Tracy Dahl + Andriana Chuchman
RAYMOND SOKALSKI [TRAC Y’S HUSBAND]: What was the opera that you first saw in Winnipeg?
ANDRIANA CHUCHMAN: Hilariously, my first opera was probably when I was nine years old and it was Hansel & Gretel and I fell asleep halfway through.
R: So what’s the first opera you can remember from start to finish?
AC: I remember seeing The Barber of Seville and you [Tracy] were in it…
ADAM HILDEBRANDT [ANDRIANA’S HUSBAND]: So, were you studying with Tracy already at that point?
AC: Yeah…that was my second year of university, studying with Tracy. I would say that the opera that changed my life was seeing Tracy in Lucia [di Lammermoor] at Manitoba Opera. I think I was always in awe of Tracy…the Barber was great but the Lucia came to me at a time where I was ready for it, if that makes sense. It totally changed how I looked at opera…I needed that. I think I compare everything I’ve watched to Tracy’s performance [in Lucia], seriously.
TRACY DAHL: [laughing]
AC: I’m not kidding! Like, fully, her singing—number one, amazing—and then the full realization of the character and seeing it. It was just so real.
R: Tracy, do you remember a time where you walked into a concert hall, saw an opera and went, “That’s really cool! I want to try that!” or was it, like, you were in one before you knew?
T: I was in a children’s chorus. So, I thought that was cool.
R: What about it do you remember was fun? Or did you go, “This is really cool, there’s an orchestra at our feet!”?
T: No, I don’t think I did. That feeling didn’t come until I did Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro, which is funny because it was my first opera role and your [Andriana] first opera role, too, right?
My first [professional] role was Giannetta [in at Manitoba Opera]. Actually, you’re right: Barbarina [was my first complete role] at NUOVA in 2001, maybe.
