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó, from the Renaissance alchemy that keeps Elina Makropoulos / Emilia Marty alive to science fiction of which Karel Čapek was one of the pioneers (he invents the word and concept of robot in his play RUR in 1920), there is only one step. In a setting inspired by the modernist design of the great Magyaro-American architect Marcel Breuer, Mundruczó turns Emilia Marty into a supernatural phenomenon that places the transcendent directly within the prosaic reality that surrounds her: an artist from before. guard, an androgynous alien who challenges the mortals around him to attempt the impossible. The impressive Swiss soprano Rachel Harnisch embodies the title role with mystery and glamor, while the Czech conductor Tomáš Netopil, first guest musical director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, comes to lead the Orchester de la Suisse Romande in this conductor. modernist work by Leoš Janáček.

Gefeiert wird Rachel Harnisch in aller Welt – dann kam Corona und die Zwangspause. Ihr erster Auftritt nach Monaten war nun in Ernen. Für die gebürtige Walliserin ein Heimspiel.

«Ich hole Sie am Dorfplatz ab …», schrieb Rachel Harnisch, als wir unser Gespräch vereinbarten. Und nun ist es zehn Uhr, ein strahlender Sommer-Sonntagmorgen, wie aus dem Bilderbuch, und das Postauto Nr. 652 biegt durch die engen Kurven auf den Dorfplatz ein. Ich steige aus, Rachel Harnisch ist schon da. Mitten in Ernen, einem winzigen Dorf, fast am Ende der Welt in den Walliser Bergen, aber wunderschön mit alten, von der Sonne schwarz gefärbten Holzhäusern. Auch dies: wie aus dem Bilderbuch.

Rachel Harnisch: aparte Schönheit und verführerische Stimme zwischen Oper und Konzert © René Ruis

Rachel Harnisch, gross und schlank, spricht Wallisertiitsch, einen jener Schweizer Dialekte, die man als «Üsserschwiizer» (also jemand aus einem anderen Kanton) fast nicht versteht. Zum Glück ist Harnischs Dialekt gemässigt. Sie hat schliesslich inzwischen mehr mit anderen Sprachen zu tun und lebt heute in Zürich. Der melodiöse Klang des Wallisertiitsch ist allerdings geblieben. Denn geboren und aufgewachsen ist sie in Brig, nur wenige Kilometer von Ernen entfernt.

Kraftort Ernen

Seit 47 Jahren findet hier in Ernen unter dem Titel «Musikdorf» ein kleines, aber hochkarätiges Musikfestival statt, an dem auch Rachel Harnisch immer wieder gern teilnimmt. Dafür gibt es einen Grund. «Es ist das Unaufgeregte, im Gegensatz etwa zu manchen anderen prestigeträchtigen Festivals. Man ist hier wie in den Ferien, und tritt am Abend noch auf. Das schenkt einem Ruhe. Und diese Kirche ist so schön. Jetzt ist die Kirchentür während des Konzerts offen und wenn man auf der Bühne steht und durch die Tür ins Tal schaut, dann ist das sehr inspirierend. Ein esoterisch angehauchter Mensch könnte das als Kraftort bezeichnen ...», meint sie lächelnd.

Am Abend zuvor ist sie hier mit einem Liederabend aufgetreten, der als «Jazzkonzert» im ursprünglichen Programm steht. «Also Jazz mache ich nicht», stellt sie gleich klar. «Das würde ich mir nie anmassen. Aber vor ein paar Jahren hat es sich zusammen mit dem Charl du Plessis Trio ergeben, dass wir ein bisschen improvisiert haben. Ich finde, man darf Klassik nicht als so heilig betrachten. Zu Zeiten von Mozart und Schubert nahm man das auch lockerer.» Nur: durch die Corona-Reise-Beschränkungen konnte Charl du Plessis nicht aus Südafrika anreisen, der Pianist Jan Philip Schulze, mit dem Harnisch viel auftritt, war im letzten Moment verhindert und nur Stunden vor dem Konzert konnte Cédric Pescia einspringen. Der Abend war gerettet … und lief nun unter dem höchst aktuellen Titel «Fernweh … eine Liederreise für Quarantänegeplagte». Mit Liedern von Schubert, Lehar, Gershwin, Richard Strauss und Mahler hat Harnisch, im schmalen schwarzen Spitzenkleid und umgeben von barocker Kirchen-Pracht, das Publikum verzaubert. Und zwar barfuss. «Ach, das mache ich nach Lust und Laune, es ist gerade Sommer und an einem Liederabend ist man immer exponiert. Barfuss fällt eine gewisse Schwere weg. Mit High Heels, die ich sonst tragen würde, hat man mehr Distanz zum Boden. Man muss selber herausfinden, was einem am besten liegt und wie man optimal zum Klang werden kann.»

Dem Talent verpflichtet

Ihre Jugend hat Rachel Harnisch in Brig verbracht, aber keineswegs in einer Künstlerfamilie. «Meine Mutter hatte zwar eine gute Stimme und sang im Kirchenchor, aber meine Eltern besassen ein Schuhgeschäft in Brig und meine drei Brüder machen alle etwas anderes.» Trotzdem hat sie früh gespürt, dass sie Talent hat. «Und diesem Talent fühle ich mich verpflichtet. Ich wusste, dass ich nach einer künstlerischen Ausdrucksmöglichkeit suchen musste. Dass es dann die Stimme war, ist eher ein Zufall. Es hätte ebenso gut ein Cello sein können.»

