It couldn’t take long for the career of Serena Sáenz to explode, an artist who is defined by a beautiful vocal flow, innate stage skills and a vital attitude that can delight any opera house. And to top it off, she is gorgeous! The young woman from Barcelona, ??whose career has closely followed high school since she made her debut a couple of years ago at the Rambla Coliseum alongside Javier Camarena, in a last minute replacement for Lucia di Lammermoor, is triumphing on several continents but above all in the German world. Not in vain did she spend two years in the Opera Studio of the Berlin Staatsoper, directed by Daniel Barenboim himself.
Now he will sing his first Puccini (Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi) in Vienna, and will debut the Blonde from The Abduction in the Seraglio. She awaits the tribute to Maria Callas on November 30 at the Palau de la Música. “Ugh, comparisons are hateful… I will try to be faithful to what the public has in their ears,” says she, who has been the star of Peralada this year twice. Trained at the Conservatori del Liceu and Berlin, hers is a future that she faces with her hair flying in the wind. Oh, and she comes from performing at the Vanguardia awards, where she remembered her father, Horacio Sáenz Guerrero, former director of this newspaper.
What does it feel like in that context?
I felt part of a legacy, of the family of journalists that is La Vanguardia. I started studying Journalism and I left it. But the whole family is [his mother, Lola Molinero, worked in this newsroom] and I like that part of me, so it was emotional: like closing a cycle.
Did you leave Journalism for singing?
I felt that I was going to be a better singer than a journalist. For two years I studied it at the same time, and also ballet, but I had to focus my energies. Everyone, family, classmates and teachers, told me that it was my path. The only one who didn’t see it clearly was me. Who lives off classical music? I thought.
Well, since her debut at the Liceu she hasn’t stopped: Norina and Pamina (at the Liceu), Lisa in La sonnambula del Real, Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) in Vienna and now in Copenhagen… And she comes from performing in the Napa Valley from USA
Yes, it has been fun, a high-level festival surrounded by vineyards and people passionate about culture who put a lot of money into making the festival happen. I was surprised by the difference in philanthropy: here we are modest, the money that is private comes from large companies. But there it is the person who wants to invest their fortune in betting on an artist or festival.
Do you have an opinion on the patronage law?
I believe that the fewer impediments there are to being able to carry out enriching cultural projects, the better.
Barenboim had a direct line with Angela Merkel. What was it like working with him even at the beginning?
He gave me a lot of respect. He felt a great responsibility, this man gave me his trust because he believed that he could measure up, I could not disappoint him. I demanded a lot from myself, that made me grow. I’m sorry he’s no longer the musical director. My last work with him was Don Giovanni, and I no longer felt so intimidated.
He has been given master classes by Caballé, Mariella Devia, Teresa Berganza and Brigitte Fassbender. What did you learn from each one?
From Berganza I stayed with the personal life part. She told me: “You have to sing and have a family, you can: you make money and you invest it in taking her everywhere.” Montserrat taught me that if an opportunity appeared, she had to go for it and be prepared. Her big break was replacing her at Carnegie Hall, and she thought that the repertoire I had was not enough. “If they call you tonight to sing the role tomorrow, what are you going to tell them? No?”. She also taught me that nerves should not play a role. I have had many substitute opportunities with unexpected success, like the one at Liceu. The theaters, if you have courage and successfully leave the performance, see you as a reliable singer… From Mariella Devia I learned technique, the conception of her bel canto line and pure legato, without ceasing to support. With it I prepared Lucia. And with Fassbender I worked on German lied: diction, pronunciation, what we want to convey with the word.
Does your inner dancer come out on stage?
Clear! I am very grateful for all my physical training in dance and also acting, because it has given me skills for the stage.
Physical activity can be for or against the voice…
Yes, it’s like a recipe, you have to try until you find the right proportions for you. I do a hard HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout two days before a performance. You put your body to its maximum and then you regenerate. On the day of the performance you do gentle yoga or Pilates, you stretch the muscle and it is reoxygenated: hypertrophy, rest and oxygenation, this is my recipe.
And is she one of those who can get emotional while singing?
No, it’s fatal, I have to stay cool because it takes its toll on the technique and the sound you emit is no longer as polished. Although from the outside it may seem like you are going out of your way, it is theater.
What role would you like?
Olympia [the automaton from Les Contes d’Hoffmann]. Because it is a fun role that also allows you to dance. And I would love to do a musical. I like to have a good time on stage. That means not feeling coerced, but rather with musical freedom and movement.
And do you enjoy being an opera spectator?
If I have to see artists suffer, it is agony. I was very impressed by a Macbeth with Anna Netrebko and Plácido Domingo, and I no longer want to see another one, it would be a failure. It’s not so much the work, but who sings and how he acts. The first time I saw it was in Amsterdam and I fell asleep. A great mess. Instead, they kept me in suspense. Seeing glorious features is the biggest source of inspiration. And it warms your voice: you go out at dawn wanting to sing. My God, what a rush!
