In the opera world, you could say soprano Barbara Hannigan is on a level of her own.
The Canadian singer has performed leading roles in the world premieres of more than 80 new operas.
She has also performed the world premieres of song cycles, including experimental composer John Zorn’s daunting “Jumalattaret.” The work is inspired by Finnish mythology and the goddesses whose stories are told in the epic poem, Kalevala. Zorn’s music contains bizarre moments, but it’s also easy to connect with emotionally.
Hannigan will perform a vocal recital featuring “Jumalattaret” alongside music by the late Romantic composer Alexander Scriabin and 20th-century avant-garde composer Olivier Messiaen at Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall at 3 p.m. Sunday, accompanied by pianist Bertrand Chamayou.
Classical vocal music and opera have a reputation for being niche and inaccessible. But being authentic and passionate can overcome such barriers, Hannigan said.
“I have a friend who's a mathematics professor,” she said. “I have no aptitude for math, and I don't really care about it. But when she starts talking about it, she's so passionate about it. I could listen to her for at least half an hour.”
And although the songs on the recital are cerebral, the key is to embrace the emotional rather than the esoteric, Hannigan said.
“As a person who's been performing contemporary music, premiering contemporary music since I was 17, I'm now 53,” she said. “I know deep in the marrow of my bones that the audience is not interested in intellectual things. They are interested in drama. They are interested in passion, they are interested in connection, but not brain connection, heart-to-heart connection.”
The singer describes Zorn’s composition, which she premiered in 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, as both extremely challenging and enjoyable.
“The pressure was that it was just so unbelievably difficult, that it took me such a long time to learn it,” Hannigan said. “And it really is at the edge of my powers. But the good thing about it is it's actually very fun to perform.”
Zorn’s writing contains the kind of vocal fireworks that can leave listeners surprised by the sounds the human voice is able to make, she said.
“It makes the audience laugh,” Hannigan said. “Almost because they're like, ‘Oh my God, I can't believe she just did that.’”
But singing that kind of music requires Hannigan to dive into the difficult technical aspects of the music. After mastering that, she must then deliver the music poignantly.
Timothy Long, the artistic and music director of Eastman Opera Theatre, said Hannigan’s authenticity helps her to transcend the perceived limitations of classical vocal music.
"That's what believability is — that somebody truly believes the words that they're uttering,” Long said. “They're truly connected with the emotion of the sound that's coming out of them."
He said when "that emotion of sound" isn't there, you're not going to remember the singer.
"We might remember some good notes or some bad notes, but we don't remember a being that made us change, you know? And I think that is what believability in opera is."
Singing at this level is not just emotionally taxing but also physically demanding, Hannigan said, likening it to being an athlete.
“The actual act of watching someone in a very deep and intense state of concentration, and the athleticism of performance — any kind of performance — is engaging,” she said. “And it is inviting.”