Kaum hatte sie ihre Ausbildung beendet, stand sie schon auf den internationalen Bühnen. Einer ihrer wichtigsten Wegbereiter wurde Claudio Abbado, diese Lichtfigur unter den grossen Dirigenten. «Er war einer, der nicht viel geredet hat. Ich bin auch so und das hat uns verbunden. Ich finde es immer verdächtig, wenn ein Dirigent erst einmal stundenlang einen Vortrag hält. Es steht doch schon alles in der Musik! Und wenn man es geschafft hat, auf einem Niveau zu singen, das einen bis zu Abbado führt, dann sagt er einem in der Probe nur noch: du kannst das, ich respektiere deine Sichtweise, wir probieren es einfach aus.» Sie habe bei Abbado gelernt, dass Proben reines Organisieren sei, sagt sie. Erst im Konzert entfalte sich das Ganze. «Dann holt man das Beste aus sich heraus … das ist ein Mysterium.»

Inspirierend nicht nur für Rachel Harnisch: der Blick aus der Kirche Ernen ins weite Tal

Und dieses Mysterium macht schliesslich den Unterschied. «Es gibt Musiker, die spielen absolut perfekt – und es berührt einen überhaupt nicht …» Auch das Publikum müsse eben bereit sein, die Musik im Innersten auf sich wirken zu lassen. «Ich kenne das auch: es gibt Vorstellungen, bei denen man anfängt und sofort merkt, oh, es wird schwer … Wenn das Publikum nicht will, kann man oben auf der Bühne den Hampelmann bis zum Blutvergiessen machen und geht am Schluss frustriert nachhause. Ich glaube, das hat mit Energie zu tun …»

Kompromisse in der Oper

Das zweite Standbein ist für Rachel Harnisch die Oper. Mit einer Einschränkung. «Ich finde, in der Oper macht man extrem viele Kompromisse. Liederabende sind das Intimste und als Künstler kann man sich frei von Kompromissen präsentieren. Es gibt keine störenden Elemente und die Nuancen gehen nicht verloren. Das hat auch etwas Reinigendes, denn in der Oper hat man die Tendenz, auf Kraft zu gehen, weil man ein grosses Orchester hat, hinter dem man auf der Bühne steht. Es ist oft frustrierend, was da an Nuancen verloren geht. Das Wichtigste beim Singen ist für mich immer der Text und an einem Liederabend kann man alle Feinheiten ausloten und die Farben ausdrücken.»

Während aber viele Opernsänger ihre liebe Mühe mit heutigen Regisseuren haben, sieht Rachel Harnisch das anders. «In den zwanzig Jahren, in denen ich diesen Beruf jetzt ausübe, hatte ich persönlich nie eine Situation, in der ich mich hätte verstellen müssen.» In einem festen Opernensemble war Rachel Harnisch nie. «Rückblickend hätte ich mir aber gewünscht, zwei oder drei Jahre in einem Ensemble zu sein, um herauszufinden, wer bin ich, was kann ich und was will ich. Stattdessen habe ich mich irgendwie verloren und bin von einem Ort zum anderen gereist. Mit zwanzig denkt man, man muss alles machen, sonst ist der Zug abgefahren. Ich glaube, da braucht man ein grosses Selbstbewusstsein, also nicht Stolz, um sich von all den Anforderungen nicht aus der Ruhe bringen zu lassen. Heute bin ich 47, aber es ist immer wieder eine Herausforderung, sich in einer neuen Produktion zu präsentieren.»

Dass ihr dies heute mit der nötigen Ruhe auch gelingt, hängt ganz stark mit ihrer familiären Situation zusammen. «Ich habe zwei Töchter und einen phantastischen Mann, der alles macht, wenn ich unterwegs bin. Er kommt aus einer Musikerfamilie, spielt selbst Klavier, ist aber Architekt. Es ist schon wichtig, dass der Partner das nötige Verständnis hat. Mein Leben hat erst richtig angefangen, als ich meinen Mann kennengelernt habe. Vorher war ich so mit mir allein und extrem gestresst mit mir selbst. Heute bin ich viel gelassener und die Kinder haben alles in ein anders Licht gerückt. Ich glaube, damit bin ich auch besser geworden. Aber gesamthaft bleibt es eine Riesenorganisation … Es funktioniert alles, auch die Kinder machen gut mit, und ich versuche, meine Engagements so zu organisieren, dass ich notfalls, wenn etwas passiert, noch am gleichen Tag wieder zuhause wäre.»

Von Janacek in Berlin zu Janacek in Genf

Das Konzert in Ernen war für sie das erste nach Monaten der Corona-Zwangspause. Und wie hat sie diese Zeit verbracht? «Ich muss sagen, irgendwie habe ich diese Entschleunigung, die plötzlich in die Welt gekommen ist, genossen …» Zuvor war sie noch in Berlin höchst erfolgreich in Leos Janaceks «Jenufa» aufgetreten. «Deshalb war ich ganz froh über die ersten Konzerte, die wegen Corona nicht stattfanden … Eine Herausforderung war die Betreuung der Töchter, als die Schulen geschlossen wurden. Man hatte Angst, dass die Kinder auf der Strecke bleiben … Ich war dann ständig am Einkaufen und Kochen. Eigentlich habe ich ja nicht viel gemacht, aber abends war ich total k. o. …»

Von Janaceks «Jenufa» kann Rachel Harnisch zu Beginn der neuen Opernsaison einen Bogen schlagen zur «Sache Makropoulos», ebenfalls von Leos Janacek. Diesmal aber am Grand Théâtre in Genf. Immer vorausgesetzt, es kommt nicht alles anders, wegen Corona … «Das Orchester spielt die Musik jetzt bereits auf Band ein, denn möglicherweise darf es in der Vorstellung gar nicht live spielen. Diese Variante ist zwar nicht wirklich erstrebenswert, aber … tja …» Aviel Cahn, der neue Intendant in Genf, hatte Rachel Harnisch diese Rolle vor vier Jahren an der Flämischen Oper in Antwerpen angeboten, die er damals leitete. Der Erfolg war überwältigend. Nun soll es in Genf weitergehen. «’Die Sache Makropoulos’ hat mich ein bisschen versöhnt mit dem Opernzirkus», sagt Harnisch. «Ich hatte schon eine Professur angenommen, weil ich dachte, ich will den ganzen Rummel nicht mehr, dann ist genau mit dieser Produktion bei mir die grosse Lust auf Oper wiedergekommen. Dafür bin ich extrem dankbar. Es ist ein Feuerwerk, kein Takt zu viel, Text und Libretto sind genial.»

