Maria Miró: "I really wanted to return to the Liceu"

BarcelonaThe Barcelona soprano Maria Miró has four dates at the Liceu, where she interprets the role of Nannetta in the opera Falstaff, by Verdi, on July 10, 13, 16 and 19. "I love debuting papers", says Miró, who debuted at the Liceu in 2013 in the cantata Atlantis by Manuel de Falla and Ernesto Halffter. He returned that same year with the role Cinderella, by Massenet, and later to The Two Foscari (2015) and The Troubadour (2017), both by Verdi.

The last time you were at the Liceu was with The Troubadour, by Verdi, in 2017. I would go back now with Falstaff, also by Verdi.

— Yes, it was a coincidence. I was very eager to return to the Liceu. It's the opera house of my city.

How has so much time passed?

— I was supposed to sing Micaela in Carmen, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. Later they offered me other roles, but they coincided with others I had at the Teatro Real.

How do you understand Nannetta from Falstaff?

— Falstaff is Verdi's last opera, a masterpiece and his great comedy. The vocal character is very different from the usual Verdi of dramas. It has many Mozartian influences and is a very choral work, very rhythmic at times. It really is a very team-oriented work. Nannetta, however, does have some more melodic passages, which are very pretty, with Fenton, and her final aria is also much more lyrical.

Is this the character's defining moment?

— His most important moment, yes, but before it also has many parts in concert with the merry wives of Windsor and several precious duets with Fenton.

Does the character also fit with your characteristics as a performer, not just as a singer?

— Lately, I've done many more dramas, very deep characters, psychologically speaking, and more theatrical dramas, but vocally lyrical. And it's true that I really wanted to do comedy again because I like it a lot and thus I can exploit my comedic side. At the Real I had played Mariana in La prohibición de amar, by Wagner, which is a very funny opera. I have also played Mozartian characters such as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and the First Lady in The Magic Flute, but in recent years I had done less comedy. I am very eager to do it.

You had made tragedies, in fact.

— Yes. For example, La Regenta, by Marisa Manchado, who is a super fascinating and very complex character. Or Yerma, by Heitor Villa-Lobos. It's good, the variety.

How did the rehearsals for Falstaff go?

— Very good. It's a complicated staging, so to speak, for the singers: we are constantly going up and down stairs... in heels. The central element is a house that has different floors and requires a bit of physical stamina because we don't stop, but it's beautiful.

Do you like Laurent Pelly's scenic proposal?

— Yes, I like it very much. I think the audience will have a great time.

And Maestro Pons, how did you find him? Emotionally, it will be a special one because it is the last opera he is directing as musical director of the Liceu.

— He is very happy and joyful, I see him very well.

Musically, what is Nannetta's role?

— It is a role for a lyrical soprano, like me, who is purely lyrical. It has very rhythmic concertante parts with the cheerful ladies of Windsor and more melodic moments, with more legato, with Fenton, the lover. And the final aria, which is very lyrical. It is a very nice role.

Did you study medicine, like the tenor David Alegret. Have you spoken with him about this shared singularity?

— Yes, I have spoken about it, even though he did not finish his degree. I have these two sides. What happens is that singing is what really fascinates me. I have been singing since I was 6 years old. I sang with Oscar Boada's Cor Vivaldi, who was the one who discovered the talent I had and told me to study instruments, transverse flute, piano. I was there from 6 to 17 years old, in the choir, and I performed as a soloist in various works. Then I started medicine, because my parents are doctors. I don't have any musicians in my family. Nevertheless, I combined the two things. I specialized in dermatology, and once I finished, I had the vital sensation of trying to dedicate myself to singing.

Wasn't it very difficult? They are two disciplines that require a lot of dedication.

— Yes. In the morning I went to the faculty of medicine and in the afternoon to the Conservatory of the Liceu. It was a time of a lot of study, but I like to study and learn. When I finished medicine, I thought: I've got that, let's try singing. I went to England to do a two-year singing master's degree and when I returned I said: understood, now what do I do? I got an agent who trusted me completely, we started doing auditions and they took me to the Teatro Real, to the Liceu... and I haven't practiced medicine again.

You have a sufficiently large repertoire as a lyric soprano, but which roles would you like to play in five years?

— I am at a very good moment as a lyric soprano and I try not to go too early into repertoire that is too big. That is to say, I try to keep my voice fresh, with high notes, so as not to lose all my range. Of course, the voice is gaining a bit of body, it's normal. Now, for example, I would like to sing Mimì [from La bohème] or Liù [from Turandot], sing Puccini. And I would like to do other Verdi roles that are a bit more verismo, like Desdemona [in Othello].

You were supposed to sing Violetta in La traviata this year, weren't you?

— Yes, but I got sick. I was very excited to sing in La traviata by the Fundació Òpera Catalunya. It had never happened to me before, getting sick and having to cancel.

They do good work, don't they, at the Fundació Òpera Catalunya?

— Yes, because they bring opera closer to all of Catalonia, to different cities. And for singers it is ideal for debuting roles. Besides, since you tour, it allows you to develop the character.

Do you have this Violetta in perspective?

— For the moment no, but I have it well prepared.

Of the future projects, which ones can be explained?

— I have a debut that I'm very excited about at the Musika-Música festival in Bilbao, but I can't tell you what it is yet. I'm also returning to the opera in Tenerife.

In Tenerife you sang Yerma.

— Yes, and I performed another contemporary opera, Fuenteovejuna, by Jorge Muñiz, where I played Laurencia. I also played Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, by Richard Strauss. Now we will perform Tránsito again, by Jesús Torres, which was a production from the Teatro Real in 2021 that was restaged at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia in 2024 with a new production, which is what we will perform in Tenerife. I have other projects that cannot yet be disclosed.

Your repertoire ranges fromAlceste, by Gluck, to 21st-century operas like Tránsito.

— I quite like exploring different repertoires and also supporting new composers in works where you can take a lot of risks both vocally and acting-wise because I like to explore the limits and my interpretative and vocal capacity. And I also love revisiting the more classic repertoire, works with great references in which I always try to put my personality and my way of doing things. And I would like to do more symphonic repertoire.

For example?

— I performed Mendelssohn's Elijah some years ago and I would like to perform it again.

And do you have the range to perform a Requiem by Verdi?

— They offered it to me a few years ago and I said no. I think now I could. I would love it! Imagine, a Requiem by Verdi.