Costume rendering by Christianne Myers, costume designer for The Magic Flute.
Name: Heather Buck
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Favorite opera:
The Magic Flute, of course! (I tend to fall in love with whatever I’m working on at the moment.) When I’m cooking, I love to listen to Puccini – La Rondine with Anna Moffo is terrific.
Least favorite opera:
Anything that doesn’t have a good part for me. Just kidding!!! Actually, it’s quite difficult to think of an opera I’m not fond of in one way or another – many times I find I become most passionate about works that initially are the most challenging.
I knew I wanted to sing opera when:
I auditioned for, and actually got, a role in college – it was Dido in Dido and Aeneas. I had auditioned for parts in musical theater productions in high school and always got shuffled off into the chorus, so I was beyond delighted to be given a chance – and the music in opera just felt right, once I started more seriously down that route.
Before performing, I always:
Get my body moving with a workout – it helps burn off nervous energy in addition to warming me up physically.
What I love about performing live is:
The idea that no two performances can ever be exactly the same. The energy that we performers receive from a live audience, also, is a real rush.
The best thing about opera is:
That it is an extraordinary combination of art forms, all of which combine to create an experience that can surpass that of the individual parts. Also, that it is an amazing team effort: you combine talents from costumers to scenic designers to light designers to instrumentalists to singers, and so on; again, it is the combination of everybody’s expertise that yields something magical.
I would tell someone who’s never seen The Magic Flute:
There is something for everyone in it: you get fantasy, human fragility and strength, a life-journey, the struggle of good vs. evil, joy and sorrow – all put to some of the most elegant, poignant and charming music I’ve ever heard.
If I could have dinner with any composer, I would choose:
Astor Piazzola, because I am a huge fan of his music, and would have loved to try to convince him to compose a song cycle for me.
If The Magic Flute were made into a blockbuster film, The Queen of the Night would be played by:
Cate Blanchette, because I think she would approach the character with a fascinating mix of mystery and ambiguity.
On my iPod, you’ll find:
A crazy mix of latin music, jazz, opera and chamber music – with a lot of U2 thrown on for when my husband steals it.
If I were tone deaf, I would have gone to work as:
A chef.
While I’m in Milwaukee, I’m hoping to:
Explore the museums, jog the waterfront, revisit the 3rd & 5th Wards, reconnect with friends.
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