Gut möglich, dass mit der «Sache Makropoulos» nach der langen Corona-Pause auch beim Publikum die grosse Lust auf Oper wiederkommt.

Sie brauchte nur ein paar Takte, eine Strophe vielleicht, dann hatte sie uns alle im Sack. Wenn die aparte Walliser Sopranistin Rachel Harnisch vor uns steht, im Paillettenkleid und nackten Füssen, und ihrer Stimme freien Lauf lässt, dann sind wir in ihrem Bann. Es gibt kein entrinnen.

Juli 2020

Die international renommierte Sängerin beherrscht die Kunst des Liedes in all seinen Facetten, mal leise, mal kräftig, die hohen Töne oft mit einer Armbewegung unterstützend, immer im Liedtext verhangen, nie leer. Mal steht sie leicht hüfteschwingend vor uns, kokett, mal streng und bestimmt, weil es so gemeint ist. Und wenn sie sich mit dem Rücken an den Flügel lehnt, beide Arme ausgestreckt und sich am Klangkörper festhält, als würde sie an einer Bar stehen und die Szene beobachten, dann wissen wir, dass sie uns gleich verführen wird. Ihre Stimme, warm und voller Klangfarben, ist beeindruckend, ja, es kann schon mal zu Gänsehaut kommen – und ihr schauspielerisches Talent ist es auch.

Es sei seit fünf Monaten ihr erstes Konzert, in der St. Georg Kirche in Ernen. Die grosse Eingangstüre wollte sie weit offen haben – von der Bühne aus hatte sie den weiten Blick ins Tal hinunter. In einer kurzen Erklärung wies Rachel Harnisch auf die ungewöhnliche Situation hin, die ausserordentliche Handlungen nötig machten. Eigentlich war der Abend mit dem Charl du Plessis-Trio aus Südafrika geplant gewesen. Eine Ausreise war für die Musiker nicht möglich. Francesco Walter, der quirlige und dezidierte Intendant, hatte natürlich einige Plan B Optionen in seinem Köcher, mussten er doch rund 50 Prozent der Konzerte neu ordnen. So kam es, dass die Sopranistin mit ihrem Pianisten Jan Philip Schulze ein neues Programm auf die Füsse stellen musste, für Samstag und Sonntag. Und schon war wieder Flexibilität angesagt: Da Schulze im letzten Moment absagen musste, sprang der Schweizer Pianist Cédric Pescia ein. Was für ein Glücksfall. Die beiden Künstler hatten nur wenig Zeit zum Üben, aber das merkte wohl kein Mensch. Es war grossartig, was sie dem corona-disziplinierten und sehr aufmerksamen Publikum boten. Es werde eine Reise durch reale und fiktive Welten, durch Wunschträume und wahre Gefühle, durch Berg und Tal, vom Wallis über das Rheinland bis zu Mahler und ins Paradies, versprach die Sopranistin.

Und wie dieses Programm überzeugte: von Franz Schuberts «Der Hirt auf dem Felsen» zum Walliser Volkslied «Drunter im Gantertal», über Gustav Mahlers «Rheinlegendchen», «Verlorne Müh» und «Das himmliche Leben». Nicht fehlen durften «Summertime» von George Gershwin und «Les filles de Cadiz» von Léo Delibes, wo Harnisch zur stolzen Spanierin wurde. Und frenetischen Applaus erhielten auch Franz Lehars «Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss» und «Je ne t’aime pas» von Kurt Weill. Da gab es für Rachel Harnisch kein Halten mehr. Wenn sie am Schluss des Liedes vorne auf der Bühne steht, ins Publikum schaut und fest und eindeutig ihr «Je ne t’aime pas» in die Kirche schleudert, dann wird das Publikum zu dem Mann, dem diese Worte unmissverständlich gelten.

Und die Sahne aufs Häubchen war das Konzert am Sonntag, als noch der wunderbare Klarinettist Reto Bieri dazukam. Mit der «Ouverture suisse» – begleitet von Cédric Pescia – setzte er gleich den Massstab, auf was wir uns noch freuen konnten. Den Schluss machte dann «Dicitincello vuje», ein trauriges Lied aus Neapel von Rodolfo Falvo.

Und dann wäre noch dies: Francesco Walter kann sich glücklich schätzen, dass seine Vereins-Mitglieder des Musikdorfes so solidarisch sind. Es war ja wohl jedem Festivalbesucher klar, dass mit den platzmässigen Einschränkungen ein Loch in die Kasse gerissen wird. Es blieben nicht nur alle Sponsoren an Bord, es kamen auch 40’000.- Franken an zusätzlichen Spenden zusammen, was erlaubte, Musiker aus dem Ausland, die nicht auftreten konnten, zu unterstützen – so auch das Charl du Plessis-Trio, das eine 15minütige Probe nach Ernen schickte, als Dank, dass man sie nicht vergessen hat. Zu sehen ist dieses Kurzkonzert der drei begabten und in Ernen längst bekannten Musiker auf Youtube.

Ernen, 27. Juli 2020, Madeleine Hirsiger

Jenufa, Oper in drei Akten von Leos Janacek mit Donald Runnicles

Rachel Harnisch, Sopran
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles, Leitung

12. - 31. Januar 2020

Enge und Bigotterie, Tradition und Kontrolle, das bäuerliche Leben auf dem mährischen Dorf unterm Brennglas: Wir folgen den Figuren durch die Jahreszeiten, erleben einen hitzigen, brutalen Sommer, auf den ein eisiger, grausamer Winter folgt. Im beginnenden Frühling werden wir Zeugen eines Fests, das keines ist. Die tragische Hochzeit mündet in ein großes Schuldeingeständnis und offenbart den Humanisten Leos Janácek. Gewalt und Schande, Kindsmord, Schuld und Sühne. All das will uns der Komponist vor Augen und Ohren führen, der unbeherrscht Aufbrausende, der bei seinen Landsleuten in Ungnade gefallen war, nachdem er sich abfällig über Smetana geäußert hatte.

