Measha - not your average Soprano
For starters, the rich-voiced Canadian star appears regularly on MuchMusic's Video On Trial. She sang at a tribute to jazz giant Oscar Peterson. And she favours singing in recitals over being in grand operatic productions -but that's about to change, with her turn as Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo.
The opera is being produced by the venerable Toronto company Opera Atelier, known for their sumptuous period pieces and gorgeous musical accompaniment by the Canadian classical powerhouse Tafelmusik.
"I'm not often on the opera stage," she admits, "but I'm very much looking forward to being able to spend time at home. I'm able to be around my friends, to sleep in my own bed."
Sounding mellow and relaxed on a grey April morning, she says that when it came to playing the role of Elettra in her first Mozart opera, "I didn't really give it that much thought. I knew I really liked the inspiration. It's one of the most interesting compositionally, in terms of the form of Mozart. I have to wonder, where he would've taken it, had he lived longer. But I was bewitched by the role, and the piece itself."
A lifelong singer, Brueggergosman has performed in concert halls and opera halls worldwide. She has worked with famed conductors Leonard Slatkin, Daniel Barenboim, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Andrew Davis, and Pinchas Zukerman, to name but a few, and has sung Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder, among many, many others. She's been the recipient of numerous awards, including the the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition, and, following her graduation from the University of Toronto, pursued postgraduate studies in Germany with Canadian soprano (and renowned lieder singer) Edith Wiens
That doesn't mean she's all classical, however.
Her 2007 album, Surprise (her first with super-label Deutsche Grammophon), shows her range in tackling a diversity of styles and sounds.
Brueggergosman says that when it came time to choose the album's repertoire and direction, her purpose was twofold: to educate and entertain, equally.
"The two do not have to be mutually exclusive," she says firmly, "people are wiling to give Schoenberg a chance, even over something as superficial as the cover of an album, or the fact they saw me on Video on Trial. They're willing to give it a shot. In some ways, I met them where they were, which makes people wonder, 'what does she actually do?'"
There is, however, no mystery it comes to Brueggergosman's versatility and range -or the force of her convictions.
The singer's opinions are, in fact, every bit as powerful, and powerfully-expressed, as her voice. She's known for gleefully skipping between the worlds of pop and high culture, for busting apart traditional notions of opera, and indeed, for re-calibrating the entire classical genre into a whole new arena.
"There was a time when we had classical musicians as major players in pop culture. There was actually a celebrity culture for classical musicians -people like Bobby McFerrin, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria Callas", she says, rifling off a host of well-known crossover names.
"These were people who found their way into the mainstream, their product being voice, or instrument."
There's a slight pause, as if she's about to reconsider what she'll say, but thinks the better of self-editing.
"Now whether or not a collaboration with Celine Dion, Bono, Bryan Adams are a compromise artistically, that's a subjective thing, but at least it heralded the concept of collaboration. We're all music makers - we come about it in a different way. I really respect that openness."
Hearing a soprano of Brueggergosman's talent talking about crossover appeal, it's tempting to think she might take her art form for granted.
Not a bit.
"It's not very glamorous. It is hard work," she says, matter-of-factly, adding that, "I really love it, I am constantly humbled by it. It's comforting to be able to talk about it. When I do things in the media or extra-curricular stuff, I'm always motivated by things that genuinely interest me... otherwise it's way too much stress."
Stress seems to be the least of her worries, despite the fact she's facing six near-solid nights of singing in front of a live audience. She sounds surprisingly relaxed. But then perhaps it's due to the fact she's in the hands of a team she has come to innately trust and respect.
The decision to appear in Idomeneo was inspired, mainly, by the energy and artistic vision of Opera Atelier's founders Jeanette Zingg and Marshall Pynkoski, the latter being the director of the Mozart production as well.
"I absolutely fell in love with the esthetic, and with Marshall and Jeanette, the vision they had. Sometimes when you're dealing with the machine that is an opera company, not everybody is on the same page - opera singers get caught in the middle," she says thoughtfully, "The one thing I always look for when I'm considering doing opera at all is the unified front of the artistic vision of a company. It's so very important, for better or for worse, to have someone for whom the buck stops. It very much stops with Marshall and Jeanette. I really enjoyed knowing where I stand artistically in terms of dramatic motivation and they're also very patient people."
Brueggergosman explains that, having seen a few of Opera Atelier's productions, she approached the dynamic opera duo, and was duly warned about the level of time that would be involved.
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It might seem obvious, but for a performer for whom the recital is the norm, the concept of blocking, acting, and lighting cues requires a whole different level of commitment. "When I approached them, they said, 'now there will be tons of rehearsal', but it feels comfortable," she says, clearly adoring the experience, "we know exactly what it is we want to accomplish, so it's kind of funny... " The opera singer dons the voice of a stern taskmaster. "No problems there'," she says with a laugh, "it's comforting, it's a security. I knew I wouldn't just be plugged into a production. I wouldn't be on auto-pilot." The automatic stand-here-sing-now, or, "park-and-bark", as it's more commonly referred to in the opera world, is less the result of inhibited performers or poor direction than it is a financial necessity for most arts companies.
