Anyone who is currently experiencing him on the stages of the major opera houses will learn: Michael Volle is at the zenith of his career.
The 63-year-old recently formed something like the center of Berlin's "Ring des Nibelungen".
Now he can also be seen as Wotan in Munich - in two concert performances of Wagner's "Siegfried" with the BR Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle.
As a young lyrical baritone, do you imagine singing Wotan and Sachs one day?
For a pastor's son who grew up pietistic, Mozart was far away.
Even during my studies I didn't waste a thought on Wagner, it was more about Lortzing.
Not even a Wotan monologue in the shower?
For God's sake.
At that time my throat broke while listening to a Schubert song.
That really came little by little.
My first Wagner role was the Heerrufer in Lohengrin in Mannheim, followed by Wolfram in Tannhäuser.
Even when it was Beckmesser's turn in Zurich's "Meistersinger" in 2004, I still didn't believe in the Sachs.
I had bought it and read it - but I was never a knowing singer.
As in life, I was always more of a gut person.
So I gradually and instinctively mastered the difficult subject.
Also, I've always been very lucky.
I never had to venture into something new and bigger too soon.
Everything came at just the right time.
Your Berlin Wotan was also so remarkable because you could follow a baritone singing while thinking. Is it really all instinct? Or is it an exact adjustment?
It wasn't my first "ring".
Over the years, the way one deals with roles becomes automatic.
Maybe I have a dramatic, acting streak, so it's easy for me to slip into the characters.
And you have to link that to directing, no matter how complicated it may be.
I don't think I'm good until I'm really completely into the role.
I sang my first Wotan in Seville in 2011, in Die Walküre.
A production that relied heavily on the outside.
In contrast, my most recent Sachs in Vienna with director Keith Warner was an incredibly beautiful experience.
I was able to try out completely new aspects that will definitely be included in my next Sachs in Florence.
Also because more and more vocal self-evidence sets in?
It is perhaps the best thing that with increasing experience I am getting better and better at mastering the musical material.
At Sachs, for example, I no longer have to think too much.
I know where to save.
Then I still have strength at the end and can pretty much do whatever I want.
That sounds big-mouthed.
But it should only describe the feeling of happiness, dealing with the voice and being able to fall emotionally into the situation.
I can do that much better with the Wotan now.
It's a kind of freedom.
Just create in the moment.
And: Learning and growing never stops.
Also a nice feeling.
But there are always dreams. Travel to New Zealand once, then you've been there and everything is over. What about Sachs and Wotan?
It doesn't always have to go on to new games, you can continue to work on the current ones.
I'm singing Schubert's "Winterreise" again.
These concerts are not a sure-fire success.
I'm constantly discovering new things.
If the freedom in role design increases: do you also become calmer inside?
The past three difficult years have contributed enormously to the fact that perspectives have shifted.
Singing means a lot
to me and my wife
(soprano Gabriela Scherer, editor) .
But due to these corona upheavals, other values such as family and relationships became more important.
I no longer take singing for granted.
Especially against the background of how the self-employed were treated.
How they were treated by some highly subsidized houses in the event of Corona cancellations - there is still a lot to say about that.
For all of these reasons, I'm enjoying every second of singing even more right now.
The calendar is busier than ever. Did you want to catch up after the pandemic?
no
I was one of the privileged few who were allowed to sing again and again during the pandemic.
However, I remember well how exactly three years ago the Milan "Salome" had to be canceled before the premiere.
This slowing down to zero also took a toll on me physically.
Apart from that: The inconsistencies not only in our profession and the strange excesses of the music system became more apparent during the pandemic period.
As if they were?
How to deal with people who think differently.
I didn't position myself as extreme as others.
But here people were denigrated, partly as Nazis, simply because they had a contrary opinion.
And this is now continuing with other topics.
I find that dangerous in every way.
It's not about being right.
No one is Buddha, Martin Luther King and Gandhi all rolled into one.
It's all about how people treat each other.
Everything insanely complicated.
You can always try to start with yourself anyway.
After three years, were you finally able to let off steam singing again? You don't know what Michael Volle's everyday lockdown looked like...
(laughs)
Of course I had to learn that.
For example, I can watch films and series with my wife from morning to night.
We also bought a Corona dog.
Fantastic.
We already had a cat, rabbits... The latter had seven offspring.
Very exciting to experience – and contemplative.
Luckily we have a garden.
And sometimes we just sat there and just watched.
We then handed over all the rabbits to a new home.
Not eternal nirvana, but truly alive.
And if you could take something away from this reflection on yourself and on rest, that would be good for people.
The interview was conducted by Markus Thiel.
Concert performances of "Siegfried"
on February 3rd and 5th in Munich's Isarphilharmonie, before the second concert, Michael Volle is guest of Markus Thiel at the concert introduction (from 3.45 p.m.);
further "Siegfried" performances on 8.2.
in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and on 11.2.
at the Luxembourg Philharmonic.
