Performing the titular role of Carmen in our upcoming production is Mezzo-Soprano Anna Pflieger. She recently took some time from her busy performance and rehearsal schedule to answer a few questions. Read on to learn all about her fascinating journey to our stage.
Q: Who is the most famous person you've met in person? A: I have had the opportunity to meet many famous classical singers over the past twenty years including Mirella Freni, Carol Neblett, Vladimir Chernov, Anna Netrekbo, Rolando Villazon, and Christine Goerke to name a few. More importantly, I’d like to touch on the most influential person I’ve had the honor of meeting and working with, my beloved teacher and mentor, Claudine Carlson. I have always said that anything I do well, I owe to her, and any faults in my singing are entirely of my own making. She fostered my love for music in times when my passion felt dim and taught me strength through musical discipline and artistry. My soul lies in music and this amazing woman remains my guide in preserving beloved masterworks, sincere interpretation and vocal honesty. I hope one day to do her proud. Q: Did you have a rough patch in your career? A: In my early twenties I was diagnosed with stage three cancer. I lost five years of good health and operatic training due to my condition and subsequent treatment. Those critical five years, while the majority of my colleagues were transitioning from masters and young artist programs to mainstage, I was rebuilding my body, mind and instrument. My career was entirely derailed but I was later able to return to competiton, stage and music with a stronger conviction than ever, greater purpose and profound inner knowledge; actualization of self. For a singer, few losses are more painful than losing your authentic form of self and communication. Lucky for me, I know just the place that can help me express, share and heal such emotions, the operatic stage! Q: What is your opera dream role? A: My heart lies in the dramatic Verdian and Wagnerian repertoire. The first dream role (of many) that comes to mind is Eboli from Verdi’s Don Carlo. Q: What is the most challenging thing you have ever done in your life? A: Following my remission from cancer in 2013, I was hit by three different drivers in Los Angeles in auto accidents resulting in multiple injuries. I refer to this time period as my dark decade. I eventually healed my body, further strengthened my mind and doubled down on getting my broken self back to where I belonged, on stage. Returning to the operatic circuit in a new, larger body, with a new, larger voice, not to mention a track record of being M.I.A. for years was truly petrifying. I would shake with anxiety prior to auditions, having been so out of practice singing anywhere else than the safety of my beloved teacher’s warm and inviting studio. My first audition back, I felt my entire body freeze the second the accompanist began playing Tacea la notte placida. It felt like a death march, frozen in time. I recognized on a subconscious level, that not singing would be far worse than pushing through this newfound stage fright. So, I sang and I sang well. This may not sound like a challenge or feat compared to climbing a tall peak, or fighting injustice, but for a young singer who had lost a lot, her hope, her passion and her purpose, in that singular moment, I felt proud of myself. Q: What was the moment you realized you wanted to become an opera singer? A: I was fourteen years old sitting in diction class on a Friday afternoon when my teacher popped in a VHS of Le Nozze di Figaro starring Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. As a former drama and choir kid who loved jazz and had difficulty palating musical theatre, it was a revelation watching my first opera. This art form offered everything I could ever want, from the challenging music and vocal style, to the elaborate costumes and theatrical staging. I fell in love, and I fell hard and fast. Looking back, against all logic and reason, I can openly admit that I was born an opera singer. Q: What was your most glorious moment, or what would you consider the high point of your career? A: Debuting in the title role of Carmen with Pacific Lyric Association will truly be the highlight of my career to date. To discover this character in a collaborative and artistically nurturing environment that PLA creates surrounded by tremendous talent and kind-hearted colleagues, it’s nothing short of magical. I hope I can do her (Carmen) justice. Bizet be with me. About Anna Pflieger Anna Pflieger, dramatic mezzo-soprano, is an award-winning vocal artist recognized for her arresting vocal timbre and bold stage presence. Ms. Pflieger’s most recent engagements include: 2022 Wagner Society of Southern California Wesendonck Lieder Soloist, Pacific Lyric Association title role debut as Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen, LAKMA Symphony Beethoven Symphony No.9 Alto Soloist Walt Disney Concert Hall, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater Alto Soloist, Mozart Requiem Alto Soloist, 2021 Opera West! debut as Cio-Cio-San’s Mother in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, 2020 VOPA debut as Marthe in Gounod’s Faust, CSUN Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 Alto Soloist. Recent honors include: 2021 Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition semi-finalist, 2020 Mentoris Voice Vocal Competition finalist and encouragement award recipient, 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Western Region semi-finalist and encouragement awardrecipient, 2019 Burbank Philharmonic Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition finalist, The Opera Buffs Inc., Artist Grant Award recipient, and first place recipient of the 2019 Bell T. Ritchie Award. Ms. Pflieger serves as co-founder of Artists Coalition of Los Angeles, a non-profit organization advancing classical arts and culture, and is an alumnus of NYU Tisch, Pepperdine University, International Lyric Academy of Rome and Idyllwild Arts Academy. She currently prepares roles under the guidance of Claudine Carlson and William Vendice. She particularly enjoys singing the works of Verdi, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Wagner and looks forward to embracing this repertoire for years to come. Anna Pflieger is based in Los Angeles and is available for engagements worldwide.