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"That's a budgetary thing," she notes, "it has a lot to do with how much time any singer has in their schedule, how attractive it is to come to an opera company for that length of time. That's something that, unfortunately, opera companies have had to compromise, but Atelier remains very clear about how important the rehearsal process is."
Idomeneo is a rarely-performed operatic piece that takes its narrative from Greek mythology. It revolved around the Trojan war hero, Idomeneo (sung by rich-voiced tenor Kresimir Spicer), who makes a deal with the god Neptune that his ship be spared rough seas, on the condition that he sacrifice the first person he sees once landed on shore. That person, as tragic myths always go, turns out to be his own son, Idamante (American tenor Michael Maniaci), who is in love with the Trojan princess Ilia (Peggy Kriha Dye), much to the despair of Elettra, who pines for him, to no avail, and meets a rather cruel end.
Onstage, Brueggergosman is a ferocious presence.
Even in dress rehearsals, she's at 110 percent, imbuing the tragic Greek mythological murderess with a sense of danger, passion and urgency. With all the neutral pastels that colour Pynkoski's production, her crimson red/inky black dress, combined with her signature crown of curls, makes her a stand-out -and that's not even including her voice, which combines various layers of power and poetry, in one gorgeous package.
Pynkoski presents Idomeneo's Crete in a sumptuous, rich production, complete with ballet, theatrical acting, and old-fashioned, if undeniably enjoyable, effects. It's in perfect synch with the Atelier mandate of producing period-specific work, and works in the most complementary of ways with Mozart's delicate, lovely score.
The opera, while popular in its day, causes a furor in 2006 when it was reported that Berlin's Deutsche Oper would, as part of its production, be featuring the decapitated heads of various religious figures being carried on a spear by the protagonist. For security reasons, the remaining four performances of the production, set for November of that year, were cancelled. The controversy gave Idomeneo more attention that it ever received in its 200-plus years of performance. Still, for all the fuss, the opera is rarely revived under the auspices of repertory opera companies, with modern interpretations or otherwise. It's large, long, rather expensive to stage, and requires the sort of time and devotion that is a luxury for most larger organizations. Opera Atelier, says Brueggergosman, can afford to take the time, because of the fact they only do two productions a year; it means those productions receive much more care and focus than a more populated season might.
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"Atelier are gems," she exclaims, "they belong in the same category of Canadian gems as Tafelmusik, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Vancouver Opera - these wonderful companies that are quintessentially Canadian but have uncompromising integrity when it comes to artistic vision."
Ever thoughtful, she offers the keen insight that such quality programming "could really only happen in this country, where we have organizations like the Canada Council in conjunction with people privately funded."
The well of wonder and gratitude that Brueggergosman seems to so effortlessly draw from was deepened when she visited Africa in June 2007. The singer is the Canadian good-will ambassador for the African Medical and Research Foundation, and is also deeply involved with Learning Through the Arts and the World Wildlife Fund.
Her African odyssey, she says, provided "perspective", and ultimately re-shaped her perceptions of not only her own life, but of her artistic calling.
"You come back with a truckload of perspective... it puts everything in perspective -what you have, what you have spiritually."
She pauses, lost in memory and grappling for the words around a clearly profound experience.
"You have faith, and then you see children who have grown up never seeing peace, or even electricity. You think you have faith until you hear stories of people who witnessed the slaughter of parents or children or both, and they still can manage to take a breath. They raise other people's children while being HIV positive."
Calling Africans "probably the best humans in the world", one can still sense the wonder and awe she took from the experience.
"It's a pretty amazing thing, to see people go with the intention of helping when in reality what they need is resources... even though they would never turn anyone away, whatever their intentions. You know in their lack of affluence they've managed to enjoy what's important, and cling to what's important, not just the concepts of it. There is actually a sense of accountability."
Brueggergosman relates the story of visiting a transitional camp that helps transfer those who had been Internally displaced back to their villages.
"They said, 'we don't have liars and cheaters in our community, a man stole and we asked him to leave.' There's that kind of policing of one another, that sort of accountability to one another."
Seeing the realities that Kenyans and Ugandans live with every day made her more aware of her own position as an artist.
"I'm more aware of how much power and influence I have as an artist, how influencing my art form can be, how it's not much to do with me at all."
Her voice rises and she launches into the philosophical angles of being a performer.
"The key to being a good interpreter, cause I am constantly re-interpreting ... is to be, this unobstructed vessel. You really want to try and recreate -and create - a moment for people that will transcend them beyond what they actually see. "
One can see the smile that has lit up many a concert hall stage.
"That's the great thing about classical music - it does that."
Idomeneo runs April 26th to May 3rd at Toronto's Elgin Theatre.
www.operaatelier.com/
www.myspace.com/meashabrueggergosman
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