An hour after singing Beethoven’s 9th in Berlin, I sang another
OrchestrasMessage from the Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg:
Happy New Year, dear ones!
My 2023 ended somewhat unexpectedly — singing Beethoven 9 at the beautiful Konzerthaus Berlin with Karina Canellakis and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB)
I was headed out the door for dinner with friends when I got a phone call asking me to jump in for an unwell colleague for two concerts and radio broadcast — starting in about 70 minutes time. Before I could say “Freude, schöne Götterfunken” I found myself standing backstage with the fab team of Sophie Harmsen, Andy Staples and Michael Nagy, ready to sing in the New Year 2024 with Schiller’s Ode to Joy”.
Small misunderstanding here: Siobhan Stagg did not sing two Beethoven 9s in one evening – she jumped in for Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin’s performance on 30th December at just 70 minutes notice. She then sang their second performance on NY Eve as well.
thanks
I’m not sure what’s happening her. Is the heading about 1 hour between the two performances correct?
Either way, it’s not that impressive. The soprano solo sings for less than 10 minutes altogether, mostly as part of the quartet. Singing a role like Norma or Anna Bolena involves more than an hour singing and of much more difficult music. Even the soprano solo in Verdi’s Requiem has a harder night of it.
Are you a professional performer?
Well hooray for Siobhan anyway.
you can still hear the radio broadcast here:
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/silvesterkonzert-des-rsb-beethoven-9-sinfonie-dlf-kultur-c7639edd-100.html
How absolutely wonderful for you and the audience!
Very well done!
I’ve reread the title a number of times and can’t make it say anything other than she sang beethovens 9th and an hour later sang another. Not that it matters, and it certainly doable. Like a matinee and an evening performance with different groups. Fun read.
Having sung it many times myself, Beethoven Ninth’s is only a cough and a spit compared to the far more complex and demanding Missa Solemnis The wonderful soprano, Heather Harper, used to always say that she got paid by the note to sing that work as there were not that many to sing – you can count them!