Ortrud is the schemer to Elsa’s innocent. What’s your angle on the role?
I always look for a human element in the character I’m playing, even if the first impression is of a cold or unscrupulous person. Ortrud has depth. Far from being one-dimensionally bad, she’s a woman who’s come down in the world and is trying to hang on to power. There are times when I even pity her. Then again, the music doesn’t let you get too positive in your portrayal of her. Wagner’s very clear in his composition that Ortrud is a destructive quantity.

How does Wagner convey that in his music?
Partly with the melodies, which are quite smooth and flattering, especially when she’s being cunning and crafty towards Elsa. There’s an undercurrent of menace, though, which comes across in the harmony and chromatic twists and unexpected dissonant chords. Wagner reserves the most modern stretches of music in the opera for Ortrud – and they’re verging on atonal in places. The music is hard and abrupt when she’s in a rage, but subtle insinuation is actually what she does best.

Ortrud is all about re-establishing the old order, yet she’s the one who gets the cutting-edge music. What are your thoughts on this contradiction?
Maybe Wagner was trying out new ways of portraying a manipulative character like her. He needed a musical language that would reflect her dangerous agitation. Fascinating how Ortrud and Telramund are backward-looking in their world view but employ methods that are ahead of their time.

Does that make the role trickier, musically speaking?
It’s the range you have to cover that’s the tricky thing. Ortrud is often singing in low-to-mid register but then ends on a high-pitched note. That involves a balancing act of vocal shades – ranging from simmering rage to unrestrained anger. The challenge is to hold back a little and let the power of the music have its effect. The less-is-more approach. Her menacing presence grows if you don’t push it.

You’ve sung many of Wagner’s strong women in your time. What separates Ortrud from girls like Sieglinde, Isolde and Kundry?
Ortrud stays largely the same throughout, while other characters tend to evolve in the course of the opera. To some extent she drives the storyline forward, although she herself doesn’t budge in her thinking. It’s this rigidity that makes her so dangerous. Unlike Sieglinde or Isolde, with Ortrud there’s no catharsis for us to observe, no moment of understanding. She always reminds me of Trump and the alt-right movement in the US. 

You’ve been singing high dramatic soprano roles for quite a while, like Isolde and Brünnhilde. Ortrud is your first Wagnerian part that’s pitched lower. When did you realise your voice was ready for it?
I’ve been fascinated by the role for ages. I used to think that Elsa should be the part for me, but then I sung her just once, Basel in 1999, and switched immediately to high dramatic. And all this time I’ve been watching Ortrud out of the corner of my eye and thinking: that could be a role for me if I can develop my mid register. It’s a slow process, and if you’re lucky you don’t have to work at it. Sooner or later you realise your voice is there.

Is there a moment in the opera that’s particularly moving for you?
Mmm, the duet with Elsa, when Ortrud pleads with her: »Is my voice so strange to you?« She’s acting desperate to make Elsa feel sorry for her – but at the same time there’s an accusatory tone, like: »What did I ever do to you?« It’s a brilliant scene because it shows how Ortrud manipulates people. Interesting how spare and non-chromatic the music is at that moment, yet very minor-key and reproachful. It’s all a lie but has to be sung as honest. That’s the two sides of Ortrud. Fascinating.