During a recent evening interlude at the Metropolitan Opera, soprano Sondra Radvanovski was in her dressing room, her eyes closed and her head bowed, working to conjure distant memories.
Radvanovski, who sings the title role in Luigi Cherubini’s “Medea,” was thinking about her father, who suffered a heart attack in her childhood home more than 30 years ago when she was 17. found his father dead after being killed in California. As part of her ritual before her performance, as she looked back, she began reciting her emotions running through her: her feelings of loss, abandonment, love and hate.
“He’s here with me,” she said, looking at her father’s driver’s license on top of a piano not far from the porch containing her mother’s ashes.
Every moment of contemplation was part of her effort to channel the pain and despair from her life into “Medea.” This is a powerhouse opera in which her character, a vengeful sorceress, commits a series of dark and disturbing deeds. kill her own child
“You can’t just play it,” she said. “You really have to live it.”
“Medea,” which kicks off the Mets’ season and hits theaters worldwide as part of the company’s Live in HD series on Saturday, has emerged as the career-defining performance for the 53-year-old Radvanovski. and she has won accolades. A powerful and eerie depiction.
Focusing on one of the most demanding roles in her repertoire, she added boxing sessions with a personal trainer to build endurance and strength, and rehearsals with a vocal coach. and let her song resonate warmly through all three. – an opera of hours, during which she rarely takes a break.
“Medea” also proves to be Radvanovsky’s definition on a personal level, offering a cathartic escape from a trying time in her life. After her mother passed away, she separated from her husband of 21 years in February.
“It’s been very therapeutic for me,” she said.
“Medea” director David McVicar said he felt Radvanovski found a way to use her pain without being overwhelmed by it.
“She was able to channel that energy instead of destroying her,” he said. I was able to express and make art out of those difficult emotions.”
“Weirdly enough, I think it was really healthy for her to play a role like Medea. It’s cathartic.”
The idea to work on “Medea” came in 2017 when Radvanovski sang the title character in The Met’s production of Bellini’s “Norma”. Her vocalist Anthony Her Manoli encouraged her to take a look at “Medea” for a while and she began noticing similarities to “Noma”. She said she thinks it will be a natural next challenge, both emotionally and vocally.
“It’s the same stream,” she said. “I think it’s like bel canto on steroids.”
Soon, she was discussing the idea with her frequent collaborator McVicar and General Manager of the Met, Peter Gelb.
Gelb said she was impressed by Radvanowski’s mastery of the dramatic Italian repertoire. , was widely acclaimed for performing the brilliant feat that Beverly Sills made famous at the New York City Opera in the 1970s.
“If another singer had asked me about ‘Medea’, I probably wouldn’t have answered so positively.
He said, “When she said she wanted to do it, I knew it was a real tour de force for the singer, so I had a gut feeling that we should do it.
Even with the MET’s support, Radvanovski knew he was signing up for one of the biggest challenges of his career.
Opera has a terrifying legacy. Maria Callas defined Medea’s role in a series of influential recordings in the 1950s, and her interpretation still looms large. And it’s physically exhausting work.Medea, entering the stage about 40 minutes after the first act, never leaves the stage, producing subtle high notes, expansive arias, and a wealth of vocals that demand both nuance and power. You will be given a passage.
Radvanovsky said, “It’s vocally superhuman.
Turmoil in her personal life added to the difficulties. The death of her mother, who had Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, left Radvanowski depressed and lonely.
“I knew it was going to be hard,” she said.
The dissolution of her marriage was also a shock. Later, when she began to explore her own independence for the first time in decades, she felt uneasy.She also underwent changes in her body and lost about 40 pounds of her weight. rice field.
In preparation for the demanding 8-run performance of “Medea” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I began a personal training session focused on strengthening core muscles.
Recently, between boxing and bench pressing at a gym in downtown Manhattan, Radvanovski said she was often exhausted all day after performances and noticed bruises on her legs. You have to sneak onto the stage in awkward dresses and sing in different supine positions.
“The singing part should be second nature,” she said. “The rest of the equipment is what you really have to focus on. What we do is very athletic.”
On opening night last month, she was very focused. Moments before the performance, she said she decided to “open Pandora’s box” and allow her to experience the traumas of her life more deeply. It was the first time I couldn’t remember anything.
“I really felt like I was Medea,” she said. “I didn’t see the audience. I just saw the people on stage.”
Critics praised her energy and strength, with some commenting that she seemed unfazed by the demands of the role.
“Radvanovsky writhed in the rejected witches of Greek mythology, high-pitched, all-out, deftly pacing, screaming and commanding…a dramatic challenge,” said New York. Times classical music critic Zachary Wolfe wrote in his review.
Her recent success has led to talks about a future engagement at the Met. ‘, a return to ‘Tosca’ and Ponchieri’s ‘La Gioconda’, among other possibilities, are being discussed.
In her dressing room after a recent performance, Radvanovsky energetically stood at the sink and used shaving cream to wash the fake blood from her hands. He said he was excited when he learned that he had called.
“It’s a very emotional role and an emotional time for me,” she said.