Mit JENUFA läuft er nun Gefahr, sich auch musikalisch und stilistisch zu isolieren. Welcher Komponist blieb – als hätte es Wagner nie gegeben – noch so in Arien und Phrasenwiederholungen verhaftet? Wer verband diese so selbstverständlich mit den neu aufkommenden veristischen Formen? Ungewöhnlich war auch, dass Janácek das Werk auf einen Prosatext – Gabriela Preissovás Její pastorkyna [Ihre Ziehtochter] – komponierte, immer in dem Bestreben, zum Kern seiner Figuren vorzudringen, ihren Charakter peinlich genau abzubilden, ihren individuellen Sprachrhythmus. Die Sprachmelodien seiner mährischen Heimat zu skizzieren war für ihn »Aktzeichnen der Musik«.

JENUFA hatte viele Umwege zu gehen, bis der verdiente Erfolg sich einstellte. Nach der Uraufführung 1904 in Brünn wurde die Oper vielfach abgeändert und nur wenige Male aufgeführt, in Prag erst 1916. Max Brod sah eine Aufführung im Nationaltheater und schrieb im Anschluss in der Berliner Weltbühne ein flammendes Plädoyer für das »tschechische Opernglück«. Als Leos Janácek eines darauffolgenden Sonntags den Schriftsteller aus dem Bett klingelte und ihn überredete, JENUFA ins Deutsche zu übersetzen, muss dies seine letzte Hoffnung gewesen sein, mit Hilfe seines bekannten Fürsprechers ein breiteres Publikum für das kühne Werk zu interessieren. Der Plan ging auf: Nach Aufführungen in Wien und Köln 1918 folgte 1924 die Berliner Erstaufführung. Von hier aus ging das Stück um die Welt.

Concerttour with Eliahu Inbal and the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra

Rachel Harnisch, Sopran
Taiwan Symphony Orchestra
Eliahu Inbal, Conductor

20/25/27 october und 3 november 2019

«Concerts demand a lot from me»

Rachel Harnisch is one of the biggest names in classical music. She is on the most important stages worldwide and works with the most influential conductors. The exceptional singer gives in the following conversation very personal insights:

Rachel Harnisch, you will be performing at the Zermatt Festival on September 7, 2019. The title of the concert is "Heavenly Life". What awaits the visitors?
"This evening, the Symphony No. 4 in G major by Gustav Mahler for soprano and orchestra in a chamber music version is given. This symphony accompanies me like a thread through my career. I sing the soprano solo in the 4th movement. Mahler composed the symphony from the last movement. The set poem by Brentano deals with the connection between the earthly and the transcendent, the sky. Described is this concept from the perspective of a child.»

You spoil the Upper Valais festival audience. This year you have already started at the Rhonefestival for song art and the music village Ernen and now you can look forward to your appearance at the Zermatt Festival. What do these guest appearances in Valais mean to you?
"For me appearances in the home are always special. I come back to the Valais and see myself as the little-year-old girl that I once was, who went to school here and who was embedded in a family. I am very aware of my own story here, and that makes it more difficult for me.»

Why this?
"I always have to make a distinction between what I once was here and what I have become. When I sing in Milan, the distance between these poles is much greater than in Valais. Now it's just that I did not just experience beautiful things here. To shut it all out at a concert demands more emotional work from me. If I recognize many people in the audience, with whom I share a common story, this can be annoying. On the other hand, it does not matter where you sing. You have to deal with the voice everywhere and with the constitution of the day, get involved with the competitors on the stage and adapt to the given conditions. In Valais, the road to concentration just keeps on going.»

Your mother is regularly seen in the audience.
"She's turning 90 this year and she's still busy coming to my concerts. With age, some travel becomes too strenuous for them. But she is there where she can, and that makes me very happy.»

"The MeToo movement is getting a bit boring, Rachel Harnisch, soprano

The Rhonefestival für Liedkunst this year focused on works by female composers. If you look at the life of Clara Schumann, Alma Mahler, or Fanny Mendelssohn, you find that they had a much harder time than their male counterparts. Are there still disadvantages in the classical world that women are struggling with?
«The position of women in society and also in the music world has changed a lot. I have never been disadvantaged. But there are certainly women who would give a different answer to this question. In the MeToo movement, which is starting to get a bit boring or annoying, there are certainly women who felt deprived or exploited. But I have never experienced something like that. Even as a conductor, you have every opportunity today if you are really good. I would say the world has taken a big step forward. Even the Vienna Philharmonic is no longer a pure male society and has understood that no restrictions on sex should be made. But maybe the problem will not be the same in all countries.»

The classic world has often been referred to as a shark tank. How do you manage to be undamaged for years to come?
"Whether I survived that unscathed, I do not know. I was still a student when I was engaged at the Vienna State Opera. As a young person, you have your ideas about how this should be done. But then you are confronted with reality. I survived that. Not undamaged, maybe not. But I was always able to get up and continue on my way.»

How did you do that?
"It's extremely important that you do not lose your concentration on yourself. You have to be able to eliminate all superficiality and realize what is important and what is not. There is a lot happening outside the stage cosmos. There are things that are important to good production, but then there are those things that are annoying. You have to hide it and be able to focus on what you can and want. That's a long process. Immediately after completing your studies, you are not in the position to survey and understand everything. Therefore, one stumbles, gets up again, goes on and learns. That's the way to go.»

