Camilla Nylund / Angélique Kidjo

André Heller’s impressive portfolio of activities includes the art of opera directing, and the Finnish star-soprano Camilla Nylund is one of his favourite singers. In winter 2019/20, he directed Richard Strauss’s »Rosenkavalier« at the Staatsoper Berlin, with Nylund as the Marschallin. And the two soon cooked up another project: Nylund singing orchestral arrangements of classics from the Great American Songbook. The singer – who perfected her art performing Strauss and Wagner – succeeds in both expressing and reining in the power and silkiness of her dramatic soprano voice in a way that is faithful to the spirit of jazz. »Her unique gift, her flexibility, her curiosity, her virtuosic mastery of power, and her emotional warmth« are all qualities Heller admires in Nylund.

All this can also be said of Angélique Kidjo, the best-known voice of contemporary African music. After her acclaimed Reflektor festival in spring 2023, Kidjo needs no introduction. For her upcoming performance in the Elbphilharmonie, she has commissioned new arrangements of soulful African songs for voice with orchestral accompaniment. The result is a programme of songs from very different cultures, performed by two great representatives of their art – it will be fascinating to see how it all comes together into one whole.