One must question everything. – Is this possible? Is that allowed, as an artist?
For Elena Harsányi, a soprano who has already received numerous awards despite her young age, questioning is fundamental to her artistic self-image. She brings with her to the stage countless question marks – exciting question marks: Have you ever heard this? – Does that speak to you? Do you like it? – Do you understand the emotion? – What does your mind say about this? – Why is this still being performed after decades and centuries? And why does one do it at all – singing and making music?
Elena is versatile. She is confident that the different genres in which she feels at home with her voice – opera, oratorio, concert, song – are mutually beneficial, especially when you are aware of their differences. Her warm, sonorous, and lyrical voice is without artifice, and always fills out a lively figure, idea, situation or mood that immediately captivates the listener. Actually, all further questions would be superfluous if Elena weren’t also a fan of themed concerts. The many exciting perspectives on the music and its content motivate her to discover new approaches to her programming. – Sometimes a clever program booklet is enough, sometimes she moderates – often together with her song duo partner Toni Ming Geiger – charming, entertaining, and exciting throughout her programs.
Her future? The world of music was revealed her as a small child through the Princess Pamina, and Mozart always remains an inexhaustible challenge. But of course she has long since explored countless other roles and composers. For her, the classics don’t stop at the turn of the last century. With her need for questions about music, which are always also questions about people, our world and one’s own “I”, she consistently confronts the music of our time. Here, too, music is not just a “head thing” for her. Even in the shrillest and most bizarre tones, one always senses that all music is felt from within.
Dr. Solveig Palm – music curator, head of network Ludwig van B. Bonn
