Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, orchestra conductor: “In this profession it is not easy to take care of mental health”

Conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla (Lithuania, 1986) pauses solemnly before answering any question.

She receives it, takes it in with a deep inhalation and, after a few seconds of absence, she responds.

Only her hands move even before her lips.

Instead of her in an interview, she appears to be in the pit of the Teatro Real, from where she now directs the opera

La passengera

.

Grazinyte-Tyla, who in 2019 became the first woman to sign exclusively with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label, is happy with the critical and public reception that the work is receiving.

“The more people who share her message, the better,” she says.

The opera can be seen on the Madrid stage until March 24.

The Passenger

was going to become one of the great premieres of the Teatro Real in 2020. It couldn't be because the pandemic prevented it.

Four years later, the theater has already settled almost all the outstanding accounts and now it is the turn of this opera with music by Mieczysław Weinberg.

But the world is no longer what it used to be.

In 2020, the invasion of Ukraine had not yet occurred, in 2024 it has been suffering for two years.

Nor had the conflict between Israel and Gaza broken out.

And about wars,

The Passenger

has a lot to say.

Also what to teach.

Based on a story by Zofia Posmysz, the spectacular scenery places the viewer on board an ocean liner heading to Brazil.

Lisa and her husband travel in it and the happiness of their marriage is broken when she thinks she sees a woman whom she ordered to be murdered when she was working as a guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Ask.

Has your way of approaching this opera changed in these four years?

Answer.

A thought that often comes to mind is that perhaps we can create another interpretation of this opera.

Instead of having Nazi Germans, have other oppressors.

Putins

with destructive power, Ukrainians on the front lines suffering... Although the work explores the history of Auschwitz, there are parallels with what we experience today.

It is a harsh message, but again we have to try to learn and take the example of how to resist and not stop believing in the best of humans.

Q.

Does that mean yes?

A.

Yes, of course it has changed with everything we hear that is happening every day.

Q.

What can this opera teach us about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza?

A.

The first thing it can teach us is that we have to look at what normal people like you and me can do.

Saying 'the situation cannot be changed' is partly true because we do not have the power to stop the war, but it is very important that every day we look for what we can do.

Even if it's just reviewing examples from the past, debating and staying awake.

My parents live in Lithuania and, for two years, they have been inviting Ukrainian families to their homes, cooking for them or volunteering.

The American historian Timothy Snyder, who is a great inspiration to me, says, about the possibility of Trump becoming president of the United States again with Ukraine at war, that there is a lot in our hands.

If we citizens do not stand up and defend democracy as the great value in which we believe, then of course Trump can win.

But if we protect our values, perhaps another future is possible.

And in this opera, Mieczysław Weinberg and Zofia Posmysz are shouting at us that we must believe, confront the terrible things humans do, and resist.

That we must not forget and that we have to be brave to stand up and protect what we believe in.

Image from the opera 'The Passenger'.

Q.

Can music stop a war?

A.

If we start at an early age, change the educational system to focus on human values, on philosophy, on music and art... On exploring what the human spirit is capable of developing... I don't have a definitive answer, but there must be a way.

Q.

You come from a family of musicians.

His father was a choir director, his mother a pianist... Do you remember his first contact with music?

A.

I don't remember the first contact.

It must have been before I could even remember.

But what I do remember is that I was about four or five years old and I would go to my room because I was supposed to take a nap, although sometimes I slept and sometimes I didn't.

And I remember my mother, who studied piano and from the room she could be heard like in a dream.

And I was trying to get closer to that music.

The opera 'The Passenger' screams at us that we must confront the terrible things that humans do and resist

P.

Alondra de la Parra has said in an interview that, when she was young, she was told that she could not be an orchestra director because she was a woman.

Did she hear anything similar?

A.

I heard something similar in my own family (laughs).

My grandmother was a violin teacher.

Her entire family were musicians, one of her sisters played in an orchestra and she said that conducting was not a woman's thing.

Of course, all her life she had seen men directing.

For my part, in some choirs of amateur

singers

I did notice some expressions of surprise, but nothing more.

When Grazinyte-Tyla finds a question interesting, her answers are long.

She rambles, but without losing focus.

It happens when she talks about Weinberg.

And it's rare that more than three or four minutes go by without her, in the middle of her response, wanting to explain something with a hum.

If the topic does not attract you so much, her words are few.

You dodge.

It happens when she talks about equality in her profession.

This director's reaction is not unusual in the sector.

They are tired of always hearing the same questions, although many admit that there is still a way to go.

Even so, there are already battles won.

The Lithuanian says that her references were Claudio Abbado, Arturo Toscanini, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Georg Solti... she gives a long list of names.

All of them men.

Figures such as Marin Alsop or Simone Young, among others, paved the way.

And now it is she, Grazinyte-Tyla, who leads a powerful generation of female directors.

Q.

Do you think that now you have become a reference for new generations?

A.

(Vibrants his lips in slight annoyance) I feel like it probably is.

But I hope they do many things better than me.

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, who directs 'The Passenger' at El Teatro Real in Madrid.Claudio Álvarez

Q.

How important was it that in 2019 you became the first woman to sign exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon?

R.

How important to whom?

Q.

So that the profession becomes more egalitarian.

A.

I was the first woman, yes.

But the CD market is no longer experiencing a good moment.

What Deutsche Grammophon does is still great, but it's still working in small spaces.

And precisely because of that we were able to reach the agreement to record Mieczysław Weinberg for the first album.

And that is great and still a great challenge.

Q.

Does that mean that something is changing?

A.

Sure.

Q.

Years ago you thought about quitting, why?

A.

It's something I consider from time to time.

I have barely done any other activities other than directing.

I don't know how my life would change if I did something completely different.

Q.

Are you still thinking about leaving?

A.

Sometimes, yes.

And I am also very grateful for the gifts and privileges I have.

In this profession it is not easy to take care of mental health

Q.

Do you feel that you have had to make sacrifices to reach such a high level?

A.

Well, everything has a price.

And I have gotten a lot from this job and my career, but I have also given a lot.

Q.

For example?

R.

(Laughs) A very small one.

We finished the opera here around 11:00 pm and I got home around 11:30 pm.

The next morning, my children were awake at 7:30 a.m. wanting to play and you feel devastated.

But hey, the word sacrifice is actually nice.

That's life.

Q.

With this profession, is it easy to take care of mental health?

A.

Of course not.

It is a challenge.

But we definitely need to work on it.

There is a dynamic of giving, giving and giving, but you also have to stop to be able to give again.

If we ignore these rules of nature, we cannot succeed.

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