Role Model

This month, Strauss’s sumptuous and sophisticated Arabella brings the gold leaf, grand chandeliers, and extravagant ballgowns of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage, marking the first return of Otto Schenk’s classic production since 2014. Starring in the title role of the beautiful and strong-willed young noblewoman is soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, who follows in the footsteps of her idol, the great Renée Fleming (pictured above as Arabella in 2001)—and not just in this role. A review of the sopranos’ respective repertoires reveals remarkable overlap, including the Marschallin in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Violetta in La Traviata, the title roles of Massenet’s Thaïs and Dvořák’s Rusalka, Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes, and Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. As she looked forward to making her role debut as Arabella, Willis-Sørensen talked shop via video conference with Fleming, whom she calls “the greatest Arabella of all time.”

RENÉE FLEMING: Hi, Rachel! Where are you right now?

RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Renée, hi! I’m in an Airbnb in Toulouse where I’m singing Thaïs. And I listened to you sing it about four million times in preparation. So thank you sincerely for all your help.

RF: Isn’t that a great diva role? I wish I could hear you in it.

RWS: I wanted to do it because in 2008 I went to the Live in HD broadcast of you and Thomas Hampson, and I was so moved. I am so inspired by you, and so happy to get to talk to you today.

RF: It’s my pleasure, and I’m really excited that you get to sing Arabella. It’s so gorgeous.

RWS: Well, I basically live my life asking WWRFD? What would Renée Fleming do? When I’m offered a role—this is maybe embarrassing to admit—if it’s outside of what you did, then I think, maybe I shouldn’t do it. But you’re so wise, and you have diversified your repertoire to the point where I think it really ensured a beautiful, healthy longevity. Plus, it’s always good to use your recordings as a reference. [Laughs.]

Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, 2017

RF: Well, I love Arabella. The thing that has always impressed me about you since day one is the absolute, exquisite beauty of your sound. I mean it’s so special and so unique and recognizable, which is so important.

RWS: I’m getting all verklempt. Thank you. How many times did you sing this role?

RF: Not a lot, and just one run at the Met, right after 9/11, so it was a really difficult time. But it’s still one of my favorites.

RWS: The closest reference for Arabella that I had from my repertoire was the Marschallin—which I did for the first time in London in 2016, covering you for five performances and singing three. There’s so much of that same Viennese charm in Arabella. What do you think of the character?

RF: Her role in the family is to keep it together and help everybody get through. Her parents are sort of a disaster, and she’s the one who gives them some hope and a chance for a future. And her relationship with her younger sister, Zdenka, is so touching.

RWS: I agree, and although you feel for the young soldier Matteo, who is desperately in love with Arabella, I think she’s indifferent to him for exactly the reason she says: He’s just not the one for me. What a feminist icon Arabella is, just sticking to her guns about getting the life that she really wants.

RF: Well, love matches were brand new at that time. So this is a hugely romantic notion, that she would get to choose.

RWS: Did you find the role difficult to learn?

RF: Arabella and the Marschallin both were really time-consuming to learn—chromaticism and text, text, so much text. I can still see the wallpaper in the room where I learned the first act of Rosenkavalier because I underestimated how hard it was, and I needed to learn and memorize the role in two weeks, and so I couldn’t leave the room. I can see the room where I learned Arabella, too. And so much about singing this music is making all that text come alive. I’m so glad that I studied and sang in Germany before rehearsals were ever done in English. To have that much experience with the language made it a lot easier. You’ve had the same experience, right? 

RWS: Absolutely. I was a house singer for three years in Dresden, and I have a comfortable command of the German language, which makes a huge difference. You learn the pitches, but ultimately, you have to deliver the words as though you’re the first person in history saying them in this order. You have to make it feel like it’s coming from inside you, and really mean it.

RF: Exactly. I go to plays all the time, and with opera, I really want people to think they’re at a play. We’re speaking on pitch.

RWS: I wanted to ask you, since you did so many Strauss heroines—Arabella, the Marschallin, Ariadne, the Countess in Capriccio, and even Daphne—do you have a favorite?

RF: The Marschallin was definitely my favorite because she was so complex, so interesting, that I could sing her over a period of many years and evolve with her, in a way.

RWS: We can learn so much from her about acceptance and serenity. And with Arabella, as I mentioned, we learn about staying true to oneself. I think part of the reason why she has so many suitors, ironically, is her indifference. She would rather be single than with the wrong person. It’s so wise.

A scene from Arabella

RF: But I think it’s also somewhat unrealistic. All the people that I’ve met who’ve enjoyed long, happy marriages, if I ask how they found “the one,” they say exactly the same thing: It was luck. How would you know, in Arabella’s words, who “der Richtige,” or “the right one,” is? There are so many elements to a relationship and to a marriage. You can’t possibly really know. I think you try to be realistic and have a short list of things that are important to you, but not the list that my mother taught me—you know, taller, five years older, more successful. I taught my daughters to throw that all out. The first rule is that he should worship the ground you walk on!

RWS: That’s true, you can’t know, although you might think you know, like Arabella does, with Mandryka.

RF: And that’s just from looking at him from afar!

RWS: She gets zapped by fate. And so does he, falling in love with her portrait before he even meets her. It’s a little ridiculous.

RF: But occasionally it does happen. My grandfather saw my grandmother from afar, driving a buggy, and he said, “I’m going to marry her.” He did, and they were incredibly happy together forever.

RWS: That’s beautiful. And there’s so much beautiful philosophy in Arabella, in addition to poetry and storytelling. Even the last lines of Arabella, when she and Mandryka promise themselves to one another, she says, “And you will trust me?” And he responds, “And you’re going to stay how you are?” She simply says, “I can’t do anything else. Take me as I am.” I love it so much.

RF: You’re absolutely right. Her strength, her fortitude and will, are really inspiring. And you’re inspiring, as well. I so wish I could be at the Met for your performances, but I will definitely make it to the cinema to see the Live in HD transmission. Brava, diva! Enjoy it!

Interview by Jay Goodwin