Noteworthy

Soprano Anna Prohaska takes the stage not once, but twice this season as one of the TSO’s 2024/25 Spotlight Artists, making her much-anticipated début with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A celebrated singer in Europe, Prohaska has captivated audiences from Berlin to London with her extraordinary vocal range, emotional depth, and fearless approach to roles both old and new. With her upcoming performances in John Adams Returns and Mahler’s Fourth, Prohaska brings her acclaimed artistry to Toronto audiences. It’s not just meticulous preparation that drives her and shapes her approach to each role, but also an insatiable curiosity and a search for inspiration. Whether discussing history, literature, or the inner workings of the voice, Prohaska reveals an artist deeply engaged in both music and the world around her, making her performances an exciting highlight of the season.

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One word to describe myself as an artist? Curious.

I started singing professionally in my teens. Balancing work and life doesn’t get easier—it just changes. When you’re young, you feel like you have all the time in the world. Then suddenly, you’re 41, like me.

Our work is really a balance between the athletic and the artistic. I often think of it as balancing the Dionysiac and Apollonian. The Dionysiac—no, I don’t mean just partying—but enjoying life: meeting people, talking loudly, going out. All of that can be detrimental to our work, but if you always play it safe and avoid experiences, audiences will sense that. You haven’t really lived.

You don’t have to be a murderer to play a murderer, but you do need to understand emotions like jealousy or obsessive love. And as singers, we have to control those emotions in a way that actors don’t. Actors can cry on stage, but we can’t—we’d get a lump in our throat and be unable to produce the notes. It’s a unique tension we have to manage.

When we talk, we’re using our instrument. It’s like inviting a violinist to dinner and then having them play while everyone else eats. You’ve got to occupy your free time in ways that don’t affect your voice. 

I’m a night owl, though that’s shifted a bit as I’ve gotten older. Still, early rehearsals are a struggle!

There was a moment that showed me just how powerful music can be. I sang at the memorial service for a very dear family friend, Richard Salter. He was a wonderful baritone, a mentor to me, and he passed away suddenly. His kids were in the front row, and I had to hold it together for them. After I sang, one of his students collapsed into my arms, sobbing. That’s the power of music—it consoles, it heals, and it brings catharsis.

Take something like Così fan tutte, which I’ll be performing with the TSO. The themes in Mozart’s operas—like feudalism and gender roles—are still relevant today. It’s like the story of Susanna and the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, where a vulnerable person is exploited by someone in power. These are issues that humanity still has to grapple with. 

I sometimes remind myself that my worth isn’t tied to my voice. As singers, we identify so much with our instrument, and when something goes wrong—when we’re sick, or the voice just isn’t working—it can be devastating. But I always remind myself that people will still love me, even if my voice isn’t perfect.

Italy is definitely the most inspiring place I’ve ever visited. The cultural diversity, the nature—the whole scope.

This will be my first time performing at Roy Thomson Hall. I’m especially excited about the program with John Adams—it’s always thrilling to work on a project where the composer is involved.

Music education is a cause very close to my heart. It’s being cut from schools, even here in Germany. Art and music are as essential as math and science. They nurture creativity, communal spirit, and joy. We have to fight for the arts, now more than ever.

Catch Anna Prohaska’s TSO début in John Adams Returns on November 6 and 9, 2024, featuring “This is prophetic!” from Nixon in China, and Le livre de Baudelaire, Adams’s orchestration of a song cycle by Debussy. Then, on March 20 and 22, 2024, experience her captivating performances of a fiery aria from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Haydn’s Scena di Berenice, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Don’t miss these extraordinary evenings with one of Europe’s most celebrated sopranos.