What did you find disturbing?
"I felt less of the famous jealousy among the singers than it may be among musicians. The pressure comes from outside, from the business. The classic world is a complex business. There are agencies that fight each other, directors who know nothing about singers, directors and even conductors who have no idea about voice and want to put their sheep in production, and other difficulties. You can only recognize all this gradually. At first you are pretty shocked. But then you realize that despite all this is a nice job. It is a privilege to sing. But you have to learn to stay with yourself. How one survives all depends on what one has for a soul ground. Whether you can count on an environment that helps you. What one has to offer qualitatively, helps to assert oneself, but it also needs a strong mental constitution.»

By singers like you, the song gets new attention. Unforgotten your appearance in the Knight's Hall, where you stretched a wide arc from Crumb to Gantertal. What fascinates you about the song?
«The song is a very small cosmos full of concentrated emotion. Each song is a drama or opera in itself and encompasses the whole range of emotions. One must be able to retrieve each of these voice colors in a short time. That's fascinating. In big opera productions you make many compromises. In the song, however, I can stay very close to my artistic statement and convey it. With my longtime pianist Jan Philip Schulze I understand myself blind. The song knows few vanities that the opera sometimes brings with it. It is unpretentious. One resigns as a singer and places herself in the service of the poet and the composer. On the opera stage, it's often more about how loud I am, how great my coloratura are, or how awesome I can get into a character. When all this is no longer important, I start to feel well. That suits me. I do not like to prostitute myself for the superficiality of the profession.»

"I do not like the superficiality of professional prostitution

Your repertoire is of enormous breadth. You recently received great role debuts as Rachel in "Halévy's La Juive, as Emilia Marty in Janácek's" Vec Makropolus, and in autumn 2017 in a demanding triple role in Aribert Reimann's world premiere "L'Invisible ander Deutsche Oper Berlin. You made a name for yourself as a singer of contemporary operas. How did you find access to this new music?
"It all started with Claudio Abbado when I sang the Prometheus Suite by Luigi Nono in New York when she was 25 years old at Carnegie Hall. Each artist was supposed to play with the music of his time-employed. Music is a mirror of the world. I find it exciting to explore how the world in which we live sounds. Artists have always been associated with society and the sense of time. Some operas of Mozart or other composers were unfamiliar to the people of the time, new and some were vehemently rejected. But art only develops when borders are crossed. I think it's important that you do not rest in familiar climes or settle on comfortable islands. I was always ready to get involved in something new. But in the future I will not sing only contemporary music. I need the variety to be challenged.»

Contemporary music is often portrayed as inaccessible and top-heavy. How can music lovers still familiarize themselves with this music?
"You can not force anyone to do it. If someone goes to a concert with a negative attitude and sounds like something, everything is already lost anyway. As a listener you should get involved and say to yourself: <Now I'm experiencing something new. > You can approach this music like a mountain you have never climbed. Like on a mountain tour you can ask yourself: <Can I do this? Can not I do it?> In Antwerp I sang the world premiere Hèctor Parras <Les Bienveillantes> this spring. It is an opera about the Holocaust theme. For

Is it harder to build a classic career today?
"It has become more difficult because so much is visible. In the past, careers played out in a smaller radius. You did not know that many singers. Today the world is open and anyone can go anywhere. Separating the wheat from the chaff has become even more difficult. In addition, other things are becoming more important. When I see which people have made careers, I am sometimes amazed. The visual has become overly important. The marketing is essential. However, careers are faster. There are only a few singers who can hold each other for years. I do not want to be 25 again and start. Sometimes it's scary to see which things matter, whether you're heard and seen or not. I am glad that I have already found my way and can go on.»

Singers who are in the limelight at a young age develop in public. Was that sometimes difficult for you?

«In classical music one is rather anonymous. The inhibition threshold lies elsewhere than, for example, in the pop or film business. I can sing an opera performance in Berlin and then leave the opera, and maybe there are two to 20 people there who still want to do an autograph or a selfie. I try to shield my private life. There are no pictures of my kids on Facebook or anything. But it remains difficult to separate my artistic life from my private life.»

What is this difficulty?
"I was on stage for the first time with Claudio Abbado at the age of 25 at the Berlin Philharmonic. His CDs were on the shelf of my nursery. Suddenly I stood there beside him on the podium. You have to handle that. Then I started to quarrel and sometimes I was too scared. I thought: <I little girl from the Valais stand here with the best and biggest of the music world. > I became uncertain and began to think: <What do people think about me? Am I beautiful enough? Am I good enough?> This conversation was always with me. This can be very tattering, and I had a lot of trouble with it. That sometimes threw me off track. But at some point I scrambled to my feet and thought, 'Yes, I'm good, I'm listening and I have to learn to handle it. > You are very lonely before every concert. Rituals then help me to stay on the ground, to be calm and to breathe calmly. To bring this ego on stage is a long process that I am still busy with today. It is still difficult to take the first step on the stage. You almost die a little, that's how it is.»

As a singer you use the most personal instrument ever - the voice. Do you regularly turn your innermost outward?
"The relationship between me and my voice is special. I became a singer because everyone else said, 'You're good and you have to do that. > But I always have to get the singer off the hook. When I'm with my family or with my friends, the singer is very far away. When I start to work, I make friends with the singer again. I have a love-hate relationship with my voice. It's nice to be able to dock her to my heart. That remains a mystery to me. Why can I manage to transport emotions, I can not explain. But I can. There are singers who are always singers. They can sing at the touch of a button. I never could. For me, singing is a means of expressing myself. But that could have been anything, a cello or another instrument. Now it's just the voice, because I have a talent there. But it remains only a means for me. I am not only my voice, but I am also my voice.»

"I am full of self-doubt

You are always cheered at your performances, but you still know self-doubt?
"I am full of self-doubt. But this is also a guarantee to continue to develop and to constantly improve. I am never satisfied. Never, never, never! I think that's how good artists have to be. I am not an artist resting on her laurels. My CV on paper is pretty nice, but all of that is already a thing of the past when the audience reads it. I have to prove myself all the time. I have to do my best every time I perform. And then I hope my best is good enough. I'm extremely self-reflective and self-critical, but also very disciplined.»

