Live From Your Private Drone
A Countertenor Through the Looking Glass
How someone comes to music, to be a musician from a young age, is more mysterious than it seems. The obvious thing that presents itself is this idea that parents introduce their kids to music, recordings, instruments, lessons, concerts, and encourage them, or even require them to study. In truth, it is mostly something that comes directly from the child, without this idea of a ‘forced’ introduction. So if it is true that music is taken up from a young age organically, what is it that drives the motivation of an individual to pursue music, and not just any individual but a very young person?
Maybe it is just some neurological attraction to sound, and to very particular sounds—sounds of an instrument, of a kind of music, of a particular composer, or style. For myself, I can remember hearing a harpsichord and thinking it was the most marvelous thing, all those twinkly twangy sounds reverberating together across melodic counterpoint, a sound journey, all before I knew what instrument it was or anything about the music itself. That moment of intrigue made me want to know more…
Nearly every musician has a story from their early memory of feeling a sense of captivation with sound or the drama of seeing a live concert performance, and for each who have had this kind of shared experience, it sits like a seed in their mind, the place where something begins to grow and grow. Music can and does fill the consciousness like a series of vines, connecting thoughts, feelings—ones entire physical being becomes merged with whatever instrument until it is really that extra but not so extraneous limb.
It’s one of the great things about music and also especially about learning music because it has the remarkable capacity to bring every part of one’s being together, synced into a grand cooperation of mind, body, emotions, imagination, and development of self-awareness of one’s own unique voice. Music does all of that. It’s partly why it is considered such a valuable vehicle for the development of the young.
Which makes it all the more remarkable when we find that person who really did not come from a musical family and somehow followed an inner vision, before a vision could even really be established. It’s that mysterious thing again with its metaphysical ontological aspect about how all of this happens and what our connection is to things that we innately declare as our inherent nature. If anyone knows the answer, I almost don’t want to know. The mystery is part of the quality that draws us into the experience, the most essential aspect of music itself.
We are however fortunate to have someone who might shed some light on all of this. If not only to show us what is possible when that inner flame has an irrepressible hot intensity. Meet Alois Mülbacher as he passes this way towards his next performance…
Kathy Geisler: What is your current job in the field of classical music? What are you currently working on?
Alois Mühlbacher: At the moment I am singing in the opera Pastorelle en musique the role of Amynthas by Georg Philipp Telemann under the musical direction of the renowned flutist Dorothee Oberlinger at the 25th Telemann Festival in Magdeburg, Germany. Then I am part of the Bach St Matthew’s Passion in the hands of Martin Haselböck in Los Angeles, and at the end of April I will be singing the part of Isamel in the premiere of the musical Fanny and Alexander in the Landestheater Linz, which is something I’m really looking forward to.
Kathy: What are some of your early lessons or experiences in classical music?
Alois: When I was ten I joined the San Florian Boy‘s Choir and thus had the chance to travel the world. One of the special highlights was definitely my debut at the Vienna State Opera when I was given the role of the Young Shepherd in the Wagner opera Tannhäuser. I was fifteen at that time. My second role at the State Opera was singing the part of Obert in Handel’s Alcina.
Here is a video with me in the role of Oberto:
Famous colleagues like Anja Harteros, Anja Kampe or Vesseling Kasarova sang the main roles in these two operas. It was such an enormous thrill and remains as an unforgettable experience that will stay with me forever.
Since I was a child I dreamt of having a career as a singer.
Kathy: What is one of your favorite places and why?
Alois: One of my favorite places is my home town of Hinterstoder. This may sound a bit romantic and patriotic, but for me even one day at my parents house is like being on holiday.
When I was a young choir boy I was traveling quite a lot and was far away from my family for a long time. I was often homesick and talked for hours with my parents on the telephone.
Hinterstoder is a small town in the Pyhrn-Priel Alps in the Traunviertel in Upper Austria. In the winter there are many facilities for outdoor sports like downhill skiing, cross country skiing, ice skating etc. In the summer we go hiking, rock climbing, swimming in the crystal clear mountain lakes, etc.
By the way, one of these small lakes, the Schiederweiherwas, chosen as the most beautiful place in Austria in 2018!
Kathy: What is one of your favorite pieces and do you have a favorite performer or experience of it?
Alois: One of my favorite pieces is the Pergolesi Stabat Mater. Even as a child I enjoyed this work in a very special way. This music fills my heart with a deep sadness and at the same time with a deep consolation.
I feel very attached to this music which is why I have always wanted to record it. I think we produced a very interesting CD. The clear voice of a boy soprano was definitely an enhancement.
Kathy: Is there an artist no longer living who somehow made an impression on you?
Alois: When I was a young boy I remember spending hours at my computer listening to music by famous singers. I would try to copy their voices. In this way, my very first music teachers were: Edita Gruberova, Diana Damrau and Joyce Didonato. When I heard about the passing away of Edita Gruberova I was deeply saddened. I have been listening to her voice for years and developed a close connection to her, even though I never actually met her.
Kathy: What is one thing you think will be different about classical music 100 years form now?
Alois: I believe that one of the most significant facts about really great art is that it was created for eternity. 100 years from now musicians will find new ways of interpreting the compositions by Bach, Mozart and all the great masters, maybe they will vary the tempo and find new ways of interpretation.
I am convinced that classical music will never be out of fashion and will never be forgotten, because there simply are too many people inwardly moved and inspired by classical music.
One big difference in 100 years maybe the way of transport: maybe concert goers will come with their private drones right to their very seats!;)
Kathy: What is something about your work that you think most people have no idea about?
Alois: I do believe that many concert goers do not really consider the aspect of how difficult it is to get to a certain level and keep that level. When I do a new role I have to start months before I can present it quite easily for the audience.
For a singer, his voice is of extreme importance. Nevertheless you have to acquire additional skills, strengthen your mental and physical fitness to meet all the challenges of performing on a high level.
This means singing at a high level is hard work. However, if you feel you are in good condition and enjoy your music, singing is definitely the most beautiful job in the whole wide world.
I am personally convinced that singing has to be a true artistic vocation, otherwise you cannot maintain a life long career.
Kathy: Did you have any life changing experiences that put you on the path that led you to be doing what you’re doing today? Please explain.
Alois: When I was a little boy I remember singing in our house on the stairs because I felt there is the best acoustics. My mother often told me that she enjoyed listening to my voice and I should join the boy’s choir. When I was ten my parents took me to San Florian for my audition. Then I had to decide: living in a boarding school far way from my parents or living in the house with my parents? It was really a heartbreaking decision for me not to be able to see my mother every night.
I chose the boarding school and singing lessons every day! To overcome my homesickness I developed a unique ambition, to become the best singer of all 40 of the boys—and soon I became a soloist.
Even today I think my heartbreaking decision changed my life forever and formed my life in such a special unique way. This decision brought me into close contact with classical music, a fact that I am thankful for every day.
Kathy: Is there anything else you would like to say about yourself, your work, or classical music?
Alois: My parents and my two sisters are not musicians, and so when I come home I am just Alois and we never talk about classical music.
I do think that for professional musicians it is important to enjoy other activities in their free time although music is so fascinating! Sometimes I feel we musicians take our job too seriously and concentrate too much on our voice while for our audience many other aspects matter. The strong will to achieve extraordinary performances I think must be balanced by normal life activities.
