I had the chance to speak with
@calcalist , and I’m sharing some of those thoughts now:
I’m in the middle of rehearsals for Salome at the
@israelopera — long, 11-hour days on one of the most complex works in the Strauss repertoire. Because of the war, we’re working with about half the usual rehearsal time, so everything is more intense — but for that reason, everyone has been bringing incredible energy to it.
When I’m inside a piece like this, it takes everything — my energy, my essence, my full being. The music is how I live.
I care deeply about discipline — time, silence, listening. In the pit, I’m guiding over a hundred people to work together and bring out the best in themselves.
My talent seems to have come from my grandmother, Orna Ettinger, an actress in the Yiddish theater in Romania with Leah Koenig. She survived a concentration camp in Transnistria by entertaining the Nazis, and got food for my 3-year-old father. That’s how they survived.
About ten years ago, I experienced burnout, that I caught in time. I demanded from myself to have a different work/life balance.
My home always has been and will be here, in Israel. Not because of walls, but because of a sense of meaning, family, friends, and colleagues. It’s a pure physical feeling.
What makes me happiest is when the music reaches someone.
A woman once told me she traveled an hour and a half to a concert because the music helped her cope with cancer.
I also feel happy when finishing a rehearsal, walking into the
@israelopera ’s offices, and feeling like I’m home.
(Interview excerpts translated from Hebrew)
Link to full interview in stories.
📸
@calcalist
#Interview #DanEttinger #IsraeliOpera
