It sounded almost mystical, as if it emanated from the earth. Suddenly, the orchestra started to sound, and you couldn't pinpoint where the sound came from. You couldn't see the conductor, but you could sense the expectation of thousands of people from all over the world. When the lights went out, there was complete darkness. I traveled from Lviv to Bayreuth for just this one performance. Kirill Petrenko conducted The Valkyrie and I was allowed to attend the performance because I had been invited to be his assistant at the Bavarian State Opera. There is something Buddhist about it: in order to make a pilgrimage to this place, you first have to leave your everyday life behind and take on a challenge.ĭo you recall your first visit to Bayreuth? You can feel the incredible, titanic energy with which he took the art of opera, indeed all of music, in completely new directions. This is about Richard Wagner's total work of art, his "Gesamtkunstwerk," and his philosophy. It's not just about performances of great works with top-class artists. Bayreuth is a very special world, a world of its own, a truly magical place. Do you have respect for, or are you maybe even in awe of, such a task and such an institution? Perhaps your personality can be of help at the Bayreuth Festival, an institution that is heavy with traditions and entrenched structures. That would be important not only for me personally, but also - if you want to take a lofty view - for the world and for the future. Of course, I hope to set a positive example. The fact that I, a woman, can stand at the podium here is perhaps a symbol of our time. The fact that I am a woman does not make the Flying Dutchman score any easier or harder. Let's talk about what the whole world is talking about right now: You are the first woman to conduct at the Bayreuth Festival. Conducting Tchaikovsky's Sixth, or Puccini's Tosca, Wagner's The Valkyrie or Mahler's symphonies - that was really important to me, that really intoxicated me, and it has always encouraged me to continue on my path.
It was and is always about the music, the composers' works.
What attracted me was never the conductor's podium itself, to stand up front and tell everyone which way to go. Over and over again, I was told: "Why do you want this? It's never going to work out."īut I felt drawn by the profession. When I started studying to be a conductor, I was the only woman at the college in Lviv. How difficult was it to assert yourself? And to what extent has that shaped you to this day? And you did it in Ukraine, which is more of a patriarchal society. This is where Richard Wagner lived in MeudonĪs a young woman, you, too, fought your way through a profession that is still a male-dominated field.
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