Were there any particularly memorable moments in Bayreuth?
Camilla Nylund: Certainly, the first time standing on stage in the Festspielhaus.
Lars Cleveman: Of course, the premiere of Tannhäuser and the party afterwards!
Your favorite spot in Bayreuth?
CN: Up on the Bürgerreuth, from where you have an unobstructed view of Bayreuth and the beautiful forest right next to it.
LC: The Eremitage
What does your perfect day off look like?
CN: Sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast, and then maybe going to the sauna and swimming.
LC: A trip to Bamberg or Pottenstein on a sunny day.
What music do you listen to privately to relax?
CN: Mostly pop music in the car
LC: Rock music, classical, or even more Wagner
Your favorite character from Wagner’s operas?
CN: Elisabeth
LC: Siegfried
What do you consider your biggest weakness?
CN: I have trouble being on time because I always take on too much.
LC: My inability to multitask
What qualities do you value in yourself and in others?
CN: I’m a good listener, social, and athletic. In others: humor and reliability.
LC: Generosity and tolerance
I have a hidden talent as a…
CN: … cook, baker, and bargain hunter.
LC: I make very good coffee.
With so many deaths in Wagner’s operas – what would be your last meal?
CN: A good breakfast
LC: A large plate of spaghetti carbonara and a few bottles of red wine
I have a weakness for…
CN: Shoes, of course
LC: Chocolate
Which person – living or dead – inspires you?
CN: Trümmerfrauen (rubble women)
LC: Lou Reed
If you hadn’t become a singer/artist/musician, what would you have liked to be?
CN: A veterinarian
LC: A doctor
You can now beam yourself anywhere in the world, where would you go?
CN: Bora-Bora
LC: My country house in Småland/Sweden
Who or what could you not live without? (Multiple answers possible)
CN: My two children and family
LC: Music, my girlfriend, my sons
Which person would you like to meet – and why?
CN: Angelina Jolie – I want to know how she manages to juggle everything.
LC: Richard Wagner – to ask him if, given a second chance, he would have done anything differently.
If you could travel back in time, which era would you like to visit?
CN: As a noblewoman in the Rococo era
LC: Royal Opera Stockholm in 1792, when the Swedish King Gustav III was shot during a masked ball.
You have one wish:
CN: That I stay healthy!
LC: Vacation!
What was the worst / most embarrassing / funniest thing that happened to you during a performance?
CN: My first season in Hanover: I was singing Gerhilde in Walküre for the first time. I was nervous because I wasn’t sure about my cue and had asked the conductor to give me a good one. So there I was on stage, the music started with the Ride of the Valkyries, but the curtain didn’t go up. The audience only saw my boots during the first “Hojotoho” – but I sang correctly!
LC: When I missed my performance as Siegfried in Stockholm because the stuffed, life-sized bear got stuck in the doorway.