What kind of music do you listen to when you are not working?
"Almost none! My husband always says it's a shame how little music we have. I just need my peace at home. I'm so busy with music so often. There is always music in my head, and at some point I need silence. I rarely listen to classical music at home. I may hear recordings that I get sent, or I hear certain recordings when I learn something new or need a reference to a work. When driving it is different. I'm a jazz fan, even though I do not know enough about it. But otherwise I listen to rock, pop, mainstream, Mundartsongs, Sina, folklore from other countries or the fairy tale CDs of my daughters - all querbeet.»

They are the mother of two daughters aged four and five. What does the musical early education at your home look like?
"I think, normal, as in all other households too. If one of my daughters said that she now wants to play the violin or the piano, we would support that. But they are free. I myself had to play the piano. That never interested me. I always found an excuse not to go to the piano lessons. It just was not my instrument. I think that a talent prevails. It does not matter if you promote it or not. But my kids are naturally confronted with the life of an artist. They experience that sometimes I am not there for weeks. They know life behind the scenes, in hotels or big cities. Even though they sometimes miss their mommy, they get enriching insights into this world. Your way to the music should remain playful. Sometimes they hammer on the piano. There is no constraint. I see how difficult artistic life is. If you are not superb, then it will be even more difficult. I hope they choose an easier way.»

Modern mothers do not have it easy. Bringing one's child and career together is certainly not always easy. Have you found a way to do both?
"When I first got pregnant, I thought, 'How should this work?' I learned over time. But it remains a logistical peak performance. I have a great man and a perfect working environment. They all support me a lot. In addition, I had to gain confidence in the outside care in the hoard, in kindergartens or the school. Long absence, however, remains an emotional ordeal. That's why I try to be there for my children as often as possible.»

"Who in the artist's sense of life, can only fail

How do you experience the change when you give the capricious diva on stage and the grounded mother is asked at home?
"I am very grateful that I have this grounding through my children. I used to suffer from lacking this connection to real life. On stage you are always in an artificial situation. That has nothing to do with normality. Thousands of emotions that you would otherwise have over the year, you experience there clenched in one and a half hours. I used to sing, drink something with colleagues and then go to the hotel. I was alone there. Now I return to my family. That is so beneficial. That grounded me and saved me. I know now that real life is happening here. That's what matters. My children do not care how I sang. The performance is like a rush. But he stops with the last sound. Even the applause is something artificial. My main job is to be mother and partner. That's the most important. I have a reason to be in this world. Who in the artist's life a sense of life, can only fail in my opinion. That alone can not make you happy.»

What do you wish for your future?
"That it stays as it is. I want to sing some nice roles. In the profession you never know how it goes on. I hope my family is well and my girls will have a fulfilling life. For her, I wish she had less trouble than me and that her paths would be a bit more straightforward than mine.»

Interview: Nathalie Benelli

world premiere

German Opera Berlin
Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles, lead

The fantastically clear, outrageously agile soprano Rachel Harnisch, the classy bass baritone by Stephen Bronk and other soloists of the outstandingly well-staffed piece ensemble are also to be seen as figures of the following two Maeterlinck chapters. Ygraine (once again the grandiose Rachel Harnisch) says that as a sister of the boy she sings: The queen is "the mother of our mother".
Volker Hagedorn, DIE ZEIT

The evening's solo star is Rachel Harnisch, who, with her brilliant, unbroken soprano rhyme, is gradually becoming a more flagrant opponent of death. A big, unanimously acclaimed evening for the Deutsche Oper.
Julia Spinola, SZ Süddeutsche Zeitung

... the soprano Rachel Harnisch, who as Titangiles' sister sings the only exposed part of this opera and embodies the radiant humanity that opposes Aribert Reimann of gloom in his new work. Finally, the composer himself is gratefully acclaimed.
Clemens Haustein, FAZ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Rachel Harnisch sings the rest of the highly outstanding vocal soloist ensemble to the wall with her triple role (Ursula, Marie, Ygraine) !!!
Andre Sokolowski, the Friday

I found a terrific performance and very impressive - especially the main actress Rachel Harnisch, something good I have not heard for a long time! Eberhard Kloke, conductor and composer ... with the wonderfully confident and beautiful singing Rachel Harnisch! Reinhard J. Brembeck, SZ Süddeutsche Zeitung Rachel Harnisch: 'charismatic sonority'!
Eleonore Büning, NZZ

Color, especially vocal color, comes with the Swiss Rachel Harnisch into the action. She sings Marie, one of the old granddaughters in "Intérieur" and then, after another interlude, the great monologue of Ygraine in the "Tintagiles". Ygraine is the sister of the already sick boy (Salvador Macedo in a speaking role). And Reimann, who until then had designed the vocal parts with relatively quiet means, provided them with the most exciting vocal line of the evening.The interval jumps get bigger, there are approaches of coloratura, and that's no wonder: Ygraine is extremely excited, she knows that the queen wants to get the brother. The fact that Reimann can write so well for a voice as no other contemporary composer proves, above all, with this play, which interprets Harnisch with a blazing soprano.
Udo Badelt, Der Tagesspiegel

The exquisiteness of the singer voices is immediately noticeable. But especially the soprano by Rachel Harnisch, which takes on female roles in all three one-acters, captivates with its soft sophistication and yet size and viability.
Mathias Nöther, Berliner Morgenpost

enfin une Rachel Harnisch vraiment exceptionnelle, dans les trois ds Ursula, Marie et Ygraine, soprano fil rouge magnifique anaclase.com Rachel Harnisch, who packed the punch as Ygraine in the trilogy's concluding part. Sam Johnstone, bachtrack Outstanding, however, in terms of stage presence, dramatic intensity, text design and mastery of heights, is guest Rachel Harnisch.
Albrecht Selge, one hundred and eleven

