Twelve years ago, Barbara Hannigan sang a major soprano part with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in a song cycle by Hans Abrahamsen, and that was already quite an experience. Now she will conduct, dance and sing soprano parts all in one performance.

‘Quite a different ballgame’, as they might say in your native country.
‘I have become quite used to conducting – and to conducting while singing. Singing combined with dance is also on my CV. But yes, this is something else. I have never been asked to do anything that was so “complete”. It is the next step. An absolute challenge.’

The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra will play in the orchestra pit of the Nieuwe Luxor. Dancers from Scapino will move across the stage, in a choreography by Nanine Linning about the vastness of the sea. And Barbara Hannigan has to be everywhere at once? How does that work?
‘In the pit I conduct La mer and Sirènes, Debussy’s great sea compositions. On stage I sing and dance to music for soprano and electronics by Yannis Kyriakides: episodes before, at the end and between different sections of Debussy’s music. And then, in the middle, there is also a substantial new composition by Kyriakides in which I do everything at once: Abyssal, for soprano, electronics and the orchestra under my direction. We have had to work everything out very precisely: conducting an orchestra that is in the pit while simultaneously dancing and singing on stage. It works thanks to electronic signals that I send to the musicians in the pit – cues that are also included in the score. They will manage it; they are fantastic players.’

Nanine Linning previously staged her ballet about the sea and the dangers threatening it with Boston Ballet. But that was without Barbara Hannigan. And now you are joining them, with all sails set. Are you putting your own stamp on the performance?
‘Nanine is the choreographer and I do what she asks. With all the precision that is required. And whatever I am singing and dancing or conducting in the orchestra pit, I am one character in a complete dramaturgy. An archetype, a kind of mastermind, a sea goddess, a Siren, if you like.’

The sea: Linning recently said that she feels she comes from it. If we want to find a connection between her fascinations, those of Claude Debussy and yours, currently living on the coast of Brittany, we do not have to look far?
‘The sea is the first thing I look at every day. From my house! And I run towards it. I see the tide coming in and going out; it is so important to me. I grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada, a large peninsula. There was always the sea. Not that this gives me better credentials for conducting La mer – someone from the prairie should be able to do it too, I think. But yes, I feel a deep connection.’

In the ballet production for Boston, there was poetry in the wind and water, Debussy’s speciality. But the performance also contained tragedy and darkness. About dying species, human greed and oil spills – with electronic soundscapes by Kyriakides with titles such as Fracking and Dead Zone. Is there also room for optimism in your production?
‘Mmm, optimism… Nanine said something that made a strong impression on me: “Our oceans are a theatre of human contradiction. Look at how much we love them, and how we treat them like a rubbish dump.” Could it be put more succinctly? But there is room for hope. And beauty.’

It sounds as though you have been making multimedia performances together for years.
‘It is the first time. But what a wonderful person. The idea of making something together began to take root five years ago, when Nanine came to rehearsals of the orchestra Ludwig to see how I did it, singing Kurt Weill while conducting at the same time. Later that year, she came to the Opera of Brussels to see me in Alban Berg’s Lulu. There she saw me dancing on pointe in that wonderful production by Warlikowski. Crazy.’

The main character in Lulu is, after all, a dancer. But unfortunately, few sopranos have mastered that art.
‘In another Lulu, I did not have to dance on pointe, but I did backward somersaults. I have always moved easily; in Canada, I was already taking part in dance performances when I was twenty. I am also no fan of the old-fashioned operatic style of park and bark. Standing still with your mouth open. No thanks. Directors like to make use of my enjoyment of physical expression. That already happened in Writing to Vermeer by Andriessen, in 1999 at your Dutch National Opera. And when I perform in operas directed by a dance artist such as Sasha Waltz, she knows that I am not a singer who simply stands there while dancers move their arms around me.’

It seems that dancing and conducting are two sides of the same coin for you: both are products of singing.
‘For me, they are expressions of one and the same musicianship. And the foundation is the breath. It moved me when I read that Leonard Bernstein once took ballet lessons to improve his conducting. Quite rightly! The line your body language shows, the flow of the music in your movements – for an orchestra, that means everything. An orchestra will always struggle with a conductor who breathes uncomfortably.’

On the other hand, conductors who merely move along with the music have short careers.
‘Then an orchestra struggles its way to the end. The joke, of course, is that conducting can never be choreographed either.’

Disguise

Barbara Hannigan is a regular guest conductor in Gothenburg and will become chief conductor in Reykjavík. As a guest conductor who can also sing soprano parts at the same time, she has long been no stranger to the world’s leading orchestras, including those in Munich, London, Cleveland and Montreal. It is often said that your double practice began in 2014 at a concert by Radio France. But if we remember correctly, you made your debut as a soprano who could conduct much earlier, at an anniversary concert for the Dutch conductor Reinbert de Leeuw – although you were in disguise.
‘That was my unofficial first time! And Reinbert did not recognise me! He could see what was going to be performed, Mysteries of the Macabre by Ligeti, and the instruments were already set up. I came on as his double, wearing a wig, sideburns and a false nose, and all he could wonder was: where on earth is the singer, where is Barbara!? Only when I started conducting, in his manner, with bouncing arms, did he realise what was going on. He was doubled over with laughter.’

De Leeuw crossed paths with you for half a career.
‘It feels as though he is still here. His piano is at my house, with his shoes underneath it.’

What did you learn from Debussy during all those times you sang the role of Mélisande in the opera Pelléas et Mélisande?
‘Night after night, three hours at a time… it gets into your bones, not just the role, but everything. The way Debussy works with voices, with a complete orchestra – it becomes part of you.’

Is it true that La mer is appearing on your conducting agenda for the first time?
‘I have never done Debussy’s Sirènes either.’

And Kyriakides’ Abyssal will have its world premiere. With gadgets that will allow you – also for the first time – to conduct and sing simultaneously while moving on a dance stage. Does the concept of stage fright mean anything to you?
‘For me, it does not depend on the difficulty of a production, as long as I feel good about what is being asked of me. With opera or dance, there are already so many opportunities to become nervous during the build-up… rehearsals, the first orchestral rehearsal, the dress rehearsal… that by the time the actual performance comes around, it can only get easier.’

Text: Roland de Beer        Image: Stef Nagel

This article was previously published in Intrada, Sept–Nov 2026, no. 1.