The way to become a master

Introductory remarks for the masterclass at the end of January.

Dear singing actors, thank you so much for participating in my first official masterclass. I have coached friends in Italy and Munich before, just for fun, to enjoy music and theater together while we studied music. This work was truly exciting, and some even recommended I do it more often. In the association's last project, I worked with some singers on the Hammerschmidt madrigals, which also yielded good results. But leading an official masterclass is a first time. Thank you for being here! It promises to be an exciting time because all four of you have incredible talent and fantastic energy.

Does opera need mentors?

But why do I find this masterclass important this year? I've noticed that much has changed in the opera world since my time in Italy, and unfortunately, none of it has been for the better. Back then at the Accademia della Scala, I met artists like Leyla Gencer and Riccardo Muti—that was 20 to 25 years ago—and while observing their rehearsals, I realized that these two people served their art very deeply. It wasn't just the music they cultivated, but their entire lives and personalities were incredibly rich. They were people with vast knowledge, general knowledge. Leyla also encouraged us as students to work on our personalities. She suggested that if we were engaged for a role in a city, we should dedicate a significant amount of time to visiting museums, monuments, and cultural sites so that we, as individuals, would also be enriched. These artists thought that way. Later, I realized that very few musicians of my generation did the same. They came, they played their music, rehearsed and performed, but beyond that work, nothing interested them more. However, the richer we become as human beings, the more we gather life experiences and knowledge, the better we are as artists.

I believe every artist must work on themselves as individuals to become a master.

But that's not the only reason, in my opinion, that things have taken a turn for the worse in the opera world. It's also related to the opera system and the star system as a whole that musical theater has lost much of its original purpose and "magic." This system has ceased to nurture talent, produce stars, and bring music and theater directly to the audience in an authentic way. The system has become a business; it's more about money, politics, and ideology than about art and serving humanity.

When I attended a performance of "Nabucco" at the Gerhard Hauptmann Theater in November, I was struck once again by how little the singers are guided by the conductor or director in their most important task: to be actors. In an opera like "Nabucco," there must be moments when one weeps or at least feels deep emotions. But I felt nothing, and this feeling of "feeling nothing" is happening to me more and more often at the opera.

If singers don't deeply feel the role they embody on stage, the two hours of an opera performance are merely pleasant entertainment. But composers like Giuseppe Verdi and Mozart didn't write their masterpieces simply to entertain audiences and showcase the beauty of a voice. They wanted to convey important messages to humanity. That's why Verdi used significant libretti by Shakespeare or Schiller for his operas.

The "theater" aspect is very important in opera.

And the entire team behind an opera production (director, conductor, actors, dancers, technicians, chorus) must be aware that dramaturgy, music, and above all, the actor's stage presence must serve the theater's primary goal: to inspire the audience and ultimately make them better people.

This was the goal of theater in ancient Greece: the drama on stage was a mirror of society. When an actress portrayed Sophocles' Antigone, the audience watched her, listened to her voice, identified with her, and thought, "She's right, I want to be like her." Or, when a spectator saw a "negative character" like Creon, they thought, "Creon is like my politicians today; I want to be careful and not follow them anymore."

When we as actors embody a role profoundly and authentically with our voice and presence, we achieve our goal of making the world a better place. Our task and responsibility as actors is therefore enormous – it's not just about singing an aria beautifully. In Greek, the word "actor" is "ethopoios" – the creator of ethos, morality. We teach the audience. Therefore, we are essentially their "masters."

The path to becoming a master is unique for each individual. Each of us is guided by what is called the "Holy Spirit," and it leads each of us to the right experiences, encounters, or meetings with other masters that gradually transform us into masters. Everyone has their own path, but the goal "master" is the same for us all.

The path to become a master

In my opinion, these are the three ways that make us masters:

1. Spiritual Work

Reading, learning, and deepening our art and knowledge every day, including philosophical and spiritual exploration: What message is meant to be communicated? Who is the person I embody? What were the historical times when they lived, and why did the composer focus on them? Is it an archetype? What are archetypes? Can I find their characteristics within myself and breathe life into them, connecting them to my own experience? Awareness of my own time is also important.

2. Technical Work

Improve your technical skills so that your stage performance appears as effortless as possible.

3. Self-Work

Understanding your own personality and working on your own character. Unlike most people, the artist should be deeply moved by truth and compassion for humanity, much like Jesus or great masters. That's why the best actors and singers have always been impressive, deeply spiritual personalities, humble and human.

For me, it's better to have a mediocre instrument but a great soul.

Welcome to my first masterclass!

Let's work together on what makes us better actors, musicians, and artists. We have a wonderful guide on this path: the music itself, but also the text, because we opera singers don't see music as separate from text. The composers were inspired to create music by reading the text. Therefore, these two, music and text, are inextricably linked.

The masterclass is divided into three parts:

1. We work on ourselves, exploring our unique qualities (strengths and weaknesses) and focusing on how to make these qualities powerful instruments that make us special. We'll present these qualities well and consciously, and enjoy sharing our own personalities with the audience.

2. We deepen our knowledge. Not only our own art, but also the study of the biographies of the people connected to our piece, history, and philosophy. We will also be inspired by other masters and study their art.

3. Practice: The masterclass, January 25-27, 2026. We then deepen the interpretation of our respective works by, for example, finding out how we can best express the musicality and dramaturgy of our piece in practice.

First Task

So let's begin with the first step. I ask you to complete the following tasks:

1. Meditate on yourself

How would you describe yourself? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Remember: You are a perfect person, exactly as you are – with all your strengths and weaknesses, your bright and dark sides. Both are very important for your profile as an actor. Finding yourself is a long journey, but let's simply begin. For example, I could say about myself: "I am strong-willed, but sometimes too aggressive. I am very sensitive, but sometimes I can't control my emotions. Sometimes I am too romantic and not very realistic." etc.

2. Which roles have you always wanted to sing?

After you have formed a brief picture of yourself, think about your dream roles, regardless of whether they suit your voice or not. Are there any roles that have always fascinated you?

Sometimes roles find you instead that you find them, like if it´s destiny.

For example, imagine you're in the library and a score catches your eye, and you think: What a magnificent opera, even if it seems difficult at first glance.

Please name three to five roles that are particularly close to your heart or that greatly interest you. Now compare these roles with the recommendations of your teachers, masters, and coaches. Which roles do your teachers consider important for you?

After this initial step of self-reflection, next time we will focus on the two arias from the masterclass, with each singer working on them individually.