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I started to work with Pacific Lyric Opera when the founders, Carlos and Terry Oliva, were heading the organization. I met the Olivas many years ago in Santa Barbara because I was auditioning for the productions at Santa Barbara Opera as a tenor. I should say that I was not directing opera at the time but singing onstage in productions. My repertory included the tenor leads in such operas as “Tosca,” “Madam Butterfly,” “La Traviata,” among others, including my favorite, “Carmen.” The very talented Olivas were auditioning for Santa Barbara opera as well. Their young son, also named Gabriel, was auditioning for the great American opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors", as was Terry for the role of the mother. We got to know each-other after that and sang together many times in various works.
Several years later, my wife, a wonderful soprano, and I were visiting the Olivas in San Diego when they were rehearsing “Rigoletto” by Verdi, and they invited me to direct their next opera. By that time, I had been artistic director for a regional opera in Los Angeles, Guild Opera Company, the second oldest opera company in California, after the San Francisco Opera. Guild Opera Company specializes in community outreach and outreach to elementary schools. I am immensely proud to have been with Guild Opera Company all these years. I am completing my twenty-second year with them. The company gives opportunities to professional singers and up-and-coming talent in the Southland. For example, artists such as Marilyn Horne, the famous mezzo-soprano, Marnie Nixon, famous for being the voice to Natalie Wood in the film version of "West Side Story," Audrey Hepburn in the film version of "My Fair Lady," and Mary Costa, the voice and body for the original Disney "Sleeping Beauty," all got their start with Guild Opera Company. Since that time, I have had the pleasure of directing various productions with PLA, including “Carmen.” Last season I directed “Die Fledermaus,” the greatest operetta written in my opinion. That was fun, fun, fun! I started in the world of music as a child playing violin. I attended conservatory in my native Cuba. I also sang as a kid and for a while had a children's radio program with two of my sisters. After the difficult migration from the repressive and communist Cuba, I was able to pick up the violin and learn viola in high school and college in Glendale, California. My passion was singing, so I dedicated my efforts to that endeavor and went to Cal State University Northridge where there was a terrific program. I was fortunate to sing in many operas there and after college continued my studies with a wonderful teacher, Ms. Elisabeth Parham, who became my mentor. Thanks to her, I was able to have a career on the operatic stage. I have been extremely fortunate to pursue my passion and I am grateful for the opportunities which were afforded to me in this great country. I am looking forward to this production of “Carmen” and give my gratitude to Maestra Alex Keegan and Justin Gray, producer extraordinaire as well as expert musician. It is an opera which is close to my heart and was the second opera of which I became aware in my young life. The first was Mozart's "Magic Flute" which cast a spell over me. However, when I discovered “Carmen,” it quickly became a favorite. “Carmen” is truly a masterpiece of music and theater. No wonder it is arguably the number one opera in the world. To think that it was considered a failure when it premiered, that Bizet, its composer, died soon after its premiere and never got to see the triumph that it became. That, in and of itself, is "operatic" in scope! ABOUT Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos Director Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos is the recipient of the 2007 El Angel Award from the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. He has sung leading operatic roles, as well as roles in zarzuelas, oratorios, and musicals with various companies, including Anchorage Opera, Spanish Lyric Theater in Tampa (Florida), West Bay Opera, Spokane Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, LA Music Center, The European Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and The Angeles Chorale. Mr. Reoyo-Pazos’s directing credits include Enrique Gonzalez-Medina’s opera “Serafina y Arcángelaat” at the Theater Center in Tijuana (Mexico), “The Marriage of Figaro,” at The Ventura College Opera Workshop, “Cavalleria Rusticana,” “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” and “Suor Angelica,” for Riverside Opera, and “La Bohéme,” for Ridgecrest Opera Guild as well as Guild Opera Company. For Pacific Lyric Association, he has directed “Carmen,” “La Traviata,” “Il Trovatore,” and “Tosca.” In August 2022, we brought information to you regarding the backstage drama to get “Carmen” onto the stage in front of its first audience. Now, we can take the time to really admire what a work of art the music is for this opera.
The music was incredibly well orchestrated in comparison to other opera or orchestra literature. Georges Bizet made extensive use of the range and sounds of each instrument in the pit. There is a substantial amount of brass work, which is a little out of character for most operas. Punctuated with percussion such as tambourines and castanets that are typically foreign to opera scores and you get a rather exotic approach to the music. Additionally, most operas of that time simply had musicians in the orchestra pit to be background to the vocal talents on stage. This is not the same with “Carmen.” You get percussion and dance rhythms that accompany the character’s vocal lines throughout the score. This was considered progressive for the time, yet helps flesh out Carmen’s earthiness and sultry moves on stage. Don Jose’s music, on the other hand, is more poignant and pastoral. As the libretto progresses during the opera, his music transitions from all sweetness and lyricism to something a little more jarring and unsettling. Micaëla is fairly constant throughout. Her music matches her character with somewhat dainty and unobtrusive tunes. Escamillo and his famous “Toreador” song carries shameless confidence and showmanship with a little lustiness tossed in for good measure. One point of trivia: When Escamillo and Carmen sing their rather short duet “Si tu m’aimes," it is the only time in the opera they sing in unison. That was Bizet’s method of signaling that Carmen and Escamillo were in alignment with their love for each other. Alas, Bizet died of a heart attack at the young age of 36 while ill with a fever. “Carmen” had just premiered to the world and had just finished its 33rd performance at Opéra-Comique on June 3, 1875. Bizet died never knowing his opera about a sultry cigarette factory worker would become one of the world’s most beloved and often performed material on the opera stage. |
AuthorPacific Lyric Association Archives
February 2024
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