Two months of absorbing atmosphere, knowledge and wisdom at the Salzburger Festspiele: many are called, few are chosen. Mozart’s hometown seems like the Hollywood of classical music in summer; its theaters host the big stars. Between them, fourteen young singers are allowed to show themselves in master classes, a children’s performance of Maurice Ravel’s opera L’Enfant et les sortileges and a closing concert. They managed to distinguish themselves from six hundred others, who competed for a place in the Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival.
And among them, the mezzo-soprano Liza Lozica (29) is the only Dutchman. During the corona pandemic, her singing dream disappeared far from sight. She worked from early in the morning until late in the evening at a call center of the GGD, and even just before her departure for Salzburg this summer, the mezzo still had a part-time job at the office of the Rotterdam concert hall De Doelen.
Now she immerses herself in musical existence, rushing from masterclass to rehearsal, and from workshop to performance. And the funniest spectacle – apart from a donkey at Martinu’s Greek Passion refused to leave the stage – she finds the facial expression of the fellow students who suddenly come face to face with their hero. That happened to her too.
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Childhood dream
“Here I met mezzo Cecilia Bartoli, the singer who is the embodiment of my childhood dream,” says Lozica via Zoom from Salzburg. “It started with her. My parents had a video of a Bartoli concert. On this she sang the aria ‘Agitata da due ventifrom the Vivaldi opera Griselda. Her voice made coloratures and embellishments that mesmerized me. From the age of seventeen I played that video three times a day. She is so generous, there is so much devotion, passion and joy in her performances. That kindled my fire, and still keeps it burning.”
After the Glucks dress rehearsal Orfeo ed Euridice Lozica secretly slipped behind the stage, hoping for a meeting. “We came across the head of casting there. “You must be waiting for Bartoli,” she said immediately. When I got to shake her hand, I had to do my best to stay cool or I’d be giggling like crazy. That’s not charming. “Don’t forget to enjoy yourself,” said Bartoli. “Otherwise the singing isn’t worth the pain,” she added.
In the Young Singers Project of the Salzburger Festspiele, the singers examine all dimensions of singing: technique and interpretation, of course, but also the often complicated relationship to the body, in which the instrument is ‘hidden’, and the tormenting uncertainty that this sometimes entails . Because voices are personal and – like violins, for example – cannot be traded in. And a physical defect is more difficult to fix than a broken string.
Island of self-criticism
In the quiet corona period, Lozica noticed how she slowly drifted away from her voice and the music. “I fell off the wave I surfed for years. Suddenly singing became a mountain that I had to climb. It impostor syndrome penetrated me. At rehearsals I felt like a fraud who could be exposed at any moment.”
And in two months of the Salzburger Festspiele, this issue will also be addressed. The fourteen talents talk about this with each other and others. “Often a singer on the other side of the table admits: ‘It bothers me just as much.’ And then I say, ‘How can that be? You’re great.’ Others, in turn, cannot imagine my doubts. For example, singers often live on a lonely island of self-criticism. Here in Salzburg we can build bridges between them and that imposter syndrome fades into the background. Even big stars give us a glimpse into their souls in masterclasses.”
The show L’Enfant et les sortileges also plays a role in that process. “We sing it to children, on whose face you recognize the enthusiasm you used to feel. And then you learn to see singing as a game again. When I want to do everything right, the sparkle goes off. Here we can go back to the source in many respects. The teachers urge us to trust intuition. Body and voice naturally know what to do. The beautiful but complicated thing about singing remains that it is who you are at that moment. All the experiences and feelings we carry with us are reflected in the music. I often listen to singers like Jacques Brel, Édith Piaf and Mercedes Sosa. That surrender to life. Flamenco knows the concept of duende. To me, that word means singing everything like it’s the last thing you do. That is what I would like to achieve.”
Liza Lozica sings at the Salzburger Festspiele in Ravels L’Enfant et les sortileges (Das Kind und die Zauberdinge) on August 23 and 27. On the 25th, all the talents of the Young Singers Project will present themselves in a closing concert.
Trailer L’Enfant et les sortilèges at Salzburger Festspiele.