As Marie is Rachel Harnisch experience. In her main roles in all three parts of "L'Invisible", the Swiss impresses with a clear, expressive and high-pitched voice. Annika Schlicht as Marthe also shows a considerable presence with her strong, full-sounding mezzo-soprano. Harnisch is enthusiastically celebrated at the end for her demanding triple role. The other soloists, the orchestra, the director and last but not least the composer received great applause. For Reimann it is already the fifth world premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Corina Kolbe, new music magazine nmz

Links Presse:

der Freitag - das Meinungsmedium

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/andre-sokolowski/linvisible-von-aribert-reimann-uraufgefuehrt

https://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article212179121/L-invisible-ist-ein-Triumph-fuer-die-Deutsche-Oper.html

http://www.musik-heute.de/16694/reimanns-oper-linvisible-wird-in-berlin-uraufgefuehrt/

https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/reimann-oper-der-tod-sitzt-laengst-mit-am-tisch-ld.1321357

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/oper-der-totentaenzer-1.3695475

http://m.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/premiere-an-der-deutschen-oper-der-tod-ist-weiblich/20433980.html?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ch%2F#layer

https://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/kultur/article169476498/Das-Grauen-kommt-mit-leisen-Toenen.html

http://www.zeit.de/2017/42/linvisible-oper-aribert-reimann-berlin

Links TV/Radio:

Beitrag von Christian Titze über die Premiere L’INVISIBLE in RBB aktuell vom 8.10. (ab Minute 13):

http://mediathek.rbb-online.de/tv/rbb-AKTUELL/rbb-AKTUELL-vom-08-10-2017/rbb-Fernsehen/Video?bcastId=3907840&documentId=46760710

Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Fazit vom 8.10., Rezension von Uwe Friedrich:

http://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/audio-archiv.517.de.html?drau:broadcast_id=222

Kulturradio, Frühkritik von Kai Luehrs-Kaiser am 9.10.

http://mediathek.rbb-online.de/radio/Kulturradio-am-Morgen/Deutsche-Oper-L-Invisible-von-Aribert/kulturradio/Audio?bcastId=9839110&documentId=46793132

Reportage von den Proben zu L’INVISIBLE von Antje Bonhage, gesendet am 6.10. um 17.10 Uhr auf RBB-Kulturradio:

http://mediathek.rbb-online.de/radio/Kulturradio-am-Morgen/Reportage-von-den-Proben-f%C3%BCr-L-Invisibl/kulturradio/Audio?bcastId=9839110&documentId=46652054

Portrait von Vasily Barkhatov von Antje Bonhage, gesendet am 7.10. um 7.10 Uhr auf RBB-Kulturradio:

http://mediathek.rbb-online.de/radio/suche?searchText=Vasily+Barkhatov

Benefizkonzert mit dem Human Rights Orchestra

Donnerstag, 6. Juni 2019

Rachel Harnisch, Sopran Human Rights Orchestra Alessio Allegrini, Leitung

The lonely summit of this Thursday evening in the concert hall of the KKL is the Swiss soprano Rachel Harnisch. She sings the quiet and introverted songs "Nacht und Träume" (Franz Schubert) and "Morgen" by Richard Strauss. In Schubert's notation there is only one dynamic statement: "pianissimo". But Rachel Harnisch gives this word richness and inwardness, leading the piece to meditation and prayer in one. Fragile, beautiful and supportive, her vocals fill the KKL. The room provides the basic acoustic work and Rachel Harnisch knows how to use it subtly and artistically. An exciting moment just in his inexperience.

In "Morning" the soprano weaves an intimate dialogue with the concert master Sebastian Breuninger of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Wide arches that naturally weave around each other. With metered vibrato inserted sets it short peaks, dense waves, which aim directly into the interior. With metered vibrato inserted sets it short peaks, dense waves, which aim directly into the interior. These quietest spots are the highlight of the evening.

Hèctor Parra - Oper nach dem gleichnamigen Roman von Jonathan Littel

Premiere Mittwoch, 24. April 2019, 19.30h

Rachel Harnisch, Sopran
Calixto Bieito, Inszenierung
Klaus Händl, Libretto
Peter Rundel, Leitung

A world premiere after Jonathan Littell's controversial novel The Kindly Ones (Les Bienveillantes) from the year 2006. The main character, SS officer Max Aue, is not only a witness, but above all a participant in the horrors of the war, but what does not burden him seems. After the production of Infinite Now about the First World War, Opera Vlaanderen awarded this challenging commission to World War II to the librettists Händl Klaus and the Catalan composer Hèctor Parra. It is headed by Calixto Bieito.

See all audio, images & video

The characterization of Maximilian Aue as a sensitive, culturally refined intellectual, but also as a psychologically traumatized, homosexual Nazi, creates an uncomfortable ambiguous situation. The adaptation of this novel as an opera is a true show of strength. With Les Bienveillantes, the composer Hèctor Parra has written his sixth major work for music theater. He combines strong musical structures with a very intuitive and direct dramatic tone. For Les Bienveillantes Opera Vlaanderen composes a cast of opera singers with a strong stage presence. The director and guiding principle of Les Bienveillantes is Calixto Bieito, who has lost none of the radicalism that made him an enfant terrible of the opera scene in his early years. The musical direction is in the hands of Peter Rundel, a specialist in contemporary music, who previously also directed Hèctor Parra's Wilde at the Schwetzinger Festspiele.

Aribert Reimann - 'Fragments de Rilke' für Sopran und Orchester

Sonntag, 23. Februar 2019, 20.00h

Rachel Harnisch, Sopran
Robin Ticciati, Leitung

Aribert Reimann is considered one of the most important contemporary composers. After the great success of his opera L'insivisble with Rachel Harnisch, the composer composed the orchestral songs 'Fragments de Rilke' especially for the artist and dedicated the composition to her.

German and French fragments by Rilke from the years 1911 to 1921 form the textual layer of this composition. Reimann sees Rilke here in affinity with Kafka. Not lost in dreams, as so often in Rilke settings, but dramatic and confrontational is the musical language, The work for soprano and orchestra based on poetry fragments by Rainer Maria Rilke combines a challenging vocal part with partly restrained, partly gripping orchestral accompaniment.

NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Marianne Zelger-Vogt

The Valaisian Rachel Harnisch was just born when Lisa Della Casa ended her career. But the signed portrait photography above her piano reveals how much the great colleague is present for her. While she was a student, she occasionally heard her name but did not keep track of her. As a young singer you have to find yourself first, do not look too far outside. Only when she read in a review after her first recital in Zurich, her voice reminded of the Della Casas, listened to Rachel Harnisch their recordings. "It was almost frightening how much she lived up to my ideal, how similar her technical approach, her handling of the voice was, the way to develop the sound from the piano with as little effort as possible."

After this first encounter, Rachel Harnisch has not listened to Della Casa recordings for fear of being influenced. Now she's got her out again. Meanwhile established singer with pedagogical experience, she perceives Della Casas art even more differentiated. "I especially admire her control over the sound, she never goes to her limits, it always sounds natural, even in the highest notes effortlessly. Her voice is not a volcano erupting eruptively, she does not overrun one, always keeps a certain reserve, which gives her something mysterious, that captivates you. "

Can Lisa Della Casa still be a role model for young singers today, or is her vocal style outdated? "Their portamenti would certainly not be possible, but that was the common practice. Her piano culture remains exemplary. It is frightening how little attention is paid to it today. The louder, the better, is often the motto. But also in their handling of the word, the current generation of singers could take an example. This does not just mean the comprehensibility of the text, it is about the unity of word and emotional expression, about the word as a means of design of the singer, about the richness of color that can be developed from it. Lisa Della Casa sings as if reciting, forgetting the complex vocal mechanism required to do so. Last but not least, I find her basic attitude towards her job admirable. She burned for her art without burning on her. "

Die Sache Makropulos – Leos Janáček
Janáček Theater - Sunday, 25. November 2018, 7.00 pm, Brno (Tschechien)
Opera Vlaanderen, Conductor: Tomáš Netopil, Regie: Kornél Mundruczó

One of the highlights of the festival will be the piece The Makropulos Affair, presented in a production by the Flemish Opera, which performs Janáček´s work regularly. It will feature one of the most important Czech conductors, Tomáš Netopil, who has regularly been involved in the interpretation of Janáček´s work both at the theatre and in the concert hall. This futuristic production, which had its premiere in 2016, is the work of leading Hungarian film director Kornél Mundruczó, whose films have often gained awards at leading festivals such as Cannes and Sundance. Mundruczó is also the founder of an independent theatre company, Proton Theater, with which he tours important theatre festivals like Wiener Festwochen or others in Berlin, Brussels, etc.

Friday, 14 september 2018, 7pm, Filharmonia Tampere FI
Rachel Harnisch, sopprano
Eliahu Inbal, director

Rachel Harnisch interprets the songs 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' by Gustav Mahler under the direction of the great Eliahu Inbal.
Eliahu Inbalin's career as a major international conductor began when he won the 1963 Guido Cantelli Competition at the age of 26. Since then, was principal conductor of the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Czech Philharmonic and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. Inbal began conducting at the Jerusalem Music Academy and graduated from the French National Academy of Music, where he taught Oliver Messiah, among others. His Mahler and Bruckner recordings have won international awards, and his interpretation of the Shostakovich symphonies is groundbreaking.

Sonntag, 8. Juli 2018, 17.00h ZHdK Zürich
Rachel Harnisch, soprano
Jan Philip Schulze, piano

The internationally recognized song accompanist Irwin Gage was one of the great piano accompanists of the 20th century. The artistic partner of leading song singers such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Jessye Norman died in April 2018 in Zurich. In his honor, the association "Friends of Song" in cooperation with the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) is organizing a memorial concert with Rachel Harnisch and Jan Philipp Schulze. Rachel Harnisch gave several recitals with Irwin Gage.

Sunday, August 12, 2018, 6:00 pm Church Saanen

Rachel Harnisch, soprano - Thomas E. Bauer, baritone
Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne
Simon Savoy, Celine Monnier - Pierre-Fabien Roubaty, pianos

The "German Requiem" by Brahms occupies a central place in the hearts of many Germans because it speaks to them in their mother tongue. It has nothing in common with the Catholic Mass for the Dead (borrowed from the Brahms' title only), but derives its strength from the simplicity and confidence of the disciples of Luther - those northern Germans who prefer to speak for the dead instead of the living Sorrow to comfort. It is known that Brahms liked to omit the word "German" and set the "man" for it, perhaps with the intention of emphasizing the difference more strongly. "A Requiem for Man" - under this title, the masterpiece could not be classified in any drawer. This time it has a smaller cast with two pianos and the ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, one of the best Swiss choirs founded more than half a century ago by Michel Corboz and since 2015 led by Daniel Reuss. The evening begins with two compositions that Brahms made in the summer of 1887 and 1888 on the shores of Lake Thun on paper.

www.gstaadmenuhinfestival.ch

Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper
Donald Runnicles, conductor

The acclaimed premiere of the latest work by Aribert Reimann 'L'Invisible' has been released on CD. Rachel Harnisch interprets three roles in this work.

Rachel Harnisch and Jan Philip Schulze reinterpreted the song cycle of Paul Hindemith's Die Marienleben and recorded it on CD.

Paul Hindemith's song cycle Marienleben was even considered by the composer to be perhaps the best work he ever wrote ... a remarkable achievement in a work that includes his seven string quartets and the opera masterpiece Mathis the Painter. Although he was initially very proud of the original version of 1923, he later became somewhat dissatisfied because he felt that the vocal line was not so well related to the lyrics or the piano piece, so a quarter of a century later, while he was living in America, he revised it the cycle to what he thought was his final form.

www.naxos.com

Rachel Harnisch in conversation with Jacques Lacombe, the musical director of the production 'La Juive' at the Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg.