Mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman will join Britten Sinfonia and Sir Mark Elder in November, performing Mahler’s sublime song-cycle, Rückert-Lieder with the orchestra. We caught up with Elisabeth to find out a bit more about her.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
To create my solo programme, La femme c’est moi (premiere in 2016) and excite people around the world with it.
When are you happiest?
When I can inspire people to dig deeper inside themselves and discover their own beauty.
What is your greatest fear?
That I am not strong enough for the vision I have.
What is your earliest musical memory?
The sweet voice of my mother.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
At the moment Eckhart Tolle for showing me how to live in the now and be in peace with myself and others.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Nothing I can talk about publicly. 😉
What is your most treasured possession?
I have given away nearly all my belongings in order the follow my dream of being a minimalist free spirit travelling around the world. I even gave up my home in Vienna. Two things I will keep: a hand-painted premiere present for me from Nikolaus Harnoncourt and a handwritten letter from Zubin Mehta.
What would your super power be?
The power to fly.
If you were an animal what would you be?
One of the big cats, maybe male.
What is your most unappealing habit?
I don’t know. I like all my habits. I have chosen them carefully.
What is your favourite book?
At the moment, Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Eating too much when I feel stressed.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
My father, who died more than twenty years ago, to show my love and compassion.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
To the beginning of mankind. To ask the designer how we were originally meant to be and function. Of course, I would not want to give up my present consciousness.
How do you relax away from the concert platform?
I travel far away, visit my friends in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt etc., people who have no clue what I’m doing on stage, to places where nature is unspoiled and peaceful.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
To be myself without shame.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
So far: Create and let go (as the creator of this world did).
In a nutshell, what is your philosophy?
Create whatever you want. It starts with one thought.
You can catch Elisabeth and Britten Sinfonia in Elder conducts Brahms at Saffron Hall, Norwich’s St Andrew’s Hall, and the Barbican in November.
