The Savonlinna Opera Festival is visited by a buzzing world star whose road to the top of the opera world is slightly breathtaking.
Saio Hernández plays the role of Lady Macbeth at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. Toni Härkänen/Savonlinna Opera Festival
The world star of the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the Spanish soprano Saio Hernández is happy about her first visit to Finland. Finns have been amazed at his magnificent work as Lady Macbeth for the Opera Festival.
– Finns are so open and happy, Hernández immediately surprises.
In Spanish images, the Nordic people may be a bit distant or retreating, but that image is now positively collapsed.
– Good atmosphere, the singer repeats for Iltalehti.
The journalist’s own prejudice also changes in the debate. That is, the fact that all the big singers would avoid everything possible from hot food to other people so that the sound would work and do not threaten the dust. This is not the case with Hernández.
He drinks Coca-Cola on ice, eats hot food and may even snap chocolate in the middle of a performance, which is often a matter of wondering for others. He has also been to Savonlinna in the sauna and went for a swim in cold water.
– I try to live a life as ordinary, he explains.
However, according to him, the truth is this: the opera singer thinks about his voice and singing all the time, without a break. My own body is a private instrument – tool – and it goes with it all the time. In order to cherish balance, you have to make a choice usually.
If the plague strikes, then you just have to rely on singing techniques created through years of work. Hernández has sung since 2009 and had to cancel only two gigs because he was hospitalized due to internal bleeding.
Bad guy
Hernández loves the role of the bad guy, and that’s what Lady Macbeth really is.
– This is not for the kids, Hernández laughs out loud.
The role of the bad guy is complex and enables the singer to be wider in sound.
– It’s important to find different colors.
Hernández’s husband, Francesco pio galassois also in Savonlinna Tuendain the role of Calaf. Singers have been shown different places in the area and nice experiences. The community is intense and spends time between performances together. During the interview, the rest of the group is for coffee together.
Hernández praises the entire working group of the Opera Festival. People are exceptionally enthusiastic and motivated by him; This is not always the case in every corner of the opera world.
Saio Hernández conducts an interview when opera colleagues are for coffee. Saio Hernández PR
The star is often asked how he is preparing on the day of the performance. The answer is that he tries to act as normally as possible: always eat an important breakfast, go shopping, take care of the things that are included in each day.
However, the shower is a very important ritual for him and some of the preparation for the performance: hair off, nails in order.
– In order to be perfect, he clarifies the ritual.
Hernández arrives at the venue, in this case, at the castle, three hours before the performance. The mask is just over an hour before the performance because Lady Macbeth won’t go In Macbeth Right from the beginning to the stage. Soprano wants to warm up his voice alone. In addition, he does mental exercises from the first screening of the book. After the mask, he is more active and opens the sound with the group.
– I sing the first Aaria’s sentences slowly. Much more slowly than in the opera, he reveals about warm -up.
Soprano primarily wants to cherish a good atmosphere in all productions, as it is primarily about working together. He is part of something bigger.
– The opera is art, no entertainment. It’s something bigger, he emphasizes.
Monasteries and singing
Hernández’s road to world -class singer is special. At a young age, he was talked about by professions that he could own his whole life.
He was interested in work in the army or as a police officer and in religion or art. He ended up reading the law and graduated – but went to the monastery. He did not swear the oath of the nun. In a year and a half, he returned to university to study as a religion and music teacher. Then he joined the university choir, where he had sung earlier.
He switched to a teacher’s position in working life, and when he was a 25-year-old, he was asked to sing on a summer tour La traviata Opera choir in France. There was virtually nothing available, according to Hernández’s memory, the salary for the whole tour was 400 euros, but he all came along because of experience.
– When I first stepped on stage, an insight was created. This is what I wanted to do my whole life, acting in my voice, he describes the turn of the turning point.
Hernández has been compared to the iconic opera singer Maria Callas. He is annoyed that Callas is often remembered by the stumps and the relationship with Aristotle Onassis raised by the media. He would like Callas to be remembered for his art. Comparison of Hernández Callax is of course an honor, but for him, every artist is unique.
– I’m Saio Hernández, he smiles.
Saio in the role of Hernández Lady Macbeth and Gabriele Vivian Macbeth. Toni Härkänen/Savonlinna Opera Festival