About Leitmotifs
The show – Leitmotifs – reflects my intimate knowledge of the classical music world and my desire to talk to my colleagues about how they feel living the artist’s life and making music. In classical music, a Leitmotif is a short melody or theme that identifies a character, an event or an emotion that recurs throughout a piece. It is famously associated with Richard Wagner’s music. The word is also used in literature and now, thanks to my show, in podcasting!
I chose Leitmotifs as the conceit for the show because I feel all artists are driven by a persistent burning passion to express themselves. It is precisely this passion that I ask each guest to describe when I ask them to detail their own personal Leitmotif, where it comes from, and what it means to them. Another way to look at it is that it functions in the same way as the desert in Desert Island Discs.
The world of classical music can sometimes be perceived as inaccessible and intimidating. Leitmotifs cracks it open and lets the light shine on its human side; showing the person behind the performer. I am often surprised and incredibly moved by my guest’s stories and perceptions of themselves. Their honesty and human experiences are universal. The show connects with a general audience of music lovers and culture enthusiasts.
Two shorter-form exploratory seasons were broadcast on KCRWBerlin 104.3 FM and were very well received. These are available in podcast form on Spotify and Apple. Guests include celebrated conductors Donald Runnicles and Marc Albrecht; Deutsche Oper Berlin General Manager Dietmar Schwarz; cellist Eckart Runge; director of the Barenboim Said Academy and former German commissioner for cultural affairs Michael Naumann; opera singer Alma Sade; Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic and writer Tim Page; and Jamie Bernstein, author of Famous Father Girl, a memoir of growing up as the daughter of Leonard Bernstein.
In a future season, Leitmotifs will take advantage of a longer format to explore the transforming classical music landscape. In-depth interviews will feature old-world industry heavyweights as well as new innovators in the field – all of whom are pushing the boundaries of classical music performance.
What will the future look and sound like? How do musicians feel about it and how can they adapt? Join me on a unique journey to answer these questions.
About Fredrika
The New York Times called her performance as the Narrator in the US Premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven “vocally plush and dramatically courageous” while the Financial Times described her as “tireless and astonishingly lithe while singing the impossible solos with sensuality when needed and abiding beauty.”
The American mezzo-soprano has performed at renowned opera houses and festivals in Washington DC, Brussels, Geneva, Venice, Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt, Dresden, Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenz to name a few, and has developed a wide repertoire. Along with the leading mezzo roles such as Carmen, Charlotte, Octavian, Komponist, Marguerite, Orfeo, and Amneris, Fredrika Brillembourg is highly acclaimed for her interpretations of modern works by Toshio Hosokawa (Hanjo, The Raven), György Ligeti (Le Grand Macabre), Tan Dun (Marco Polo) and Gottfried von Einem (Jesu Hochzeit).
She has collaborated with prominent stage directors such as Christof Loy, Willy Decker, Robert Carson, Barrie Kosky, Stephen Wadsworth, Martin Kušej, Keith Warner, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, and Jonathan Miller. She has performed with prestigious orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra singing under the baton of conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Ingo Metzmacher, Daniel Harding, Kazushi Ono, Mark Albrecht, Manfred Honeck, Kent Nagano, and Placido Domingo.
Fredrika’s discography includes Suzuki (Madama Butterfly, Naxos); in solo arias with the Berlin Symphony, Stravinsky Les Noces, (dir. Sylvain Cambreling), and The Verdi Requiem (dir. Placido Domingo) and on DVD: as Enrichetta di Francia in Bellini’s I Puritani, a Francisco Negrin production from De Nederlandse Opera, conducted by Giuliano Carella.
She is the winner of both the Kurt Hubner and Bremer Volksbuhne prizes for her interpretation of the title character of Bizet’s Carmen. In addition, she wrote, produced, arranged, and performed a one-woman show, One Touch of Genius, featuring songs from Broadway musicals by Leonard Bernstein and Kurt Weill originally for the Bernstein Centennial Festival at the Komische Oper Berlin.
