How did you come to record the lead in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Claudio Abbado ?
SK: Well, I can’t specify here all the circumstances that lead to this recording; some of them are even unknown to me. Maybe so much for that: I got to know Claudio Abbado during an audition in the Berlin Philharmonic. Somebody led me into a room, the conductor was in darkness, I sang an aria, Abbado came to me and said “That’s OK.” – That’s it ! Claudio is a very friendly person with whom you have a cooperative relationship immediately. He is older than I am, he knows more than I probably ever will but he is capable of creating mutual trust right from the beginning, which is inspiring. Abbado is said to prefer to trust in the spontaneous nature of the concert instead of being fond of long rehearsals ? SK: That’s another matter. A spectator at a rehearsal often misses essential things. You sit there, thinking: “Nothing is happening”. But the main points of the interpretation were discussed before privately. And one look, one wink of the eye might be sufficient as long as the singer is
